IITA, AfDB to host project pre-appraisal meeting for TAAT

THE International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State and the African Development Bank (AfDB), will host a project pre-appraisal meeting for the bank’s new initiative tagged; “Feeding Africa or Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme,” this month.

The programme would hold between July 18 and 30, at the IITA headquarters, Ibadan.

The TAAT programme is a critical strategy for transforming agriculture on the continent that would ensure that Africa is able to feed itself through agriculture.

The pre-appraisal meeting is taking place almost three months after the successful preparation workshop of the TAAT programmme initiative in April, 2016, which was attended by various stakeholders and potential partners from national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), CGIAR centres international organisations, including developmental partners and the private sector.

The appraisal mission will bring together all TAAT participating CGIAR centres and non-CGIAR institutions as well as NARES partners that have submitted technologies that are ready to be scaled up/out for consideration under the programme.

They will jointly review and finalise activity plans and budgets to undertake the scaling out of the proven technologies.

The appraisal meeting will take place in batches to allow for closer interactions.

The first leg of the meeting will take place between July 18-23, involving all participants within the following Priority Intervention Areas (PIAs): Sahel, Savannah, cassava, and rice, while second meeting will take place between July 25-30,  involving all participants within the following PIAs: Tree plantations, horticulture, wheat, and inland fish aquaculture.

The goal of the TAAT programme includes: eliminating extreme poverty, ending hunger and malnutrition, achieving food sufficiency, and turning Africa into a net food exporter as well as setting Africa in step with global commodity and agricultural value chains.

Adopting modernised commercial agriculture is the key to transforming Africa and the livelihoods of its people, particularly, the rural poor.

To carry out these objectives, the AfDB, working with IITA and other partners, had already identified eight priority agricultural value chains relating to rice sufficiency, cassava intensification, food security, restoring tree plantations, among others.