11 October 2023: Kinshasa, DR Congo:
The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) as lead institution of the Capacity Development and Technology Outreach (CDTO) compact and the Cassava Compact led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), within the context of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Programme, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), are currently building the capacity of key stakeholders in the Cassava Value chain in the DR Congo in a three-day Training of Trainers on Innovation Platforms and outreach strategies for scaling proven agricultural technologies. As the Cassava Compact trains participants on key technologies, including the Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) technology of cassava, the CDTO mainstreams Innovation Platform (IP) and outreach strategies for technology delivery and business development.
Participants are drawn from the National Agricultural Study and Research Institute (INERA), the Ministry of Agriculture (MiNAGRI). The in-country facilitators of existing innovation platforms will be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate the growth of the cassava industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These include technologies and opportunities for scaling to the last mile using tools and approaches developed by FARA over the past decade. According to the FAO, the DR Congo is the second largest producer of Cassava in Africa, only next to Nigeria. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen this comparative advantage to enable the country to sustain the gains made over the years.
At the end of the workshop, the TAAT initiative would have strengthen capacities of a network of digitally connected farmers with Innovation Platform thinking and enabling farmers adopt best practices and improve their productivity and profitability; fostered collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovation within the relevant cassava sector, especially the SAH technology; reviewed Innovation Platforms, their market readiness and development of an inclusive business model; and mainstreamed the Agri-Business Learning Alliance (ABLA) instruments within agriculture innovation system.
Facilitators from FARA include Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Institutional Capacity and Futures Cluster Leader and TAAT-CDTO Coordinator, Mr. Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Learning and Communications Cluster Leader and Ms. Karen Munoko, Agribusiness and Gender Expert. Dr. Adebayo Abass, the TAAT Cassava Compact Leader, Dr. Najimu Adetoro, and Ms. Angelique Kajibwami, both experts in the SAH technology, facilitated the training from the IITA side.
Get access to training images via https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAY1TF
3 Comments
This is awesome.
As a Practitioner in Gluten free, Organic processor of Cassava, gives me a good and bright value chain future, we produce, cookies, instant porridge and breakfast cereals from cassava, under Brand name MUGALA NATURALs in Kenya
I am a soil scientist from CSIR-Soil Research Institute(soil fertility and plant nutrition) in Ghana and I am very interested in this type of training. I want to know how can I involve myself in such training to train extension officers to disseminate the technology to farmers. Ghanaian farmers needs this technology. to increase their productivity and improve their livelihood. Thank you.
ithink it could be very important for the workshops to be done rotational in countries which are working with fara