CABI News

11 April 2017 – Dr. Trevor Nicholls, CEO, led a CABI delegation to Côte d’Ivoire on 10 April 2017 to discuss with the African Development Bank (AfDB) the current status and future role of CABI programmes for promoting agricultural development in Africa.

Dr. Nicholls attended the meeting at the National Center for Agricultural Research in Abidjan accompanied by a CABI delegation comprising Elizabeth Nambiro, Plantwise Regional Coordinator, Africa, Dennis Rangi, Director General, Development, and Morris Akiri, Regional Director, Africa.

President of the AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, received a presentation on CABI Plantwise and PRISE programmes, which aim to tackle crop losses through pest identification and control. Dr. Adesina was grateful for CABI’s work, acknowledging the programme’s value in helping to reduce food imports and increase agricultural intensification across Africa.

A key component of the discussions related to linking Plantwise and PRISE with the AfDB’s own Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme, worth US$850m. TAAT is focusing on transforming agriculture on the continent using technological innovations to eliminate hunger and turn Africa into a net food exporter.

Dr. Adesina was engaged throughout the meeting highlighting the challenges and opportunities of embedding CABI’s work into TAAT. Constructive discussion was had around the issues of youth participation, IT integration, institutional collaboration and scaling up the programmes.

Dr. Nicholls was pleased with the meeting, saying, “We were honoured that President Adesina spent nearly an hour of his valuable time with us. He was already very knowledgeable about CABI’s work in Africa and made a number of very valuable suggestions during our discussions.”

On future collaboration between CABI and AfDB, Dr. Nicholls added, “It is very encouraging to see the African Development Bank placing such a strong emphasis on agriculture as a driver of economic growth on the continent and we look forward to playing our part in delivering the visionary TAAT programme.” 

Photocredit: AfDB President

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