IITA Bénin hosts centre of excellence for research

A centre of excellence for research and training to link climate change with biodiversity and biotic stresses was launched this week in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) campus in the Republic of Benin.

This follows a major conference on biotic stresses, climate change and agricultural production in Cotonou, Republic of Bénin, held this month. The centre, which comes under the auspices of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) has IITA, the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Bénin (INRAB), AfricaRice, Bioversity, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), and the University of Abomey Calavi (UAC) as partners. It is also opened to other national agricultural research systems in the West and Central African bloc.

The centre was inaugurated by Fatouma Amadou Djibril, the Republic of Bénin’s minister of agriculture, Ibet Outman Issa, director-general, CORAF/WECARD, and Bruce Coulman, IITA board of trustees chairman,.

The inauguration of the Centre of Excellence aligns with IITA’s refreshed strategy which seeks to “establish the IITA Cotonou station as a biodiversity centre and a leading research and training center providing sustainable solutions to crop biotic stresses linked with climate change in West Africa in partnership with CORAF/WECARD, West African universities, CGIAR centres, and international agricultural research centres (IARCs) in the region.”

Already, IITA has taken over the rehabilitated forest of Drabo Gbo in the Republic of Benin as a field research station linked to the Cotonou biodiversity centre. Bruce Coulman explained that the need to establish a centre of excellence is based on the fact that climate change is important and it would affect agricultural production and productivity and pest population, and so there was the need to develop strategies to mitigate this challenge.

“This facility will attract global attention to this very important topic,” he said.

Trine Hvoslef-Eide, IITA board member said that the establishment of the Centre of Excellence was a wonderful opportunity for West and Central African farmers. “This Center will help the region to be prepared for these new challenges, and more importantly, the Centre will offer easy access to farmers in terms of information which they could use in addressing climate change,” she said.

Robert Asiedu, IITA director for Western Africa, said the establishment of the centre would help the region to develop and harmonise its efforts in tackling the menace from climate change. “With this facility, we can understand, predict and develop the necessary tools that will help us influence our destiny. If not, we will be helpless when the effects of climate change finally hit us,” he said.