Strengthening ties: IITA and South Kivu partner to reduce food imports and transform agriculture in DRC

26 September 2024

During a brief stay in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which hosts IITA -CGIAR, Dr Simeon Ehui, Director General of IITA and CGIAR Regional Director for Continental Africa, met with Provincial Governor Jean-Jacques Mpurusi Sadiki on 9 September.

The agenda of the meeting revolved around sustaining and furthering collaboration between IITA and the provincial government in particular and with DR Congo's government in general, as well as assessing the implications of IITA's mission in strengthening food security in South Kivu.

The Provincial Minister of Agriculture, His Excellency Didier Kabi, IITA Central Africa Hub Director and Country Representative for DRC Zoumana Bamba, IITA-Kalambo Station Head Jan A. Helsen, and several executives from both IITA and the provincial government attended the meeting.

Governor Sadiki and DG Ehui reviewed the impact of previous projects and the inputs made by various technical partners as part of endeavors meant to reduce imports of basic commodities. These reviews were important because the said projects are designed and implemented to develop and revamp the agricultural sector in the country and, subsequently, improve the socio-economic conditions of the country's inhabitants.

The provincial authority took the opportunity to hail IITA's inputs in the region, urging the institute to engage further in implementing its mission, which includes providing technical support for agricultural research.

Dr Ehui noted that the support from IITA, coupled with contributions from various partners working in the sector, will help provide appropriate and lasting solutions to problems such as food insecurity and reverse the trend in food imports, bearing in mind that the South Kivu province is an agricultural area, among other potentials. "Most importantly, it goes beyond investing further in research and rural development infrastructures but is also about advocating for and initiating desirable agricultural policy reforms to boost food security," he added.

DG Ehui earlier met with the provincial Minister of Agriculture to discuss various technical issues on the implementation of the "Agenda for the Transformation of Agriculture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ATA-DRC)" program in the Ruzizi plain, as this area makes up the intervention scope in the space under the Minister's wardship, in the frame of the ATA-DRC Program.

Contributed by Isabelle Buhoro

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