Publisher's Synopsis
Co–publishing Institutions IITA PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria Tel: (234) 22 400300–400319 Telex: 31417 TROPIB NG Fax (INMARSAT): 874–1772276 Cable: TROPFOUND IKEJA The goal of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is to increase the productivity of key food crops and to develop sustainable agricultural systems that can replace bush fallow, or slash–and–burn cultivation, in the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa. Crop improvement programmes focus on cassava, maize, plantain, cowpea, soybean and yam. Research findings are shared through international cooperation programmes, which include training, information and germplasm exchange activities. IITA was founded in 1967. The Federal Government of Nigeria provided a land grant of 1000 hectares at Ibadan for a headquarters and experimental farm site, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations provided financial support. IITA is governed by an international Board of Trustees. The staff includes nearly 200 scientists and professional staff from about 40 countries, who work at the Ibadan campus and at selected locations in many countries of sub–Saharan Africa. IITA is a member of a system of non–profit, international agricultural research centres supported by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Established in 1971, the CGIAR is an association of about 50 countries, international and regional organizations and private foundations. The purpose of the research effort is to improve the quantity and quality of food production in developing countries. The World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are co–sponsors of this effort. AABNF c/o IITA, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria Tel: (234) 22 400300–400319 Telex: 31417 TROPIB NG Fax (INMARSAT): 874–1772276 Cable: TROPFOUND IKEJA The African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation (AABNF), a multidisciplinary group of scientists and policy makers, was founded in 1982 under the auspices of IITA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Association promotes research, training and the use of biological nitrogen fixation to increase food production, reduce the need for purchased nitrogen fertilizers, and alleviate malnutrition in Africa.
