ISAAA AfriCenter

The ISAAA AfriCenter was established in 1994 in Kenya. It is hosted by the regional office of the International Potato Center (CIP) on the campus of the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya. Its portfolio of projects includes a tissue culture initiative to revive banana production in Kenya and other East African countries, and a program for the micropropagation and distribution of multipurpose trees.

It actively supports two projects: the introduction and farm-level evaluation of new biotechnologies for banana, and fast growing multi-purpose trees. ISAAA collaborates with the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), farmer cooperatives, local private companies, and collaborators in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda to enable farmers to avail of virus-free and improved banana plantlets through the production of clean superior plants by tissue culture (tc). ISAAA facilitates the adoption of this technology and ensures its sustainability by working with other sectors that have experience in extension, micro-credit, and marketing operations.

ISAAA also facilitated the sharing of proprietary technology, specifically germplasm of fast growing multi-purpose trees, from partners in South Africa to partners in Kenya. Technology transfer includes transfer of skills, training in terms of propagation techniques, and the handling and management of the tree species.

Why in Africa?

Agriculture is not only the primary source of food in Africa, it is also the principal means of income and livelihood for 70% of its people. African women produce 70 to 80% of the food compared with 65% in Asia and 45% in Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, the prospects for agriculture are threatened in Africa, with approximately 80% of the land in Africa endangered by degradation and 2 million hectares of forest lost annually to shifting cultivation.

Agriculture African leaders and the international development community have set a goal to increase future agricultural production across Africa by at least 4% per annum. This growth rate is only feasible if agriculture is accorded higher priority by national governments and by bilateral and multilateral development agencies, and these increased investments must be supported by appropriate policies. Furthermore, achieving annual sustained growth of 4% will be impossible without significantly increasing crop productivity through higher yielding, more nutritious crops.