STMA Stakeholders Hold their 2019 Annual Review and Planning for West and Central African Region

The 2019 Annual Review and Planning Meeting for the West and Central African Regional Stakeholders in the STMA Project was held at the headquarter of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria, from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th April 2019. The meeting had in attendance members of the STMA maize breeding, testing, demonstration and promotional teams in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Mali.

The meeting had for each country scientists, promotional experts and stakeholders in the national agricultural seed system. Each country presented their 2018 work reports, as well as 2019 plan of activities with regard to the thrust of the project.

Mali and Benin awarded for their good work

In a well-deserved manner, Mali emerged the overall best winner of the 2018 Maize Technology Breeding Country for the STMA project within the West and Central African Region. The team had presented a robust picture for Mali, with several varietal releases, well ahead of Nigeria, Ghana and Benin. The award was presented to the team at the 2019 Annual Review and Planning Meeting

Benin emerged the overall best winner of the Maize Technology Dissemination Country for the STMA project for the same period and within the same region. The team presented novel ways of the promoting the STM varieties in the 2018 season, including the development and deployment of innovative platforms, alongside other conventional platforms. While Nigeria was the second runner-up to Mali in the maize technology breeding, Ghana was the runner-up for the technology dissemination.