By Bassey Udo
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has signed a $16.61m grant agreement with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to launch the third phase of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Program (TAAT-III) aimed at scaling climate-resilient food production across the continent.
The agreement signed on Wednesday in Abuja bolsters a shared commitment to modernise African agriculture by
scaling proven technologies, strengthening seed systems, and expanding partnerships among research institutions, governments, and private sector actors.
Since its launch in 2018, TAAT has become one of Africa’s most effective and transformative platforms for
agricultural innovation, reaching nearly 25 million farmers and boosting productivity across major staples.
The initiative, the AfDB said in a statement, has expanded climate-resilient agricultural practices across over 35 million hectares.
Working closely with the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research Centres(CGIAR) and national and regional partners, the AfDB said TAAT has increased crop yields as much as 69 percent and generated more than IITA gets AfDB Group $16.6m grant to scale agricultural technologies in Africa $4 billion in additional agricultural value.
The Bank said countries such as Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria have recorded notable gains in staple crop productivity and resilience to climate shocks.
Nigeria, in particular, has been a key beneficiary of TAAT initiatives.
Under its Wheat Compact, Nigerian farmers adopting improved heat-tolerant varieties more than doubled their yields from 1.7 tons per hectare to 3.5 tons per hectare.
Programme-supported seed system assessments also helped inform national reforms to expand access to certified,
climate-resilient seeds.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Director General of the Bank Group’s Nigeria Country Department, Abdul Kamara, said the new phase would focus on scaling innovation more rapidly.
“TAAT-III underscores the Bank’s commitment to ensuring that proven, climate-resilient agricultural technologies reach farmers faster and at scale,” Kamara said.
“This phase strengthens the systems that deliver innovation, helping countries boost productivity, enhance resilience, and align agricultural transformation efforts with the Bank’s four new areas of emphasis, dubbed the Four Cardinal Points,” he added.
Financed through the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional lending window, TAAT-III would consolidate earlier gains, while introducing a more sustainable, private sector-driven delivery model.
The initiative aims to reinforce seed and technology distribution systems, deepen partnerships with governments and agribusinesses, and expand the digital tools, including its technology e-catalogues and real-time monitoring platforms, to speed up deployment of high-impact solutions.
Director General of IITA, Simeon Ehui, remarked that “TAAT-III allows us to deepen the delivery of science-based solutions that improve farmers’ yields and livelihoods.
He said working with the AfDB and other partners, IITA was scaling technologies that make Africa’s food systems more resilient and competitive.
TAAT featured prominently in supporting the Bank Group’s Africa Emergency Food Production Facility, helping
countries to rapidly deploy improved seeds and technologies to stabilise food supplies during recent global disruptions.
The programme’s third phase seeks to embed these innovations within long-term national agricultural
investment strategies
TAAT-III is expected to reach an additional 14 million farmers across 37 low-income and vulnerable countries
served by the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional financing window.
