From Daily News Online.

Tanzanian President Mrisho Jakaya Kikwete inaugurated a new, $4 million facility for the  International Institute of Tropical Agriculture this week in Dar es Salaam.

The ceremony brought together public and private stakeholders in agricultural research.

The building is the result of IITA’s efforts to strengthen its research capacity and that of its partners in sub-Saharan Africa who continue to grapple with food shortages, malnutrition and famine every other year, according to a press release at the IITA website.

“Inadequate investment in agriculture and in particular research are the major constraining factors to modernization, transformation and growth of rural sectors in Africa,” Kikwete said. “This in turn is the source of the prevailing precarious food security situation in many parts of the continent,” according to IITA.

Tanzania’s budget allocation is less than 1 percent for agricultural research, Kikwete said in the Daily News Online report. His goal is to increase it to 10 percent.

Read more at Daily News Online.