Commissioning of the IITA Zambia Facilities

The Honorable Dr Guy Scott, then the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia, laid the foundation stone of the SARAH campus on 12 September 2013. Since then, IITA has developed it as the main International Agricultural Research Center in Zambia and the SADC region.

The hub features an administration block, seed warehouse, machinery storage warehouses, screenhouses, and a cassava processing center. We have also developed a top-class research farm with modern irrigation facilities.

There is a Science Building that houses laboratories (agronomy, pest management, social sciences) and tissue culture and SAH facilities for the multiplication of cassava planting materials.

The science building is dedicated to IITA and its partners’ mission of fighting hunger and poverty in the country and will contribute towards boosting agricultural productivity in Zambia and the SADC region. It also symbolizes our dedication and commitment to building the research and development capacity in Zambia.

The Cassava Processing Unit serves to develop and optimize commercially viable enterprises targeting young people and women. In addition to being open to IITA scientists and partners from CGIAR and National Agricultural Research Institutes, including ZARI, etc, the facilities are accessible to professors, scientists, and students from national and international universities.

IITA employs about 100-200 permanent and short-term staff.

The building of the IITA Zambia Station is historic and will spearhead the transformation of food systems and contribute to making the country become the breadbasket of the SADC region.