| | Former director of the Crop Diversification Division of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Dr. Stan Blade, is back in Alberta after two years based in Nigeria, West Africa. Blade took a leave of absence to serve as research director of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). IITA is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research that works with an annual budget of $440 million and is comprised of 15 research centres across the globe (www.cgiar.org).
"It was interesting to see just how similar many of the issues in Africa are to what we deal with in Western Canada," says Blade. "The institute was very much about food security, but we also talked almost in equal terms about finding additional value, enhancing processing rather than growing only commodities.all the kinds of things that I hear about not only in Western Canada, but in other parts of the world that are engaged in agriculture production."
IITA has 150 internationally recruited scientists working in 20 African countries. Blade was able to create new collaborations among the institute, African governments and agricultural organizations, as well as build partnerships with advanced research institutions around the world. Projects included development of crops with enhanced nutrient levels (such as increased beta-carotene in sweet potatoes for Mozambique), innovative integrated plant health management technologies (including management strategies for a serious new banana disease in Kenya and Uganda) and value-addition research (new product development across West Africa using starch crops and grain legumes).
"One of the great benefits in having the opportunity to work as a research director within a global organization that is supported by the United Nations, is travelling throughout the world," says Blade. "No matter where I was, there were the same kinds of issues being developed. There are numerous opportunities to network, and gain advantages by talking to each other about anticipated areas of opportunity, problems and how to solve them, and the innovations being worked on, even with our competitors. The more we stretch out and test our ideas in the global setting, the better off we'll be."
Blade has accepted the role as managing director of the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute (AARI) with responsibility for agriculture and bioproducts, with Alberta Innovation and Science. He is looking forward to working with the agricultural sector and beyond to deliver on the AARI mandate to provide strategic leadership for agricultural research in Alberta.
"I think that Alberta is in an ideal place to be a global leader in many of the areas that agriculture is moving into," says Blade. "At AARI, we are looking at a wide array of opportunities. In the past, AARI has funded small, discrete projects across the province with great success. But, to prepare for the future, we will have to concentrate our investments. We are developing a great capability to test opportunities in the carbohydrate economy, whether that is biofuels, better use of biomass for fibre or chemical products or how we create stronger links between agriculture and health. There is no doubt that these are challenging days in production agriculture, but we know that we also have to think about how to position the sector for new opportunities in the future."
Contact: Dr. Stan Blade (780) 427-0367 |
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