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CORAF held the third edition of the Market for Agricultural Innovations and Technologies (MITA) from September 12 to 15, 2023 at the Ouaga 2000 Conference Hall. Under the theme "Facilitating access to gender- and nutrition-sensitive agricultural technologies and innovations," this event was a must-attend event to showcase innovations and technological advances from both public and private research in West and Central Africa.

" Agricultural technologies and innovations contribute enormously to the quest for food security, environmental sustainability and resilience to the challenges of climate change," said Prof. Adjima Thiombiano, Burkina Faso's Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, in her opening address.

The^3rd edition of the Marché des Innovations et Technologies Agricoles (MITA) brought together 190 participants, including 57 women from West and Central Africa and other regions. Inventors and innovators of agricultural technologies took part in this edition of MITA through exhibitions followed by presentations of cutting-edge agricultural technologies and innovations, B-to-B meetings, panels and communications.

" For this year, MITA 2023 takes on a special dimension by highlighting gender- and nutrition-sensitive technologies. The aim is to facilitate access to such agricultural innovations and position them at the heart of the debate. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize agriculture and contribute to greater food security, while taking into account the gender and nutrition dimension ", emphasized Dr Abdou TENKOUANO, Executive Director of CORAF.

During this year's event, 120 cutting-edge technologies and innovations were on display, 70 of which attracted considerable interest during one-to-one (B-to-B) meetings. In addition, a number of other technologies and innovations in the agri-food sector also attracted considerable interest.

One of the technologies presented by the Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles du Burkina Faso (INERA) is a process for converting mango by-products into animal feed. To promote the industrialization of this technology, INERA has set up equipment to facilitate implementation of the process. This equipment enables mango kernels to be crushed and trilled, separating the kernels from the flesh and skin. " This will facilitate the production of animal feed. And this machine can process one tonne of mango per hour ", explains Dr Timbilfou Tiendrébeogo, INERA researcher and zootechnician specializing in animal feed and nutrition.

Innovation prizes were awarded to structures that had distinguished themselves in fields related to the publishing theme.

Through this edition, CORAF and its partners are committed to promoting gender- and nutrition-sensitive innovations that meet the needs of all links in agricultural value chains, from production through mechanization to processing. As a platform for the exhibition and discovery of technologies and innovations in the agricultural value chain, MITA also attracted key players involved in the supply, transfer and adoption of improved technologies.