Ames, Iowa, USA
June 11, 2025
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation and Iowa State University signed a memorandum of cooperation and understanding earlier this year. The MOU seeks to establish a program of academic exchange, cooperation and collaboration to promote interest in teaching, research and technology deployment activities among the two institutions. This includes the area of quality seed production and technology stewardship.
The purposes of the MOU fit well with Iowa State’s emphasis on creating new opportunities and partnering with others to discover solutions to challenges in the world. Faculty and staff will work together on various research projects and students will travel to the partner institution to study or conduct research.
“We look forward to collaborating with our AATF colleagues in the coming months and years as we join forces to enable the availability of quality seeds for African farmers,” said Daniel J. Robison, endowed dean’s chair of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “The work AATF does greatly aligns with the excellent work being done by our Seed Science Center. I am excited to see the outcomes of this partnership.”
Iowa State’s Seed Science Center, based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is internationally recognized as a center of excellence in seed science, technology, education and extension. Over the past 20 years, scientists at the Seed Science Center have designed and implemented programs in more than 80 countries, helping to provide quality seeds, facilitate seed trade, and promote the growth and development of the global seed industry.
About AATF
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is a not-for-profit technology transfer organization that embraces a mission of making available to smallholder farmers agricultural technologies that were previously not accessible to them. AATF facilitates public-private partnerships and works in 23 African countries with the governments, private and public technology owners and developers, seed companies, other value chain players and African farmers to identify, access, adapt and commercialize technologies that address farmers’ key problems and empower them to generate wealth and health for their families and communities. AATF has developed the Youth in Agritech for Economic Development and Youth Innovation Hub, which are intentional, pro-social approaches that identify and develop youth in agribusiness for employment creation, food and nutrition security and income generation in Africa.
About Iowa State University
Iowa State University is a leading research-intensive, land-grant institution established in 1858. The university advances its land-grant mission by engaging with local, state and global partners and communities through teaching, innovative research, professional service activities, and extension and outreach programs that address societal needs. The ISU Extension and Outreach program is recognized globally as a strong and impactful initiative that effectively translates new research innovations into practical solutions benefiting communities and industry.
As evidence of Iowa State’s leadership as a global research and innovation institution, it has been recognized annually since 2013 by the National Academy of Inventors on its Top 100 Worldwide Universities List, which ranks universities based on the number of U.S. utility patents granted. Iowa State takes pride in its ability to build strong partnerships with industry, local and global universities, and strategic collaborators who share its vision of developing solutions to global challenges and improving quality of life for all.
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