Agriculture
NASC, IITA signs MOU on Community based Seed entrepreneurship
National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to train thousands of community based Seed entrepreneurs as part of efforts to improve seed production and marketing in four north east States of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe.
The project, funded by USAID, will involve training and supporting 2250 seed producers to become Community Based Seed Entrepreneurs (CBSE) in the four intervention states and facilitating the formation of these CBSE into 150 community based Seed enterprises cooperatives.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the NASC headquarters in Abuja which happened to be his last official duty before exiting the Council as the Director General, Dr. Olusegun Philip Ojo, said the Council is responsible for ensuring that farmers have good quality seeds and that the Council works with several partners.
“And most of the innovations and technology introduced in the seed industry were done in collaboration with organisations like yours. So when the idea of partnering with IITA came, we were happy to embrace it. We want to continue to expand our collaborators and partners because we are positioning the Council as centre of excellence for seed industry in West Africa.
“For your information, Nigeria produces over 50% of good quality seeds in West Africa and we have become force of a sort when it comes to seed production. So now we get several references from organisations to come to us for the seed they need.
“IITA has been a good partner as we have been able to partner on several projects such as seed codex, among other. The community seed project is very dear to our hearts because, the seed companies alone cannot take care of all the seed needs of farmers and the need to ensure that farmers at the downstream and local level have access to the best of genetics, that is what the programme is addressing, especially in the north,and seed is a game changer in agriculture, it would be good if the project can be replicated across the country to make seed available for the farmers at the grassroots,” he said.
Also speaking, before signing the MoU, IITA Chief of Party, Prakash Kant Silwal, said through its Northeast Regional Office, it has collaborated with the activity in training 1,937 Community Based Seed Producers on improved seed production and marketing techniques in Adamawa and Borno States between 2020 and 2022.
He said the organisation has also monitored the seed fields of these CBSPs and provided the needed support and guidance, tested the samples of the seeds produced by the CBSPs at its Seed laboratory in Gombe.
“Attended the annual Agricultural inputs Fair organized by the Activity to create necessary awareness for the smallholder farmers on the need to plant certified seeds instead of grains.
“All the above have significantly increased the use of certified seeds by smallholder farmers in intervention communities and resulted in an increase in yield and income.
“Scaling up of interventions in seed system development: Recently, our donor (USAID) expanded the scope of the Activity to scale-up interventions in seed system development in the existing states (Borno and Adamawa and expand into Gombe and Yobe states). This will involve supporting 2,250 seed producers to become Community Based Seed Entrepreneurs (CBSE) in the four intervention states and facilitating the formation of these CBSEs into 150 community-based seed enterprises cooperatives.
“In achieving this, the Activity still needs the continuous support of NASC as contained in the MOU that we are signing today.
“I am happy to announce that this is already happening as the activity and NASC Officials are currently organizing training for the selected 2,250 CBSP in improved seed production and marketing techniques across the four intervention states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe. Other activities will follow suit,” he explains.
Agriculture
Group calls for improved agriculture innovations to boost food security
Mariam Sanni
A Non Governmental Organization, NGO in the agricultural sector, Self Help Africa, SHA has called for improved agricultural innovations to enhance food security and support farmers.
The Country Director, Joy Aderele made this call during in a media chat at the National Mid-term review for the abatement of short-lived climate pollutants in Nigerian Agricultural sector project held in Abuja .
According to her, a recent learning visit revealed that many innovative solutions exist in institutes but are not reaching farmers.
She added that there is a need for policies that would enable researchers in the agricultural sector to disseminate their innovations more effectively.
She emphasized the need for a protocol that allows researchers to share their work without fear of it being taken over is emphasized.
“So we just returned from a learning visit last week, where we had gone to some institutes, great institutes across the country, and I was surprised and amazed to see that we have a lot of innovation sitting in this institute, professors that have done a lot of things that will even make us not to have any issue a young guy in Nigeria. But this learning or innovation is not trickling down. People don’t know about it. The average farmer in my village does not know about the innovation.
“ So I would say that one thing that the ministry should do is to bring up this protocol that enable researchers in the agri space to disseminate their their data, their innovation freely so that farmers and our food security can improve,” she stated.
Aderele highlighted the major achievement of reducing bush burning among farmers, which improves soil and environmental health.
She explained that the promotion of climate-smart agriculture has led to higher crop yields, benefiting farmers and the community.
According to her, Post-harvest losses have been reduced, with rice residue now used to make briquettes, providing an additional income source for farmers.
The country Director said awareness of climate change has increased among farmers, leading to a shift away from traditional, harmful practices like bush burning.
Aderele revealed that the current pilot project in Benue state is aimed to be replicated across all 36 states and the FCT in Nigeria.
She noted that the organization has worked with over 500,000 small farmers globally, with a focus on making farming attractive to young people.
She added that the organization plans to share the lessons learned from the pilot project to improve farming practices nationwide.
The Director, department of agriculture land and climate change management device, Federal Ministry off Agriculture, Muhammed Bello emphasized the importance of sustainable land management for food security and the government’s goal of ensuring healthy soil for farmers.
He surged that the project on abatement of short-lived climate change pollutants is highlighted as a key initiative to clean up and fertilize the land.
He explained that the collaboration is aimed to replicate the project’s achievements and expand its reach across Nigeria, ensuring that more farmers benefit from healthy soil.
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