Agriculture

Group calls for improved agriculture innovations to boost food security

Published

6 months ago

April 30, 2025

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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Agriculture

IWMI: Promoting affordable irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers

Published

1 week ago

October 21, 2025

The Gleamer

Mariam Sanni

Smallholder farmers are challenged with erratic rainfall leading to drought spells, crop water stress and eventually reduced growth and yield penalties

Water insecurity is the major risk to smallholder farmers and a major driver for low investments in agricultural innovations

Even when water resources are sustainably available, smallholder farmers are unable to invest in irrigation equipment due to high upfront costs.

Smallholder farmers have limited access to loans and credit facilities even though irrigation usually is a profitable investment.

Promoting affordable irrigation for smallholders involves increasing access to low-cost technologies like drip and sprinkler kits and solar pumps, and supporting them with financial tools like subsidies and credit.

Also the Farmer-Led Irrigation Development (FLID) has helped farmers to independently invest in, manage and maintain irrigation equipment, adapting technologies to local needs without relying on large-scale projects, reduces farmers’ reliance on erratic rainfall and leads to increased farm investments (good seed, fertilizers, etc.)

Farmers move from 1 rain-fed crop, to multiple harvests per year, boosting yields, income, and food security

Nigeria and other countries have high potential for solar-based irrigation, irrespective of the type of water resources.

As part of efforts to boost local capacity to produce and maintain simple, low-cost irrigation, International Water Management Institute, IWMI through multi- stakeholder dialogues, policy support is partnering with stakeholders created an enabling environment for inclusive and sustainable irrigation development .

The Researcher , Agricultural Water Solution, IWMI Dr Adebayo Oke during his presentation at the International Conference on Climate Change and Just Energy Transition 2025, highlighted that the institute has foster SMEs’ inclusive scaling of bundled irrigation solutions through inclusive business model development and strategic partnerships

The Conference which was theme: Sustainable Clinate Resilience and Just Energy Transition in Africa: A Collaborative Pathway through Policy, Capacity Building, Research and Inclusion was held in Abuja.

He added that its has deployed an impact accelerator program to develop new bundled solutions and SME collaborations that address multiple value chains

According him, IWMI has attracted sustainable finance investments in SMEs to fast-track the adoption of bundled water solutions by smallholder farmers.

Speaking on experience in Nigeria: scaling solar irrigation solutions –Solar scaling pathway studies (Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi) has stratifying the smallholder farmers using the Discrete Choice Experiment.

He mentioned bundling of irrigation technology and financial services to determine scaling pathway/different financing models.

Dr Oke added they also developed a credit facility to enable the scaling of SPI.

Furthermore, he stated IWMI-West & Central Africa Priorities for 2024-2030 as building resilient agric food system against climate change , leveraging water for resilience in fragile and conflict affected settings, enabling circular water and food economy innovations, supporting water infrastructure and allocation decisions among others .

The Country Director , Ghana and Regional Representatives for West and Central Africa, Professor Kehinde Ogunjobi in an interview with newsmen at the event highlighted the importance of evidence-based data for farmers, aquaculture, and environmental ministries.

He said that there is need to raise awareness and emphasized the importance of government support for research and developmental projects on climate change and its impact on agriculture, livelihood, and other sectors.

Professor Ogunjobi has implored government to build capacity of people working in the field of climate change and capacitate farmers to turn evidence-based data into reality.

He encouraged the government to do more to support research and address the impact of climate change, which is more evident in the West African region compared to developed countries.

He urged stakeholders to collaborate with the government and institutions like IWMI Ghana to improve the impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and improve the livelihood of people in the region.

He noted the political shift in the US, with the previous administration no longer supporting climate change initiatives, emphasizing the need for Africa to look inward.

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