IITA invests $277m in Nigeria’s agric research

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has invested a total of $277 million in Nigeria’s agricultural research to boost farmers’ productivity and improve their livelihoods within the last seven years.

In a response to BusinessDay’s questions, the institute said it has spent a total of $1.1billion on the continents agricultural research with Nigeria accounting for a quarter of the total investments in the region.

“Nigeria is the biggest in terms of research investments in Africa. Nigeria gets a quarter of our investments,” said Robert Asiedu, director-West Africa research for development, IITA.

“In terms of researchers we have 200 scientists with Nigeria having 70 of them,” said Asiedu.

Also, the institute is building a pest control centre in Benin Republic to tackle pest invasion on the continent.

According to Kweshi Atta-Krah, the institute is building a pest control centre in Benin Republic to tackle crop diseases, recognizing the need to improve food security and enhance the well-being of rural population.

He stated that the institute is integrating agricultural innovation, productivity and sustainability dimensions into agric research in Nigeria and the continent at large.

Also, Asiedu who was earlier quoted said that IITA is aware of the enormous economic impact of pests on maize and crop production in Nigeria which is threatening the country’s food security and livelihoods of farmers and consumers.

He stated that the institute is ready to work with the Federal Government to reduce pest attacks to stabilise national production.

“There is a lot of research going on now for the army worm invasion. We are trying to see the best chemicals to be used as a short term measure and on the long run we are working to build resistance to the armyworm infestations ravaging farmlands in Nigeria and across Africa,” Asiedu said.

“Also we are trying to use biological agents which could be another insects or a fungus to control the armyworm,” He added.

Kenton Dashiell, deputy director general-partnerships for delivery, IITA said farmers have a chance to boost their food production from researches conducted by the institute. He said the researches on cassava, maize, sorghum and cow peas were a great success for the farmers.

Dashiell said IITA is ready to strengthen linkages and forge stronger partnerships around new ideas, tools and technologies that contribute to developments in agricultural science, technology and innovation.

He demonstrated how new technologies and their assessments, delivery mechanisms, shared platforms, and new tools will support agricultural transformation and economic development in Nigeria.

By modernizing its breeding programmes, he said IITA will be able to help farmers sustainably increase their production and quality of production.

 
Josephine Okojie