Institutions from Nigeria and the Netherlands have signed a partnership to enhance the exchange of knowledge for protective vegetable cultivation.
The Nigerian team was made up of representatives of JMSF Agribusiness Limited, Eupepsia Place Limited (Soilless Farm Lab) along with the leading communicator, the Africa Farmers’ Stories while Koppert Biological Systems, Pan African Seeds BV, Priva, Viscon, Leiden Delft Erasmus universities and Seed2Feed Foundation represented the Dutch Partners.
A member of the Nigerian delegation to the Netherlands Victoria Madedor, noted that her team had been having virtual meetings with the Dutch side for almost two years and that it was great to finally have the Nigerian delegations visiting the Netherlands to actualise the partnership.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sets forth the terms and understanding between the Nigerian partners and the Dutch partners, to speed up the implementation of protected cultivation and soilless farming techniques among Nigerian horticulture farmers in Nigeria.
Frans De Jong, the Ceo Seed2feed Foundation and the Co-Chairperson of the Consortium, Greenport Lagos commented: “We have worked towards a collaboration to speed up the implementation of protected cultivation and soilless farming techniques among Horticulture farmers in Nigeria. So, I am very excited that we can now officially kick off this initiative with the support of the Dutch industry and the Dutch government. We look forward to working with the African Farmer Stories, Soilless Farm Lab and JSMF Business and all other future partners for the benefit of the Nigerian farmers.”
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Madedor explained that for a well-structured collaboration, “the first thing we need to align is the interaction and governance between the Nigerian and Dutch ecosystems. To this effect, certain steps have been taken with the development of a consortium backed by the signed MOU between 9 parties to form a strong team taking into account all stakeholders from growers, growers association, input and technology supplies, knowledge institutes and government. By joining the combined expertise, capabilities and ambitions of these partners within the Impact cluster, a visionary approach is secured and sure.”
Two Lagos State Commissioners – Samuel Egube for Economic Planning & Budget and Abisola Olusanya for Agriculture, Debo Akande, Oyo State SSA on Agriculture, Head Agribusiness and Mechanisation Sub-Saharan Africa, IITA were on hand to witness the MoU signing.
The Lagos State Government was particularly delighted by the name of the impact clusters – Greenport Lagos. A Greenport is a structure for horticultural collaboration between government, business and knowledge institutions. It is another word for a regional horticulture cluster with the framework for collaboration between businesses.
It is expected to serve as a veritable platform for the implementation of solutions tailored specifically for Nigeria. With the MOU signed for realizing the Impact Cluster – Greenport Lagos, the pillars of research/education, and government are now all in place.
JMSF Agribusiness Ltd. is an Agricultural advisory services provision consulting firm with expertise in delivering good results and creating values for stakeholders in the agribusiness sector. Soilless Farming Lab (SFL), the first of its kind in Nigeria and Africa serves as the brainchild of Eupepsia Place Ltd. SFL is a company with the vision of tackling 5 of the SDG goals using technology by teaching participants how to use these technologies as well as make them. Seed2Feed foundation is known for its contribution to promoting food security by supporting economically viable investments in agri-food chains.
Viscon is a company passionate about agro and food processes and the limitless possibilities that can be offered by technology. With their great software, machinery and solutions, the ability to produce, distribute and enjoy healthy fresh food is explored. With a combination of these extraordinary groups of companies, remarkable results are to be expected.
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