Ibadan, Nigeria
April 20, 2009
As the cropping season draws near,
resource-poor farmers in northern Nigeria have put forward a
demand for more improved seed varieties from scientists working
on the Sudan Savannah taskforce project, thanks to the
International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA) and partners.
The Sudan Savannah taskforce comprise a team of researchers
working on Kano-Katsina-Maradi Pilot initiative which aims to
carry out integrated agricultural research-for-development to
address the several constraints facing farmers in that region.
The leader of Aminchi multipurpose group at Tabbani village,
Musawa LGA, Katsina State, Hajiya Murja Abass, made the demand
on behalf of the farmers during the 2009 stakeholders’
mobilization exercise which also witnessed the launching of
innovation platforms in Katsina state in the presence of the
Chairman of Safana Local Government Area, Alhaji Abdulkadir A.
Zakka and the Chairman of Musawa LGA, Dr. Aliyu Musawa.
Abass, a seed producer in the 2008 cropping exercise, pleaded
that more improved seeds should be provided by the taskforce in
order to meet up demand from farmers.
“Farmers love the seeds because of the good results they got
last year. The improved seed yield thrice the normal harvest
they get using the same hectare of land and the same quantity of
seeds,” she said.
Nigeria’s north is home to grain crops—such as cowpea, soybeans,
groundnut, sorghum and maize among others—but constraints such
as lack of improved seed varieties, declining soil fertility and
poor marketing have limited grain production.
The KKM Pilot initiative which is funded by the Forum for
Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), through its recently
inaugurated innovation platforms aims to tackle the problems in
a holistic manner.
Partners in the project include the Katsina State ADP, Kano
State ADP, Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria, National
Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services, National
Animal Production Research Institute, the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IRNS, two LGAs, input and
output dealers.
The Sudan Savannah taskforce leader, Dr. Alpha Y. Kamara, said
the project would help in finding solutions to the numerous
constraints faced by the farmers.
“We would also want the local government authorities to fully
support the innovation platforms in the implementation of the
project activities,” Kamara who is also IITA agronomist said.
He also urged farmers to adopt modern farming methods as a way
out of poverty and as a panacea for food insecurity.
Dr. Musawa said his administration would support the project in
all possible ways to ensure improvement in the livelihoods of
farmers.
He appealed to the Sudan Savannah taskforce to expand the
program to other communities beyond the 5 communities originally
selected in each of the local governments.
As a mark of support to the project, the participating local
governments made available the services of agric extension
agents in their LGAs and provided them with motorbikes to
enhance their mobility in the supervision of farmers.
They also promised to subsidize farm inputs such as fertilizer,
pesticides and improved seeds.
Currently the Sudan savanna taskforce has over 150 participating
lead farmers in the project who are expected to teach fellow
farmers innovations acquired during the course of the project
Apart from deploying farm inputs, resource-poor farmers are
taught modern farming techniques in order to boost productivity.
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and
people's lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our
partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning
research for development (R4D) is based on focused,
authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of
sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond
to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and
productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an
international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed
by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR. |
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