The recently-appointed IITA Abuja Station Head, Professor Lateef Sanni, on 7 February, signed a reviewed MoU between IITA and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on behalf of Deputy Director-General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell.
The 62-hectare facility on which the IITA Abuja Station is situated was initiated in 1985 by the Kennedy Family as part of US-based Citizens Energy Corporation’s corporate social responsibility. The company collaborated with the former Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to help farmers around the Territory improve their farming practices to boost productivity and enhance livelihoods. Subsequently, it was passed on to IITA, formalized with an MoU signed in 1991. The Station was only a research farm unit with farming technologies shared with farmers through field days, exhibitions, and training activities.
When the incumbent Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, assumed office in 2011, the Station received increased attention leading to the current transformation witnessed on the campus. Under the current regime, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of international and national personnel, research projects, and new and improved facilities. With the rapid change in the Station, it became necessary to review the MoU between IITA and FCTA.
After several consultations between IITA Management and FCTA authorities, the reviewed MoU was signed at the Ministry’s Secretariat in Garki, Abuja by the Mandate Secretary of the FCTA Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS), Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim, and Professor Sanni. FCTA Director of Agric Services Ihekandu Francisca and IITA Yam Seed System Specialist Beatrice Aighewi witnessed the signing.
Revising the MoU will consolidate the functionalities of its content, such as the IITA’s Outreach activities. IITA’s technology will be deployed to teach and train the youth, farmers, and other agric stakeholders in FCTA, which will go a long way in complementing the Federal Government and FCTA’s efforts to guarantee food and nutrition security within the capital and beyond.
Also, the partnership will allow farmers, processors, and youth in agribusiness to create more jobs, thereby sustaining their livelihoods. FCTA staff stand to benefit from the technical and administrative skills of IITA in project dissemination.
Sanni thanked the FCTA on behalf of DG Sanginga for the urgency given to his request to sign the reviewed MoU. He also pledged to submit an action plan on Outreach activities shortly.
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