Following the approval of the first phase of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Program, which is being implemented in seven states—Cross River, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Ogun, and Oyo—and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a delegation from the FCT Authority, Buhler AG, AFEX Commodities Exchange Ltd, and other partners visited the IITA-Abuja campus to explore ways of maximizing the facility as a hub for capacity building on agricultural innovations for farmers, especially the youth and how best to increase agricultural productivity and competitiveness through technical backstopping from IITA
The meeting was coordinated by AgroNigeria as part of the DealRoom Framework of the Feed Nigeria Summit. AgroNigeria has a subsisting partnership with IITA.
The Head of IITA-Abuja Station, represented by Chiedozie Egesi, informed the team of the Institute’s readiness to leverage experiences, resources, and existing facilities to support the implementation of FCTA’s SAPZ and actualize the purposes of income generation, job creation, and sustainable livelihood of the populace.
The Chief of Staff to the Honourable Minister for State, FCTA, Prof M.T. Usman, remarked that SAPZ is a crucial program happening at the right time. “Considering the major challenges the country is facing at the moment, our SAPZ main target in FCT is livestock. We cannot do livestock without working on the crops for animal feed, including maize, soybean, and cassava. It is therefore important to leverage the value IITA, Buhler, and AFEX are providing,” he said.
According to Buhler Country Manager Tolu Ita, Buhler will provide resource persons from her existing Crop Academies to assist with the training. At the same time, AFEX will support wealth creation by providing access to financial risk management and market connections.
In conclusion, all parties agreed to maximize the potential abounding in the IITA Abuja campus from the SAPZ standpoint because of the FCTA’s involvement in the program. They will also provide information specific to roles and the potential cost of implementation in cluster farmers’ development, training, and cost of coordination activities that will enhance the successful implementation of SAPZ in the FCTA.
Prof. Egesi appreciated the delegation and assured them that IITA would provide value for every investment they make toward this partnership. He guided them on a tour of the IITA Abuja facility to close out the session.
Contributed by Terngu Abur
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