Resource-poor farmers in the northern Nigeria state of Borno are looking to better times ahead as researchers implementing the “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Borno State” (PROSAB) project report significant improvements in livelihoods and food security in its covered communities.
Analysis of the 17,000 households, or more than 100,000 farmers, that participated in the project showed that poverty levels dropped by an average of 14 per cent, while food security improved by 17 per cent.
These findings were highlighted at the PROSAB-sponsored conference held last week in Abuja, Nigeria attended by international donors and experts working on reducing poverty in the country and in West Africa.
The confab also officially marked the end of the project’s 5-year run.
“The project has been successful because farmers benefited in terms of improved crop yield, incomes, livelihoods and health. More importantly, the knock-on effect on other farmers in the region has been tremendous,” emphasized Dr David Watson, IITA Project Development and Management Director.
“The project has been successful because farmers benefited in terms of improved crop yields, incomes, livelihoods and health. More importantly, the knock-on effect on other farmers in the region has been tremendous,” he emphasized.
Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), PROSAB started in 2004 and was managed by IITA with partners including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Borno State Agricultural Development Programme, CRED, the Institute of Agricultural Research – Zaria, and the University of Maiduguri.
The project introduced improved crop varieties, trained farmers on improved agronomic practices and promoted gender equality in agricultural development.
Donors and policy makers who attended the conference commended IITA and partners for the effective implementation of the project. The FAO, through its Assistant Representative in Nigeria, Dr Rabe Mani, called upon other states in the same geographic zone to tap the approach used by IITA to help improve the plight of farmers in their communities.
“The technologies are here. So I strongly encourage states in that ecological zone to pick up these technologies and scale them up to develop their communities,” he added.
Apart from reducing poverty in households from 63 per cent to 49 per cent, the project also made significant inroads in increasing women participation in agricultural activities, say Drs. Amare Tegbaru and Alpha Kamara, IITA scientists who worked on the project.
Borno is predominantly Islamic with social interactions between men and women largely restricted by cultural norms. PROSAB introduced interventions that encouraged women to work alongside men for development, a feat normally difficult to achieve given the related religious restrictions.
Tegbaru and Kamara adds that farmers who participated in the project increased their average incomes by about 81 per cent compared to when PROSAB started five years ago. Farmers attribute this mainly to improved yields, better access to farm inputs, and enhanced agricultural skills brought about by the interventions of the project.
Mrs Ndirwa, one of the farmers who shared her personal experience with PROSAB during the conference, testified that the project raised her farm productvitiy and incomes, with her yields of cowpea and maize almost tripling.
She added that other participating farmers whom she knew also had impressive yields during the span of the project.
She thanked CIDA, IITA and partners for giving her, and others like her, hope for a brighter future with PROSAB.
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Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter :
Dr Amare Tegbaru, a.tegbaru@cgiar.org
PROSAB Manager
IITA-Nigeria
Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Chargé(e) de la communication d'entreprise (Afrique de l'Ouest et Centrale)
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Chargé de communication d'entreprise (international)
Bureau de la communication
Siège de l'IITA
Ibadan, Nigéria
URL : www.iita.org
À propos de l'IITA
L'Afrique est confrontée à des problèmes complexes qui minent l'agriculture et la vie des populations. Nous développons des solutions agricoles avec nos partenaires pour lutter contre la faim et la pauvreté. Nos recherches pour le développement (R4D), maintes fois récompensées, reposent sur une réflexion ciblée et autorisée, ancrée dans les besoins de développement de l'Afrique subsaharienne. Nous travaillons avec des partenaires en Afrique et au-delà pour réduire les risques pour les producteurs et les consommateurs, améliorer la qualité et la productivité des cultures, et générer de la richesse grâce à l'agriculture. L'IITA est une organisation internationale de R4D à but non lucratif créée en 1967, dirigée par un Conseil d'administration et soutenue principalement par le CGIAR.
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