The head of Ohunalumani Limited, Akintunde Boboye, and his team visited IITA on 9 June, seeking partnership and collaboration avenues with the Institute in crop production, export, and land maximization for improved food security in Nigeria. IITA Deputy Director General (DDG) Partnerships for Delivery Kenton Dashiell received the team with West Africa Hub Director Michael Abberton, Advocacy Promotion and Outreach Lead Godwin Atser, and Head of Capacity Development Office Zainatou Soré.
Stating the purpose of their visit, Boboye said, “We are a private company newly coming into agriculture. We are looking to work with IITA in research and production of food crops, intending to expand our work to most southwestern states of Nigeria.”
Their visit was inspired by Boboye’s personal experience of land degradation and the vast array of untapped arable land, useful for crop cultivation, exports, employment generation, and the development of the Nigerian economy.
The IITA management team assured the intending investors of the Institute’s support with research outputs, advisory services, market options, and other relevant resources. Abberton said, “We offer advisory services that cover areas such as the best variety of crops to plant, soil fertility testing, market connections, among others.”
Soré responded to the team’s request: “It is exciting to see young people enter agriculture. We would be glad to provide services in stakeholder engagement, capacity development initiatives, training, and value chain development.”
The team lauded IITA’s interests and willingness to offer valued partnerships to varied agricultural partners. Dashiell said, “While we are wonderful in science, we also take great pleasure in building strong partnerships that help millions of people and drive the impact of our science.” He emphasized that IITA takes every potential partner as the best partner it would ever have. The team wrapped up their visit with a tour around the IITA campus to better familiarize themselves with its gained partner.
Contributed by Folake Oduntan
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