Ibadan, Nigeria – As the cropping season draws near, resource-poor farmers in northern Nigeria are dem anding more improved seed varieties from scientists working on the Sudan Savannah task force project.
The Sudan Savannah task force comprise a team of researchers working on the Kano-Katsina-Maradi (KKM) 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 the Aminchi multipurpose group at Tabbani village, Musawa Local Government Area (LGA), Katsina State, Hajiya Murja Abass, made the dem and on behalf of the farmers during the 2009 stakeholders’ mobilization exercise. The occasion also witnessed the launching of innovation platforms in Katsina state in the presence of the Chairman of Safana LGA, 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 seeds should be provided by the task force to meet farmers’ dem ands.
“Farmers love the seeds you gave us because of the good results they got last year. The improved seeds yielded three times more when compared with local varieties using the same hectare of l and and the same quantity of seeds,” she said.
Nigeria’s north is home to grains—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), aims to tackle these limitations with the recent inauguration of innovation platforms to solve 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, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IRNS, two LGAs, and input and output dealers.
The Sudan Savannah task force 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 implementing the project activities,” said Kamara, an IITA agronomist.
He also urged farmers to adopt modern farming methods as a way out of poverty and guaranteeing food security.
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 task force to exp and the program to other communities beyond the five communities originally selected in each LGA.
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For more information, please contact:
Alpha Yaya Kamara, a.kamara@cgiar.org
Savannah Systems Agronomist
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: http://www.iita.org/
About IITA
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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