International research centers and local businesses showcase local innovations and highlight partnership in CGIAR and Partners Exhibition and youth project launch
Abuja, Nigeria – Research centers of CGIAR, a global research partnership working towards a food-secure future, and partners, convened in Abuja last week to launch a youth-in-agribusiness project and to celebrate women and youth in agriculture to mark International Day of Rural Women and World Food Day.
Organized by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the CGIAR country convener in Nigeria, in its station in the capital city of Nigeria, the event brought together diverse partners working towards scaling innovations for sustainable food systems. The event aimed at creating an avenue for key actors in the food systems sphere to explore areas of alignment and collaboration, and providing an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the contributions of rural women and youth in ensuring the sustainability of food systems.
Speaking at the opening of the event on 19 October, IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery Kenton Dashiell emphasized the importance of access to nutritious food. Adding that the exhibition showcases an array of innovations that can help transform food systems, he enjoined participants to critically look at these innovations and come together to celebrate and appreciate the efforts of various stakeholders working to ensure food and nutritional security in the country.
“If we can network and seek ways to collaborate, we will all learn more and benefit from these interventions; together can do more for our farmers, especially our women farmers and youth entrepreneurs,” he said.
The CGIAR and Partners Exhibition Day had the theme “Scaling innovations and technologies for food systems transformation,” and was organized in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, the French Embassy in Nigeria, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria, and Bopinc, a Dutch NGO.
During a panel discussion that featured representatives from FAO, IITA, and CGIAR, panelists highlighted various ways to leverage innovation scaling, improve food systems, and provide an enabling environment for actors along the value chain especially youth and women.
While declaring the exhibition open, IITA Germplasm Health Unit and Virology Unit Head Lava Kumar encouraged participants at the event to take advantage of the opportunity and learn about how research is shaping the food systems landscape in Nigeria and Africa.
The Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Wouter Plomp, who is a strong champion for the youth project, toured the exhibition and said that he was inspired to see the remarkable innovations and efforts of the women and youth entrepreneurs and partners.
IITA DG and CGIAR Director for Continental Africa, Simeon Ehui said the scaling of these research innovations will significantly contribute to the strengthening of food systems, and improvement of livelihoods of smallholder farmers and economies across Africa.
“It is important to note that these innovations can only make significant impact when they are scaled, and that is why CGIAR centers like IITA, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), AfricaRice, WorldFish, and International Center for Research in the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) are collaborating with diverse partners to implement a range of initiatives addressing poverty eradication, hunger, natural resource degradation, food insecurity and undernutrition, and lack of jobs and livelihoods.”
The exhibition and open day showcased various innovations and products along several value chains from CGIAR centers and partners, including women’s cooperatives from Borno State in the northeast of Nigeria, provided an enabling environment for participants to learn, and establish networks for collaboration that would help further the task of transforming the food systems across Africa.
Day 2 featured the launch of a project called Youth in Agribusiness: Enabling scaling of innovative technologies for sustainable food solutions (YAS). The project, a partnership between IITA and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, is implemented in collaboration with BoPinc, a Dutch-based NGO partner. YAS is focused on creating viable agribusiness enterprises using innovative climate-smart technologies and business practices that increase income and productivity, and improve access to markets in the agribusiness sector.
YAS is being launched at a crucial time when food security has become a critical global concern. YAS will reach 10,000 youths aged between 18-35 in four states in Nigeria, namely Kano, FCT, Oyo, and Ogun States. The project is built on three pillars namely, capacity development, business training, and access to finance and markets.
In line with the Dutch government’s agricultural priorities and the multi-annual country strategy (MACS) to assist Nigeria in diversifying its economic growth and job creation via a sustainable and inclusive agri-food sector, the YAS project contributes to the Netherlands government’s strategy for sustainable food systems and nutrition security to reach SDG2 goals by 2030.
About 300 guests attended the YAS project launch, including more than 80 members of the diplomatic community in Abuja, major CGIAR partners and donors, women farmers’ cooperatives representatives, youth entrepreneurs, research collaborators from the national programs, private sector representatives, including movers and shakers of the agribusiness community, such as commercial banks, government partners, and members of media.
Media contacts:
Adetola Adenmosun, YAS project, a.adenmosun@cgiar.org
Katherine Lopez, IITA, k.lopez@cgiar.org
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