As part of efforts to complement government’s efforts at food sufficiency, the Technology for African Agricultural Transformation has introduced a high quality wheat seed to farmers in the country.
By Ahmed Abdulkadir
As part of efforts to complement government’s efforts at food sufficiency, the Technology for African Agricultural Transformation has introduced a high quality wheat seed to farmers in the country.
According to TAT Clearinghouse Value Chain Specialist, Dr Oluwatoyin Adetunji, the process of developing a robust seed sector for provision of adequate quality wheat seeds accessible and affordable to Nigerian Farmers are in top gears.
Adetunji made this known yesterday in Kano during the flag-off of a a two-day Wheat Training Workshop for farmers and other key stakeholders in the sector.
She said, wheat is globally consumed and processed into variety of consumables.
“Wheat is very important and the most commonly consumed globally, as it is used for the production of bread, Macroni, Spaghetti, masa, Cuscus, and many more.
“Following our commitment and determination, we have through intensive research programmes developed heat-tolerant wheat seed, which can survive in Nigeria.”
“TAAT seeks to ensure the growth of the agricultural sector, improve food security, and encourage inclusive growth by involving more women and youth. It also promotes improved resilience to climate variability and shock”, she added.
Dr Oluwatoyin stated that the workshop is tilted towards making Nigeria self-sufficient in wheat production, so as to rival Ethiopia and Sudan, that is self-sufficient in Wheat production.
Other objectives of the workshop, include the identification and causes of seed mixtures along the seed value chain, as well as to identify the missing gaps in the seed development process.
She added that, stakeholders during the workshop will brainstorm through interaction to identify specific problems relating to their organizations, adding that the workshop will engage in Technical Knowledge sharing on how to develop the seed sector for efficiency and effectiveness.
Also, she noted that the workshop will expand local wheat production for wheat self-sufficiency and national food security.
“TAAT seeks to ensure the growth of the agricultural sector, improve food security, and encourage inclusive growth by involving more women and youth. It also promotes improved resilience to climate variability and shock.”
“The overall goal of TAAT is to improve agriculture, as a business across Africa by deploying agricultural productivity-increasing technologies in priority commodities, such as cassava, wheat, rice, maize, soybeans, sorghum/millet, orange-fleshed sweet potato, high iron beans, aquaculture, vegetables and small livestock.
“TAAT deploys over 100 selected, proven, and high-performance agricultural technologies along the value chains of these commodities. It has over 300 public and private partners, of which the core is its partnership with the CGIAR – the world’s largest global agricultural innovation network and provider of agricultural technologies.
“It has significantly increased productivity in these targeted commodities, accelerating agricultural productivity by a mean of 56.64%, from 15% for small livestock to 113% for High Iron Beans.”
“TAAT technologies for Cassava, Sorghum, Rice, High Iron Beans and Maize have been linked to Feed Africa loans to Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan, Togo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a total of $3,322,200 committed across these five value chains.”
Similarly, she noted that TAAT is currently accelerating the momentum in addressing transversal issues in African agriculture, as well as improving soil fertility, discovering the untapped potential for improved water management, coordinating and advocating agricultural research initiatives, providing the necessary policy support, attracting African youth in agribusiness, and helping farmers respond to trans-boundary plant pests and diseases, such as Fall Armyworm.
