The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CASSAVA

  • Nigeria seeks duty-free cassava export to China

    Talks are  ongoing between Nigeria and China for the removal of current five per cent export duty placed on cassava export from Nigeria.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, who spoke at the Third Ogun State Investors’ Forum, yesterday, said although there is a high demand for Nigeria’s cassava, especially in China, the high cost of transportation of the commodity from the hinterland to Lagos, enroute China, has made it less profitable.

    “Transportation of exports to China is expensive because of the distance  from here. So if we can get the Chinese government to remove the five per cent duty placed on Nigerian cassava, then that will be encouraging for farmers,” he said.

    Ogbe expressed optimism that the discussion will sails through, especially since the same waiver was granted Thailand on cassava export to China.

    “Nigerian cassava has been proven to be of higher and better quality than that of Thailand. So I am hopeful that China will grant us waiver on the commodity because this will further boost our export capacity of same to the Asia country,” he said.

  • Firm revamps Oyo community’s cassava processing cottage

    In continuation of its policy of investing in communities to positively impact the lives of smallholder farmers across Nigeria, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has rehabilitated the Cassava Processing Cottage at Ago-Are, in Atisbo Local Government Area of Oyo State. The facility was originally inaugurated and handed over to the community in December 2004.

    According to the Executive Director, BATNF, Mrs. Oluwaseyi Ashade, the rehabilitation became necessary due to expansion of agricultural activities, especially the cassava value-chain enterprise. Besides, the Ago-Are agrarian community, last year, had requested of the foundation a facility expansion to increase cassava processing into various derivatives.

    She revealed that the rehabilitation of Ago-Are Cassava Processing Cottage signposts the foundation’s commitment to supporting efforts targeted at alleviating poverty among smallholder farmers.

    “Our work in supporting smallholder farmers in rural communities in Nigeria is our answer to the challenge of poverty and our approach to transforming the society to self-sufficient people who can feed themselves, earn an income from their farms through processing and feed the larger population.

    “So far, the foundation has established community development projects in all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, some of which have resulted in wealth creation and food security,” Ashade said.

    While urging the smallholder farmers to take advantage of the initiative to enhance their livelihood, Ashade expressed optimism that with the handing over of the facilities, the foundation believes that the beneficiaries and the community at large, will put the equipment into proper use in order to increase their productivity and income, thereby making life more meaningful for the beneficiaries, their households and the socio-economic life of the community.

    Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented at the event by the Director of Rural Community Development in Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture, Pastor Yode Ayanlowo, said BATNF’s impressive agricultural interventions and development agenda have given indigenes of the state a renewed sense of hope. He reiterated government’s willingness to continue to partner with the foundation in its transformation drive by engendering an enabling environment.

    “Cassava plays a remarkable role in the agricultural development of Nigeria, especially in Oyo State, as it has transformed from a minor crop to a major crop. Importantly, Nigeria is believed to be the highest producer of cassava in the world, and by extension the highest consumer, leaving nearly nothing for export. This, however, requires a concerted effort to increase production of the commodity. We hereby assure BATNF of our continuous support and co-operation,” Ajimobi said.

    While inaugurating the Cassava Processing Cottage, the Aare of Ago-Are, His Royal Highness, Oba Abodunrin Oyetunji Kofoworola Olakanla II, commended the exemplary role of BATNF in alleviating poverty among smallholder farmers. He added that the foundation is reputed for its wealth creation agenda among smallholder farmers.

    “For the reason that agriculture is key to food security, it therefore becomes necessary to support and encourage smallholder farmers through periodic incentives that would enable them to earn a better living,” the monarch said, even as he acknowledged the BATNF’s giant strides in agricultural development in his community.

    He urged the organisation to also extend its interventionist schemes to the area of provision of potable water so as to enhance the livelihood of members of the community.

  • ‘How to boost cassava production’

    The Federal Government has been urged to double its efforts in boosting cassava production. Participants made the call at the Agra Innovate exhibition in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Speaking on the topic: Key value chain analysis: cassava, the Dean, College of Food Science and Human ecology, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof Lateef Oladimeji Sanni, urged the minister of Agriculture to call a strategic meeting of stakeholders in the sector to know its problems and prospects. He said it was not enough for the minister to promise to revamp the sector without getting input from its participants. “We need a minister that will come to the grassroots,” he added.

    The don, who took an overview of the sector since 2002, said it had grown significantly. He however listed its problems as the production and supply of the product, low pricing and insecurity, among others. Mr L. A. Adeniji of the Niji Group, said equipment and storage were some of the problems of the sector. “We try to compare ourselves with Brazil, Turkey, which use heavy equipment. But some of their equipment we cannot use here. Also, firms are set up in the cities, while the farms are in the rural areas,’’ he said. He canvassed the pegging of cassava price for uniformity and that owners of processing firms should be more dedicated.

    Executive Director Manufacturing Honeywell Mills Dr Nino Ozara said access to mills, especially in Apapa, Lagos was a major problem. He wondered how farmers could navigate the bad roads in Apapa to reach the mills. He called for reduction of tariffs and levy on wheat.

    Director (Agro), Allied Atlantic Distilleries Rajasekar Rajaveu whose firm manufactures ethanol from cassava listed the problems in the sector as “90 per cent of farmers are subsistence, who use traditional implements and methods’’ and that the clearing of land was difficult.

    His solution: “All large scale industries should have their own plantations to sustain supply. The government should allocate bulk areas of land for farming.’’ He also called for more extensive programmes and finance for farmers. He said when Nigeria has large farms, it would produce enough ethanol.

    Afrocet Managing Director Bryan Pearson praised the exhibition, saying it was well-attended. “It was good to see debate,’’ hoping that it would engender growth in the sector and direct government’s agric policy.

    Of the 150 exhibitors, a lot of them, he said, were small and large scale, who might be looking forward to investing in the sector. “We expect good business to be undertaken, that a new breed of businessmen will invest in the sector. Agra Innovate is important for the industry to form and complement the policy work of the government. We can help to stimulate the sector’s development,’’ he added.

  • 1,200 farmers trained on improved cassava yield

    No fewer than 1200 cassava farmers have been trained on new farming methods and given 4440 bundles of high yielding cassava cuttings by the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa Project, Nigeria (CAVA II).

    The programme, which started in April, was facilitated by service providers working for CAVA II-Nigeria in some states.

    Four geo-political zones – South-South, Northcentral, Southsouth and Southwest – were covered during the training.  Thereafter, the farmers were linked to markets close to them.

    The Country Manager, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa-Nigeria, Prof Lateef Sanni, said the programme was aimed at mentoring smallholder farmers to cultivate cassava, thereby increasing their incomes.

    He said: “Our aim is to mentor and coach the smallholder farmers to cultivate high-yielding cassava varieties, and expose them to good agronomic practices, which will increase their yield per hectare.

    ‘’In the next 12 months, when they harvest the varieties, if they are able to get about 25 per hectare, it can be said we have been able to improve their yield from the current 11 tons per hectare to 20- 25 tons per hectare.”

    Sanni said the training was in line with the objective of the CAVA II Project aimed at improving the incomes of smallholder farmers.

    He said: “If the project is able to double the yield of the farmers without expanding the area of their cultivation, the farmers will make more money. The improved varieties distributed to the farmers will also have a diffusion effect on other farmers, because after harvest, the farmers with high-yielding varieties can circulate their cuttings to other farmers in their vicinity; and gradually the low yielding varieties cultivated by most farmers will be replaced with high yielding varieties.”

    The Country’s  Technical Expert on Cassava Production for CAVA II-Nigeria, Mr Stephen Olonade, explained: “ The project distributed improved cassava stems which include: TME 419, TMS 96/1632, TMS 98/0581, TMS 30555, TMS 92/0326, and TMS 98/0505. These varieties where chosen because they have high starch content which is highly sought after by these large industries and SMEs.”

    He, however, added that having adopted the best agronomic practices and  improved cassava varieties, the farmers yields were expected to increase by at least 25 per cent in the next 12 months.

  • Cassava: World Bank boosts mechanised farming in Kogi

    Cassava: World Bank boosts mechanised farming in Kogi

    The World Bank under FADAMA III Additional Financing has moved in to assist cassava farmers in Kogi State in the areas of land clearing and preparation, which  have been the major challenges facing cassava farmers.

    Disclosing this at an interactive session in Lokoja, the Kogi State FADAMA Project Coordinator, Paul Ogunmola,  informed that Kogi State as the largest producer of cassava in Nigeria, has been selected for participation in the FADAMA III AF due to “prompt payment of counterpart fund, government willingness to buy into FADAM projects, as well as general cooperation of beneficiaries.”

    Under the arrangement, FADAMA III AF in conjunction with the State Government, provide tractors and allied equipment for the clearing, preparation  and ridging of farm lands that will be used for planting of Cassava. About 5, 000 hectares of land will be covered under the ongoing project that will end in 2017.

    Selected service providers are already assisting farmers in various areas on a 50-50 cost sharing ratio. The project has not only boosted mechanized farming, It has also provided improved cassava cuttings whose yields are several times higher than those the farmers were used to. For example, the Coordinator informed that over 30, 000 metric tons was harvested from one hectare of land early last month at Oghale, Kogi State. This was against the ten to twelve metric tons farmers were  harvesting from one hectare in the past.

    He further stated that the project has introduced the “novelty” of looking for off-takers: Before there used to be a glut, but now under the FADAMA III AF, before the farmers even produce, we go out of our way to source for would be off-takers. This has endeared the project to farmers who were initially skeptical because of past negative experience arising from post-harvest waste.”

  • How to boost cassava yields

    How to boost cassava yields

    The Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State (FECA) and Cassava Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA ) are set to lift farmers through a formula for producing about 50 tonnes of cassava  per hectare. Experts see the intervention taking cassava from a humble root crop to a prized industrial input that will put money in the pockets of many farmers, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Many farming families depend on cassava production, but low and unstable yields are becoming increasingly common. Experts attributed this to farmers using rudimentary agricultural techniques, planting haphasardly and paying little attention to the quality of stem and the use of fertilisers. As a result, productivity has been extremely low and cannot achieve more than 10 tonnes per hectare. This worsens the farmers’ situation and keeps them in a cycle of extreme poverty.

    The situation, however, is going to change. Thanks to the grant funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA)  and years of research and development undertaken by the International Institute of  Tropical  Agriculture (IITA). As a result, more than 60 new cassava varieties that have been tested and released and are now being disseminated with successful results. Interestingly, Federal College of Agriculture (FECA), Akure, Ondo

    State, that has adopted some of the varieties for field trials and demonstration is warming to harvest 40-50 tonnes per hectare, one of the highest field production records in Africa. Already, experts say the college’s achievement is an example of how agriculture best practice can enhance current food security. Speaking with The Nation, Project Director, C:AVA 11, Prof  Kola  Adebayo, while  inspecting a demonstration farm at the college, said achieving 40 to 50 tonnes per hectare is the result of focused, relevant research and committed, energetic development . This, according to him, proves that significant yield improvements are possible for agriculture.

    With the outstanding feat  the college is going to achieve, Adebayo said farmers will be  introduced  to a new way of tripling cassava yields, and this will translate to them seeing more money enter their pockets after harvest. Addressing the International Farmers’ Field Day on Cassava Production Enterprise held at the college, Adebayo lamented that returns coming to traditional cassava farmers were not enough for them to achieve a better standard of living.

    Besides, increases in production are mainly achieved through expansion of the area cultivated, rather than through productivity gains. He said CAVA is supporting FECA to set up on-farm research trials, adding that the cassava varieties were tested along with improved production, better agronomical practices – specifically better use of fertiliser.

    He said cassava production is capable of fuelling economic growth and economic development. Prominent in its industrial applications is the use of cassava for glue, biscuits, pharmaceutical products, confectionery, noodles, magi cubes, paper-cartons, animal feed, pastries, mosquito coils, confectionaries, ethanol, textile industrial products, dry cell batteries, toothpaste, biodegradable products and, most recently, the brewery industry is using it as alternative or complementary to sorghum, maize starch and barley. This implies a huge market where farmers can earn revenue.

    The College Provost, Dr Samson Odedina, said the poor yield recorded by farmers is giving him and the management of the college concern, adding that they have found the formula to help the farmers move away from extreme poverty, having set up a demonstration farm that is capable of producing between 40 to 50 tonnes per hectare. Farmers in the south west, he said are going to be earning higher profits by planting cassava on the same field over a 12-month period provided the follow better practices which will be taught by the college.

    Most farms have been yielding about nine tonnes of cassava per hectare, according to him. He said that higher incomes would help many farmers as the college working with CAVA and IITA will offer high-yield varieties to farmers so they could increase productivity and earn higher incomes. He said the college is ready to work with farmers to identify the areas where they need the most support.

    Through short courses, he said the college trains farmers in basic agricultural techniques, such as preparing ridges, making manure and compost, planting systematically with adequate space between plants and applying fertiliser at the right time. He expressed optimistic that the project would help farmers increase their income and could serve as a model for others.  According to him,the demand for cassava is likely to increase strongly in both local and international markets, auguring a bright future for the domestic cassava industry.

    The Programme Manager, Ondo State Agricultural Development Project, Mr  Adeniyan Babasola reiterated the commitment of the state to support the college to help boost cassava cultivation, improve farmers’ productivity and ensure food security. He reiterated the state government’s commitment to achieving food security as cassava is a major staple in the diet of Nigerians. Babasola reiterated the readiness of the government to work with the college to prevent its farm land from being encroached upon by local inhabitants.

    The Project Manager, Cassava Seeds System, IITA, Dr  Richardson Okechukwu  said  the institute  has developed improved varieties and promoted best management practices, creating opportunities for farmers to improve their food security and incomes. He said cassava is a major cash crop that can help drive industrial development while delivering higher incomes to smallholder farmers but many farmers have not learnt the technique.

    He noted that the national average yield was approximately 10 metric tonnes per hectare. He said the institute and its national partners jointly developed improved cassava varieties that have significantly higher productivity in terms of fresh root yields, starch content, and improved disease resistance and environmental adaptability. With the college training, he said Nigerians would benefit from better more diverse and added value products choices on offer contributing to improvements to health and nutrition needs.

    According to him, IITA scientists, in collaboration with national partner institutes and development partners  have  defined which agronomic practices could narrow the cassava yield gap and how these can be scaled up to many farmers.

    On the technical side, Okechukwu IITA has a system of accelerated multiplication of cassava based on the use of ‘ministem’ cuttings. A ministem cutting consisted of only one or two internodes. Ten times more cuttings could be taken from a single plant, vastly increasing the potential multiplication rate.

    He said the project would boost the production of cassava with the availability of improved cassava stems, making food more secure and generating wealth. Okechukwu warned that intercropping of cassava generally affect yield, urging farmers to concentrate on mono cropping as cassava needs quality space and nutrients to increase yields

    He also explained that to make profit, a farmer needs improved seeds, appropriate agronomy information on cassava; necessary strategic information in relation to cassava growth and nutrient needs and market. The  Ghana  CAVA II Project Representative Mr Samuel Nyamekye  said the  country will replicate the experiment  demonstrated  by FECA  as  opportunities for commercial production of cassava will encourage some youth back into farming. CAVA II) Project representative from Uganda, Mr Anthony Ijala said cassava yields had more than doubled thanks to the planting of new high-yielding varieties and the adoption of more sustainable production practices.

    With the steps taken by FECA to improve yields, Ijala sees the cassava industry flourishing. Meanwhile, a two-day regional workshop to review the first phase of the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme’s (WAAPP) Diffusion of Approaches for the Control of Cassava Diseases (DALIMA) Project has opened in Kumasi.

    The project being spearheaded by the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), aims at maximising cassava production, using disease-resistant planting materials. Research indicates that the sub-region produces about 31 per cent of the world’s cassava, but this is being threatened by viral diseases including the African Cassava Mosaic Virus.

    Funded jointly by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and WAAPP, the DALIMA Project had since its inception in 2009 helped to cultivate about 40 hectares of disease-resistant cassava planting materials across the West African sub-region. Country Director of the project, Dr. Mariam Quain, and also Head of the Biotech Laboratory, CRI, said the new materials were being made available to farmers, citing Benin where farmers had already benefited.

    The workshop, which had in attendance WAAPP Coordinators drawn from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Sierra Leone, Benin, Liberia and Nigeria, and, among other things, was strategised to develop a new road map to sustain the project for the next phase. Quain indicated that the participants would discuss ways of setting up a regional mission on roots and tubers to help advance research and increasing cassava production to ensure food security.

    She stressed the need to deepen collaboration among agricultural scientists, researchers and technocrats to improve the productivity of the cassava value chain in the sub-region.

  • Institute warns against outbreak of cassava killer-disease

    National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike,Abia State has warned against the outbreak of the deadly Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD).
    It gave the warning during the launch of WAVE Project, a campaign against the dreaded CBSD in Umudike, Abia State, attended by agricultural researchers from Ivory Cost, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana.
    The institute advised the Federal Government to arrest the situation, saying the disease could affect the economy if not checked on time. It warned that the outbreak of CBSD, which attacks mainly cassava, could cost the economy about N400 billion ($2 billion) yearly.
    The institute said it based its loss assessment on the effect the disease had in countries it had attacked, stressing that those who do not learn from history plans to fail.
    NRCRI said the crop disease has not reached Nigeria or any West African countries. “There was great need to prepare against it as it is already having devastating effect in some East African nations like Kenya, ”it said.

    Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation has commenced measures with $3.6 million for research and campaign against CBSD and the fund is domiciled with the University of Felix Houphant-Boigny in Ivory Cost.
    The institute said as an institution with a national mandate for cassava research and development, it was taking a pre-emptive initiative to tackle the CBSD threat in Nigeria.
    This, it said, is because its effect could result in complete loss of root yield in cassava thus making it a severe threat to food security in the sub-Saharan Africa.
    The institute said: “With symptoms like folia necrosis, stem lesions and root necrosis, it has since emerged as the one of the two most important diseases of cassava, the other being the cassava mosaic diseases”.
    NRCRI warned that a CBSD attack would affect Nigeria’s position as the world’s largest cassava production, saying it will not be good to the food production level of the country and also affect its economy.’’
    It continued: “CBSD used to be confined mainly to coastal areas of eastern and southern Africa, but in the past few years it has become substantially more virulent and begun spreading across the continent.”
    In his address, the Executive Director of the Institute, Dr. Julius Okonkwo, noted the importance of the WAVE project, saying that it would help to save the continent from serious embarrassment.
    He noted that the institute has made tremendous progress in developing value added products in cassava bread, cakes, donuts, chin-chin, ginger drinks, ginger powder, cocoyam chips and soup thickener.
    Launching the project, Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, represented by the Secretary to State Government, Dr. Eme Okoro praised the project, saying that it fits into the government programme of interest in agriculture.
    He also praised the Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation for initiating the research to take proactive position against the dreaded crop disease.

  • Search for mechanical weed control in cassava farming makes progress

    International and indigenous engineers engaged by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IIATA)-led Cassava Weed Management Project have made significant progress in the adaptation of motorised mechanical weeders for cassava farming systems in Nigeria.

    The team of engineers, who  met at the IITA, Ibadan to brainstorm and modify motorised weeders recently imported by the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project for cassava farming systems.

    Specifically, the team was mandated to:

    • Evaluate the performance of the machines for general weeding and modify the machine as necessary with special focus on cassava farms.
    • Establish performance and suitability of these machines for weeding generally with focus on cassava farms;
    • Carry out any needed improvement to make the machines usable for cassava farms; and
    • Modify all the available machines for demonstration.

    At the end of the meeting, the team of engineers modified and adapted 14 motorised weeders to suite cassava farming systems in Nigeria. The machines are on trials in four states—Benue, Oyo, Ogun and Abia.

    At the opening of the meeting, Project Leader for the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, Dr Alfred Dixon, said the motorised mechanical weeders were aimed at providing farmers with a basket of options so they could tackle weeds more efficiently.

    He urged the engineers to look beyond adaptation, and conceive the idea of developing African made motorised weeders that could tackle the problem of weeds on the continent.

    Prof Abdulganiyu Olayinka Raji of the University of Ibadan commended the IITA project for involving national partners in the programme.

    He recalled that the Nigerian- made-cassava flash dryer, which has become a success story, also started with a similar invitation of experts by IITA.

    “I am optimistic we will soon begin the fabrication of motorized mechanical weeders in Nigeria,” he said.

    Last year, an inception workshop was organized by IITA Cassava Weed Management Project for engineers for the same purpose. The second meeting this year built on the progress made last year.

    Participants were drawn from the IITA, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, University of Ibadan, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Federal University of Technology Akure, National Center for Agricultural Mechanization, National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike; Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Edo Agricultural Development Program and Niji Lukas (a private fabrication and agro allied firm).

     

  • ‘Cassava can fetch Nigeria N5tr yearly’

    ‘Cassava can fetch Nigeria N5tr yearly’

    Cassava production and export is capable of generating N5 trillion yearly in foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy if the sub-sector is fully explored, National President, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), Segun Adewumi, has said.

    He expressed optimism that with the increase in cassava growers in the country, the sub-sector will boost the nation’s economy and create wealth for the country.

    In a statement in Abuja, he said said  the membership of the Association has grown from 10,000 to over one million over the last four years.

    He thanked the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina for the drastic change he brought to the sector.

    He added that the former minister has laid a solid foundation that would return the nation’s economy to the path of prosperity and progress.

  • Stakeholders score Cassava Weed Project high

    Heads of implementing partner institutions comprising the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike; Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta(FUNAAB), and the University of Agriculture Makurdi (UAM) are proud over the progress made towards the implementation of the Cassava Weed Management Project (CWMP)—a project that is led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

    In a briefing with the Project Coordinating team in Makurdi, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agriculture Makurdi, Prof Emmanuel Kucha, thanked the team for a good job and reiterated the support of the University to the project. Kucha who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UAM, Prof John Ayoade, said the equipment donated to the University by the project were of great help to research. He praised the team for efficient and effective sharing of information on the activities of the project through the newsletter and social media, and also called on other projects to emulate the IITA-CWMP.

    At the NRCRI, the Executive Director, Dr Julius Okonkwo, also lauded the milestones and praised the capacity building efforts of the project.

    He promised that his institute would continue to provide the necessary support to ensure that the project attains its goals and impacts positively on the lives of farmers. Dr Okonkwo pledged to ensure that the project’s assets and research trials were protected and secured.

    Demonstrating his commitment to the Project, the NRCRI boss promised to release additional four hectares to the IITA-CWMP for trials this season at Utobi in Benue State.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, said his university was glad to be part of the IITA-CWMP.

    He emphasised that the results from the project would be useful to the society, and the advancement of the productivity of cassava in Nigeria.

    Earlier, the Principal Investigator of the IITA-CWMP, Prof Friday Ekeleme and the Communication & Knowledge Exchange Expert, Mr Godwin Atser, made oral presentations on the activities of the project in the outgoing year and plans for the year 2015.  Prof Ekeleme said the successful implementation of the activities of the project last year was a joint effort involving partners from NRCRI, FUNAAB, UAM and IITA under the leadership of the Project Coordinator, Dr Alfred Dixon.

    Prof Ekeleme called on partners not to rest on their oars but to redouble their efforts and commitment to attain the project’s milestones this year.

    The visiting team, which also had the Project Administrator, Mrs Ezinne Ibe, took time to visit experimental farms across the various partner institutions.