Nigerians stand to gain a lot from biotechnology -Director
Many viable enterprises exist that could easily provide good jobs for millions of un-employed Nigerians under the biotechnology bioresources programs. Dr. Sam Wuyep a director at the Nigerian Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Abuja, made this assertion in Calabar, Cross River state at a biotechnology awareness workshop.
According to a release signed by the IITA public relations manager, Taye Babaleye, he said NABDA has entered into partnerships with some state governments and private sector organizations for the development of viable enterprises in agriculture, health, environment, pharmaceutical and the medical sectors.
Speaking on “Investment opportunities in biotechnology”, he said micro-propagation of planting materials using the tissue culture technique, would help in rapid multiplication of crops such as plantain and bananas, cassava, pine apples, oil palm seedlings and mushrooms.
He also spoke on the homestead production of grass cutter for bush meat (a delicacy across West Africa), fish, and snails and the processing of agro-raw materials into different marketable products for export.
Dr. Wuyep maintained that some of these enterprises require low capital inputs and production skills that can easily be acquired to the benefit of jobless Nigerian youths.
In a key note address, Professor Bamidele Solomon, Director General of NABDA said for Nigeria not to lag behind in global development in biotechnology, the government should as a matter of priority, initiate steps to explore the use of biotechnology for the benefit of Nigerians and thus ensure that the country becomes one of the global leaders in the field.
Professor Solomon who spoke through Dr. Alex Akpa, Director of Medical Biotechnology, said the science which originated in the late nineteenth century with the initiatory work of Gregor Mendel, now covers genomics and proteomics, bioinformatics, genetic transformation, biodiagnostics and vaccine technology.
Explaining the inevitability of applying biotechnology tools for agricultural development for food security, income generation and poverty alleviation, Dr. Christian Fatokun who represented the IITA DG Hartmann, remarked that in spite of several years of research work, it has become impossible for IITA and other advanced laboratories to develop improved cowpeas and cassava resistant to certain pests and diseases through conventional breeding.
He maintained that IITA has acquired the knowledge to use biotechnological tools to improve cowpea and other crops without the use of environment unfriendly pesticides.
The workshop was part of the awareness programs of the Nigeria Agriculture and Biotechnology Project (NABP) being implemented by IITA to explain the potential benefits of biotechnology in national development.
Similar workshops have been organized in several geopolitical zones of Nigeria to lay the foundation for the country to take advantage of biotechnology and its applications to address the critical issues of hunger, poverty and diseases, among others.
Organized by IITA in collaboration with the Cross River state ministry of agriculture and NABDA, the workshop was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In another development, the W.K.Kellog Foundation has given a grant of US$599,800 to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to promote NEPAD Pan Africa Cassava Initiative (NPACI) for sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in Africa.
During 1997/98 a severe drought caused by El Nino wind from the Pacific Ocean devastated maize farms in southern Africa, putting the lives of 27 million people in Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zambia at high risk of severe food shortage.
IITA in response started to promote the production of cassava, a drought tolerant crop, to reduce the risk associated with the dependency on maize as major food-crop.
In Katimba village, Nkhotakota district of Malawi, farmers now produce cassava with yields of 22 t/ha. Working through the Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network (SARRNET) and in collaboration with the national program, IITA initiated the Masinda Cassava Club in the village as pilot processing center to turn cassava into industrial starch. This was aimed at adding value to cassava production in the village. After one year the Club sold about 40 Mt of starch, worth over US$20,000.
“Prior to the establishment of the factory, cassava had no real monetary value in Katimba village”, says Dr. Nzola-Meso Mahungu, IITA/SARRNET Coordinator, adding that “farmers now make over US$800 from just one hectare of fresh cassava sold to the Club”.
The grant will help the New Partnership for African Development NEPAD/IITA Facilitation Unit that is being established by NPACI/SARRNET at Chitedze Research Station.
In another development, the W.K. Kellog Foundation’s programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.
To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas such as health, food systems and rural development, youth and education, philanthropy and volunteerism.
Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership, information and communication technology, capitalizing on diversity, and social and economic community development.
Meanwhile, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is an Africa-based international research-for-development organization, established in 1967, and governed by a board of trustees.
IITA’s vision is to be one of Africa’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger and poverty. IITA has more than 100 international scientists based in various stations across Africa.
This network of scientists is dedicated to the development of technologies that reduce producer and consumer risk, increase local production, and generate wealth.
The Institute is supported primarily by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR, www.cgiar.org). IITA’s mission is to enhance food security and improve livelihoods in Africa through research-for-development.