The African Development Bank (AFDB) says it has secured $134 million for the cultivation of rice, maize, cassava and soya beans to boost food production in Nigeria.
The AfDB President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen shortly after visiting the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA), Bayero University Kano (BUK).
He said the bank would support Nigeria to cultivate 300,000 hectares of rice, 300,000 hectares of maize, 150,000 hectares of cassava and 50,000 hectares of soya beans during 2024 rainy season.
“This March, the AfDB is supporting Nigeria to cultivate 118,000 hectares of heat tolerant varieties of wheat and another 150,000 hectares of maize.
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“We live in an era of climate change and yet only three per cent of African agriculture is under irrigation. We have to make sure we help our farmers with information that is timely and appropriate.
“We have no other alternative but to adapt to climate change, adopt on how to use water better, dry land crops that are more resilient and tolerant in the face of climate change,” Adesina said.
He added that AfDB would provide grants to the centre to enhance more innovation and work together to become a centre used for prediction of weather patterns and gather information for farmers to plan better.
“We will work with the centre to become one of the centres to get technology, such as water efficiency made for farmers to get wheat varieties.
“We have a programme called “African Disaster Risk Insurance Facility“ which supports farmers on climate change.
“We will also support the youth to develop their business plan ideas into reality with $20,000 grants on “Agri Pitch” and “Agri Hacking” in which students comes up with very brilliant ideas,” the AfDB boss added.
The AfDB boss commended the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Prof. Sagir Adamu-Abbas, and the Director, CDA, for assisting the farmers to have access to technology and resilience in the face of climate change.
He promised to ensure CDA was given priority by the global centre on adoption.
In his remarks, the Director of CDA, Prof. Jibrin Mohammed-Jibrin, said the centre was established in 2012 after winning $800,000 grant.
“CDA is an African centre of excellence renowned for its research and teaching on development initiative focused on dryland agriculture.
“The centre is dedicated to improve livelihood, resilience and sustainable use of natural resources in African drylands through training and demand-driven research.”
He said the centre has received several World Bank grants for research and had so far enrolled about 1,153 Doctorate and Masters students and has also trained farmers on agro-ecological practices.