‘2 million households targeted for improved food security in 2017’

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has expressed its readiness to improve food security in Nigeria, announcing a target of 2 million households for 2017, in terms of enhancing the future prospects of breeding prospects for micronutrients.

This, among other submissions, were made at the event organised by the IITA and tagged “Breeding for the Grand Challenges,” which was held on April 11th at the Conference Centre, IITA, Ibadan.

The Director, Research for Development, for IITA-West Africa, who also leads the Institute’s work on Biotechnology and Crop Improvement, Dr Robert Asiedu, in his remarks at the conference, highlighted the various achievements of the institute with regards to improving quality food production.

Dr Elizabeth Parkes, who spoke on the topic, “Current Status and Future Prospects of Breeding Cassava for Micronutrients,” in her presentation, who noted that the organisation was working towards eradicating hunger, ensuring food security, increase income, wipe out poverty and ensure prosperity for all, noted that there was ongoing partnership with 40 countries, major stakeholders, as well as next generation scientists across Africa, in line with the vision for sustainability.

She stated that six pro Vitamin A cassava varieties had been released, with a delivery target for 2 million households in Nigeria for 2017.

Dr Abebe Menkir, in his presentation entitled “Breeding Maize for Micronutrient Enrichment,” while noting that of 22 countries in the world that depended on maize as a source of energy in their diet, 16 were in Africa, stated that the aim of the research was to increase pro Vitamin A to much higher levels to offset losses resulting from diversity of storage practices and methods of preparation of traditional foods; alter substrate allocation in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway to maximise health benefits that can be derived from maize; work with partners franchise involved in pro Vitamin A enriched productions, among others.

While Dr Leena Tripathi of IITA, Nairobi, who spoke on the “Role of Genetic Engineering in Crop Improvement,” noted that agricultural outputs needed to be doubled to feed the world by 2050 and called for improved acceptance of biotechnology to transform agriculture in Africa, Professor James Dale of Queensland University of Technology, who spoke on “Bananas: New Traits into Old Cultivars By Genetic Modification,” identified micronutrient deficiencies as the third most important problem worldwide after HIV/AIDS, stated that collaboration, technology transfer and education as the key components of ensuring quality harvest.

Dr Malachy Akoroda of the University of Ibadan in his presentation entitled “Capacity Building for Plant Breeding in West Africa” highlighted the various challenges plant breeders are faced with, noting especially the lack of funds available to the sector and the failure by policy makers to realise the full potential of plant breeders to ensure an improved economy. He called on government at all levels to support plant breeding, encouraging free scholarships for plant breeding enthusiasts, noting that collaboration among stakeholders was important to realise the full potential of crops.

Also present at the conference were member, CGIAR Systems Management Board, Eugene Terry, who spoke on how breeding can transform cassava; Eric Danquah of the West Africa Centre for Crop improvement (WACCI), who presented a paper on the successes and challenges of advancing plant breeding education in sub-Saharan Africa and Michael Njuguna of Africa Harvest, who spoke on the consortium approach to develop and deploy sorghum enriched with vitamin A, iron and zinc for farmers in Africa, making a case for African biofortified sorghum.