TAAT hosts Nigerian stakeholders in second wheat seed production workshop

Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) will hold the second edition of its Training of Trainers Workshop on Wheat Seed Production from February 5 to 6, 2024, in Kano, northwest Nigeria.

The workshop brings together researchers, seed companies, community seed producers, farmers, and development partners to brainstorm on innovative seed varieties and access and chart a roadmap for a robust wheat seed system in Nigeria.

The workshop, which is organised in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Kano State Government, the International Centre for Agriculture in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), underlines TAAT’s focal commitment to transforming African food systems through the deployment of path-breaking technologies and sustainable seed systems. Other partners include the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), and the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN).

Stakeholders expected at this workshop include the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf; Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Munir Baba Dan Agundi; the former Chairman of Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture; the Director of Agriculture and Agroindustry at the African Development Bank, Dr. Martin Fregene; and the Director General of the African Development Bank’s Country Office in Nigeria, Mr. Lamine Barrow.

According to the Head of the TAAT Clearinghouse, Dr Solomon Gizaw, the workshop’s goal is to facilitate a robust seed sector to provide adequate-quality wheat seeds that are accessible and affordable to Nigerian farmers.

“Through this workshop, TAAT, alongside its partners, will identify challenges mitigating the wheat seed sector in Nigeria, the causes of seed mixtures along the seed value chain, the missing gaps in the seed development process, provide technical knowledge on wheat seed production, including quality seed selection, good agronomic practices, and storage, and share knowledge on the way forward for sustainable wheat seed production in Nigeria,” Dr Gizaw said.

The workshop will enhance participants’ knowledge of wheat seed production, post-harvest handling and storage, variety maintenance and early generation seed production, marketing of wheat seeds and grains, and on-farm visits to practically demonstrate improved production processes.

A key outcome envisaged for the workshop is the availability and affordability of quality wheat seeds in Nigeria through the acquisition of skills for quality seed production, capacity strengthening for seed companies, and community-based seed production.