Agency Partners UN To Deploy Technology To Assist Smallholder Farmers

As part of its efforts to contribute towards food security in Nigeria, the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD) has unveiled the Juncao technology which it said would assist Nigerian farmers especially smallholder farmers grow more food, thereby fighting hunger.

The National Coordinator/CEO of AUDA-NEPAD/African Peer Review Mechanism, Princess Gloria Akobundu while speaking at the National Workshop on “Applications of Juncao Technology and its contributions to the achievement of sustainable Agriculture and the sustainable development goals in Nigeria”, said the workshop aims to help African countries eliminate hunger and reduce poverty by raising economic growth through agriculture-led development.

The program is in a partnership between AUDA-NEPAD and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

“Agriculture and food production are important facets of the Nigerian economy, accounting for a significant proportion of total employment in the nation andalso the main source of livelihood for most people. Therefore, to tackle the challenge of food insecurity, we must harness the yet untapped possibilities in the agricultural sector. We can move closer to the goal of attaining Zero Hunger (Sustainable Development Goals 2) if we explore new options like the Juncao technology. The technology will contribute greatly to the achievement of UN agenda 2030 and AU Agenda 2063 and will also help to ensure that smallholder farmers, rural women and youth have sustainable livelihoods and decent employment for poverty eradication and food sufficiency”, she said.

She said to achieve the benefits of the Juncao Technology, AUDA-NEPAD/APRM as a national focal agency for the project will work closely with the public and private sectors and all relevant stakeholders both at the national and sub-national levels.

“We are concerned with ensuring food security in and to cushion the effect of COVID-19 towards building long-term resilience for sustainable economic growth and development”, she noted.

According to her, domesticating the Juncao Technology will create direct and indirect jobs, promote Agro Business, enhance nutrition, curb youth restiveness and boost security as youths will be gainfully engaged and add value to the economy and grow the Gross Domestic Product.

In his address, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Abubakar, said the workshop is held at a time when Nigeria is moving away from overdependence on oil and diversifying into agriculture for sustenance, income generation and foreign exchange earnings.

The Minister who was represented by the Director Federal Department of Agriculture, Engr Abdullahi Abubakar, said it’s worthy of note that the thrust of Juncao Technology revolves around the trio of fodder production, land reclamation and mushroom production which are essential components of pasture development, environmental management and climate change mitigation.

He said the innovative technology therefore has potential promise to boost the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria in her drive to make the best use of huge agricultural resources, other natural resources towards sustainable livelihood as enshrined in the Sustainable Development goals charter.

It is a well-known fact that provision of fodder in a sustainable manner and mitigation of climatic impacts of the livestock ecosystem are part of major challenges to deriving optimum dividends from Nigerian Livestock endowment.

Holistic efforts are being made in recent times to address these multifaceted challenges and unlock the potentials of the Nation’s livestock resources for increased employment opportunity, improved livelihoods and income, and we earnestly look forward to potential leverages the Juncao Technology will provide to boost these efforts.

On his part, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria, Cui-Jian Chun said he is delighted to have this opportunity to support the project. He said the technology would assist Nigeria in both food production and animal husbandry.