Food Consortium Commissions Living Laboratory In University Of Ibadan 

The food experts advocated the adoption of a circular model which integrates aquaculture with various plants, insects and animal production, in seeking to improve the food system in African cities.

During the official opening of the Circular City Food Research and Training Facilities at the University of Ibadan, the Consortium called for focus on food production in cities as against over reliance on food coming from villages.

At the ceremony, the Principal Investigator of the Programme in the University of Ibadan, Dr Oyediran Oyebola, noted that production of food in cities will improve food condition, saying technology must, however, be adopted to manage challenges such as wastes, small land area, water conservation, etc, in a mix of integrated and recycling approach.

He said it was in recognition of the dearth of knowledge about food production in cities that the Consortium established a living laboratory with a forty-participant capacity outdoor training centre, where the challenge of adequate agricultural land for food production in the cities is addressed, at the University of Ibadan.

Inaugurating the Living Lab and all its various buildings, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), University of Ibadan, Professor Aderonke Baiyeroju, stressed that effort must be made to overcome the environmental and social issues associated with traditional agriculture and fish production in city environment.

Baiyeroju identified food system as a prime socio-economic and nutritional issue in African cities, with strategies consistently needed to improve food and nutrition security in city condition by careful planning of waste cycling in aquaponic, hydroponic and insect production system in soilless substrate.