Food Security: Experts Recommend Collaboration Of Agricultural Research Institutes

The professionals made the call at the retrospective 60th Anniversary Colloquium (1962-2022) of the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology (CPEB), University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan, Oyo State.

At the Colloquium, with the theme: “Revamping Environmental Management for a Food Secured Nigeria“, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), Academic, of UI, Professor Aderonke Baiyeroju, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, noted that sustained collaboration between agricultural researchers would greatly impact food production.

Prof. Baiyeroju affirmed that the theme, as well as the various topics of discussion, agreed with the vision of the University of Ibadan “to be a world class institution for academic excellence geared towards meeting societal needs“, while urging more gown-town engagements for significant societal impact.

The Chairperson at the event and Director, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Prof. Veronica Obatolu, commended the initiative of the Department of CPEB for using the 60th anniversary celebration to engage relevant stakeholders to come up with strategies that will mitigate food shortage and climate change.

Prof. Obatolu considered the effort as timely, particularly as the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency on food security in the country, with continued efforts at finding a way out of the situation, lamenting that several human efforts being explored to ensure food security are not environmentally friendly and have no regard for the ecosystems.

She said: “This has resulted in many damages and evolving issues that are more deleterious to nature and causing a lot of damages to the ecosystems through unguided practices. If frantic and pragmatic efforts are not made to halt this process and restore the damaged environment, it will become more complex to feed ourselves.”

In her remarks, the Head, Department of CPEB, Prof. Morufat Balogun, highlighted the various impacts of the department over the years and its set pursuits in the coming years, all geared towards creating a food-secured Nigeria for the benefit of all.

The high point of the Colloquium was the presentation of awards to various recipients who have impeccable records and are noteworthy in personality and achievements.

The awards, which were in 2 categories, had eight personalities in the Distinguished Alumni Award category, while the Distinguished Personality Award category had five personalities.

The local and international partners present at the occasion are, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), IAR&T, Harvestfield Industries Limited, A Fruitful Environment Limited, among others.

The celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology (CPEB) spanned a whole week with many activities that involved students and lecturers.