The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have signed a fresh €5 million grant agreement to finance phase II of the bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme, which is designed to improve food security and promote sustainable growth in Nigeria.
The objective is to double the productivity of crops, livestock, and fish by expanding access to productivity-increasing agricultural technologies to more than 40 million smallholder farmers.
Nigeria faces a severe food insecurity crisis, with an estimated 33 million people projected to be acutely food insecure in the coming months. This is due to a combination of factors, including economic hardship, rising inflation, climate change, and conflict, particularly in the Northeast.
Abdul Kamara, the AfDB’s director general for Nigeria, said the bank takes a regional approach to deploying and utilizing food production technologies, including climate-resilient technologies and those that address the threat of pests and diseases.
The additional financing of the TAAT programme is building on Phase I, which the bank funded with $40 million, and Phase II with $27 million, implemented by IITA (as lead implementer) in a joint operation with other CGIAR centres and National Agricultural Research Institutions in many countries.
“This Additional Financing of the TAAT Phase II Program is financed with €5 million grant from the Donor Contributions Window of the Transition Support Facility (TSF) thanks to the generous contribution of the Federal Republic of Germany for which we remain very grateful,” Dr Kamara stated yesterday at the signing of the agreement in Abuja.
Director general of IITA Dr. Simeon Ehui said the programme had already helped provide improved seed varieties, climate-smart practices, and mechanisation solutions to millions of farmers, leading to increased yields and enhanced resilience to climate change.
He said Phase II will focus on scaling these proven technologies further and ensuring they reach even more smallholder farmers, agripreneurs, and food system actors across Africa. “We will work to accelerate technology deployment to ensure that climate-smart innovations are accessible to farmers where they are needed most; strengthen partnerships between research institutions, governments, the private sector, and development organisations to create sustainable agricultural value chains,” Ehui stated.
He said the programme will promote youth and women’s engagement in agribusiness by facilitating access to technologies that enhance productivity and income generation while also enhancing food and nutrition security.
Dr Kamara expressed gratitude to Germany for the support, which he said would further advance TAAT Phase Il to scale up agricultural Innovations, strengthen food security, and enhance climate resilience across the continent.
According to him, the programme is a revolutionary initiative that harnesses innovative technologies to boost productivity, promote sustainable practices, and ensure that Africa can achieve food self-sufficiency.
Ehui reaffirmed the commitment of IITA to scaling up impact-driven agricultural solutions in Nigeria.
