Some Nigerian institutions and their Dutch counterparts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance exchange of knowledge for protective cultivation of crops and vegetables in the country.
The Nigeria team comprised representatives of JMSF Agribusiness Limited, while Eupepsia Place Limited (Soil-less Farm Lab), the Africa Farmers Stories, Koppert Biological Systems, Pan-African Seeds BV Priva, Viscon, Leiden Delft Erasmus University and Seed-2-Feed Foundation, represented the Dutch partners.
A member of the Nigerian delegation to The Netherlands, Mrs. Victoria Madedor, said the team had been having virtual meetings with the Dutch side for almost two years, adding that it was great to finally have the Nigerian delegation visiting the Netherlands to normalise arrangements for the partnership.
The MoU sets the terms and understanding between the Nigerian partners and the Dutch collaborators to facilitate the implementation of protected cultivation and soil-less farming techniques among Nigerian horticulture farmers The Trumpet gathered.
Speaking, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Seed-2-Feed foundation and Co-Chairperson of the Consortium, Greenport Lagos, Frang De Jong, said: “We have worked towards collaboration to speed up the implementation of protected techniques among Horticulture farmers’ techniques in Nigeria. So, I am excited that we can now officially commence the initiative with the African farmers’ stories soil-less and all other future partners for the benefit of the Nigerian farmers.
On her part, Madedor explained that for a well structured collaboration, saying: “The first thing we need to align is the interaction and governance between the Nigerian and Dutch ecosystems. To this effect, certain steps have been taken with the development of a consortium backed by the MoU among nine parties to form a strong team, taking into account all stakeholders from growers, associations, input and technology sup- pliers, knowledge institutes and governments.
She added that by joining the campaign, expertise capabilities and ambition of the partners within the impact cluster, which she described as ‘a visionary approach’ was secure.
Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Samuel Egube, Lagos Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, State Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Agriculture to the Oyo State government and Head, Agribusiness and Mechanisation and eggheads from International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) witnessed the MoU signing ceremony.
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The Lagos State government particularly expressed delight at the naming of the impact clusters as Greenport Lagos.
“A Greenport is a structure for horticulture collaboration among governments, businesses and knowledge institutions. It is another word for regional horticulture.
“It is expected to serve as a veritable platform for the implementation of solutions tailored specifically for Nigeria with the MOU signed for realising the impact cluster Geeenport Lagos, the pillars of research education and government are all in place,” it said.
