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From Cereal Crops to Tomatoes

Posted On: November 23, 2021

Mohammed Ussani Ladan in his onion field
Mohammed Ussani Ladan with his onion crop

KANO STATE, NIGERIA — Mohammed Ussani Ladan, age 63, lives in the Ringimawa community at Garum Mallam. He has 13 children and is a leader in the community mosque. He is also well known in his community as the largest local grower of cereal crops, but he expanded to include vegetables after East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation visited his community to provide training in vegetable production.

Mohammed began to show interest in the techniques he learned from the training at EWS-KT’s tomato demonstration plot. He said, “I have planted cereal crops in my farm, but I have a small plot I can spare to replicate all I have learned from EWS-KT through the Technical Field Officer.” 

The trial came out so well that he couldn’t consume all the produce and took some to the market to sell. This boosted his interest further, and he now has a 210-square-meter plot where he is growing tomatoes and onions, using EWS-KT techniques from seed to harvest. “A trial has convinced me,” he said. 

Mohammed is extremely grateful that his path crossed with this foundation that is changing the lives of smallholder farmers in his community and throughout Kano State.

Transforming Nigeria’s Vegetable Markets contributes to more resilient and more efficient vegetable production by introducing new varieties, adapted technologies, and evidence-based knowledge and skills. Making vegetables more widely available on the market at affordable prices will lead to improved nutrition amongst local, low-income households in Kaduna and Kano states. This project is co-funded by SDG Partnership Facility, a grant program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs managed by RVO. This project is led by EWS-KT in collaboration with our partners Wageningen University & Research, Solidaridad Network West Africa, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry Kaduna State, and Ahmadu Bello University.