Channel Africa Features EWS-KT Nigeria Leaders
Last week, Ruth Saleh Ardzard, Knowledge Transfer Manager for Nigeria, and Usman Bara’u Munkaila, Project Manager for the DELIVER Nigeria project, discussed our work in Nigeria on “Planting the Seed,” a SABC Channel Africa podcast hosted by Mmatsheko Mosito.
Usman focused on how the DELIVER Nigeria project is addressing key challenges facing smallholder farmers in Kaduna and Kano states. DELIVER Nigeria aims to improve farmers’ productivity and livelihoods and increase consumption of healthy vegetables. The project is supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) under the Accelerating Resilient Food Systems in Africa (ARFSA) program and is implemented by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation, and Wageningen University & Research (WUR).
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During the podcast, Usman explained the many strategies EWS-KT is sharing with farmers to combat post-harvest losses, which can affect 50% of a farmer’s harvest. This guidance ranges from what stage a vegetable should be harvested at, to the ideal time of day and the right tools to use, to proper care and storage of harvested vegetables.
To mitigate the impacts of climate change, the DELIVER Nigeria project is also promoting an array of climate-smart practices, such as applying organic mulch. Mulch, Usman noted, not only lowers water requirements and improves soil temperature but also protects plant leaves from soil-borne pathogens—which reduces farmers’ use of inorganic pesticides, further benefiting the environment.
“Considering the increasing population of Africa, we Africans will need to . . . adopt climate-smart practices to ensure that food and nutrition security is sustained,” he said.
Ruth’s conversation on “Planting the Seed” focused on women’s empowerment through knowledge transfer.
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Ruth described the challenging environment for women in Kaduna and Kano states, noting that over 95% of those involved in agriculture in the region are men, with women traditionally limited to household and childcare duties. Despite numerous barriers to women’s participation, Ruth’s team—which includes dedicated female agronomists—has succeeded in training tens of thousands of women in vegetable production.
Turning to DELIVER Nigeria, Ruth discussed the complementary roles that EWS-KT, GAIN, and WUR are taking to reach the project’s goals—including providing training in agronomic and business skills, raising nutritional awareness, and engaging in action research to find solutions to local farming challenges.
