As part of efforts to enhance commercial agriculture, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has, through its Technology for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative, provided 40 million dollars as seed money for projects in 27 countries.
TAAT Coordinator for Nigeria Livestock Compact, Dr Adeniyi Adediran disclosed this at a meeting organised by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ibadan.
“The 40 million dollars is to be shared among 15 sub projects which have nine compacts and six enablers.
“The livestock compact is on poultry and small ruminants which are being undertaken in Ethiopia, Mali and Nigeria,’’ the coordinator said.
Adediran said that the livestock compact sought to transform and use cassava peels as poultry feed ingredients.
He said that the work had different partners in different organisations with the Business Innovation Facility (BIF), a UK AID and DFID-funded poverty alleviation programme being a key collaborator.
Adediran noted that TAAT was a component of the AfDB’s Feed Africa Big 5 Strategy meant to bring synergy by stakeholders in the chosen sectors.
“The AfDB Feed Africa Big 5 strategy has the objectives to light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialise Africa, make Africa a net exporter of food, and make Africa technologically compliant.
“Its goals are to ensure that 150 million people are adequately fed; 100 million people are lifted out of poverty and 190 million hectares of land to have their productivity restored.
“TAAT supports the Feed Africa by providing needed and proven agricultural technologies and implementation strategies for inclusion with AfDB’s loans to regional member-countries.
According to the coordinator, the three-fold objectives of TAAT are to raise agricultural production, facilitate effective delivery of technologies to farmers and create an enabling environment for technology adoption by farmers.
