US to support Nigerian farmers, others with $29m

The United States Government through the US Agency for International Development has announced a $29m investment to support aquatic and fish farmers in Nigeria, Bangladesh, Kenya and Zambia.

This is as it revealed a five-year extension for two research partnerships under Feed the Future, the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

According to the agency, $15m is led by Mississippi State University while $14m is led by Michigan State University for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish and Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research programmes respectively.

The agency stated this in a statement on Friday night.

The statement read in part, “The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish works to strengthen the climate resilience of fisheries and other aquatic food systems – such as the harvesting of shellfish and seaweed – in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia.

“Aquatic foods are nutritious sources of animal protein and, as one of the world’s most traded agricultural products, are also important sources of income for aquatic farmers and fishers.

“Building on years of research, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish develops and scales innovations that sustainably increase fish production while also prioritizing natural resource conservation and the needs of producers and fishers.

“This new phase of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish will prioritize increasing sustainable and climate-smart practices, such as enhancing the ability of coastal wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems to store carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The US government further said that the extension would also focus on increasing food safety and inclusivity along aquatic food value chains, so more people could benefit from nutritious diets and decent livelihoods.

It added, “Through this innovative research, production of these new legume varieties will be scaled up and brought to market, increasing both the resilience of legume farmers’ livelihoods and the availability of nutritious food. The program will also expand to reach more communities in new regions of Africa and, for the first time, into Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The extension will also enable the lab to continue their important research on empowering women and young people within the legume production systems, which has already shown strong results in providing economic opportunities to rural women’s groups and has supported more than 60 students to achieve higher education degrees.”