ABERYSTWYTH University researchers have organised a pioneering conference on developing sustainable agriculture in Nigeria, with the aim of leading to economic and social benefits in the sector.

Organised by FoodSecNet (Food Security Network) with co-organisers from the University of Ibadan and the Federal Polytechnic of Ado-Ekiti, delegates attended to discuss their challenges and to share solutions.

This inaugural event, ‘Co-Creating Sustainable Agriculture: Improving Knowledge Flow Amongst All Stakeholders in Nigerian Agriculture’, represented the first time many stakeholders had gathered together in Ibadan in south Nigeria.

FoodSecNet is an alliance of academics from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) and the departments of Computer Science and Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University, and multiple stakeholders within the Nigerian agricultural sector.

Dr Simon Payne from IBERS said: “Nigeria has the seventh largest population in the world, of 190 million people, and achieving sustainable agriculture there must be a joint effort.

“Farmers in Nigeria have many mouths to feed and are unaware of many cutting edge scientific developments in agriculture and they tell us that there is no efficient system to translate and communicate this knowledge to them.

"Improving interaction between researchers and farmers will enable members of the network to work on the ground without government funding and this event is only the beginning of a process where Nigerian and UK scientists work with Nigerian farmers and extension workers to advance food security."

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