Nigeria

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Overview

Country Nigeria Capital : Abuja

Nigeria has a population of over 186 million.

The Nigerian economy is one of the largest in Africa and has been primarily based on the petroleum industry since the 1960s.

About two-thirds of all Nigerians obtain a living from agricultural production. Most are small-scale subsistence farmers. Root crops—notably yams, taro and cassava—are the main food crops in the south, while grains and legumes—such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas and corn (maize)—are the staple crops of the drier north. Rice is also an important domestic crop.

46-61% of the food energy consumed in Nigeria comes from crops that are not native to the region. Most of these plants’ diversity is found elsewhere on the planet.

The Crop Trust has supported 11 projects in Nigeria

  1. Cassava and Yam: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) receives an in-perpetuity grant from the Crop Trust for the long-term conservation of the global collections of cassava and yam it holds on behalf of the international community.
  2. Cowpea: The Crop Trust supported the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology to regenerate 52 cowpea accessions with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop. All are safety duplicate in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
  3. Cowpea: The National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) received support from the Crop Trust to survey and collect cowpea in the Northeastern, North Central and Northwestern parts of Nigeria with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop. A total of 143 accessions were collected and 137 safety duplicated in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
  4. Cowpea: The Crop Trust supported International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Nigeria to collect and conserve wild cowpeas with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop.
  5. Millets: The Crop Trust provided support for the Lake Chad Research Institute, which worked with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Sahelian Center in Niger and the Institut D’Economie Rurale (IER) in Mali to characterize and evaluate 155 accessions of pearl millet for 3 traits in three contrasting locations with the aim of identifying important sources of genes and integrating the material into breeding programs.
  6. Millets: The National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) received support from the Crop Trust to survey and collect pearl millets in the Northeastern, North Central and Northwestern parts of Nigeria with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop. A total of 173 accessions were collected and 167 safety duplicated in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
  7. Sorghum: The Crop Trust supported the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NCGRAB) to regenerate, characterize and safety duplicate in the International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICRISAT) and Svalbard Global Seed Vault 319 sorghum accessions with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop.
  8. Sorghum: The National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) received support from the Crop Trust to survey and collect sorghum in the Northeastern, North Central and Northwestern parts of Nigeria with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop. A total of 130 accessions were collected and 108 safety duplicated in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
  9. Yam: The Crop Trust supported the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), which is working with the Institute de Recherché pour le Developpement (IRD), France to develop a protocol for the cryopreservation of yam. The protocol will allow the routine, large-scale application of cryopreservation for long-term conservation of any yam collection.
  10. Yam: The Crop Trust supported the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) to evaluate its yam collection for key traits of importance to breeders and farmers in the country, including stay-green ability, resistance to virus disease, tuber rot disease and yam beetle with the aim of identifying potential sources of genes and making them available to breeders.
  11. Yam: The National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) received support from the Crop Trust to survey and collect yam in the Northeastern, North Central and Northwestern parts of Nigeria with the objective of rescuing threatened diversity and enhancing use of the crop. A total of 363 accessions were collected.