underutilized indigenous vegetables for food security and livelihood resilience in nigeria

PROJECT 106511

UNDERUTILIZED INDIGENOUS VEGETABLES FOR FOOD SECURITY

AND LIVELIHOOD RESILIENCE IN NIGERIA

O. Clement Adebooye, PhD. (Ibadan)

Africa Agricultural Science Week, Accra, GhanaJuly, 2013

NiCanVegProject 106511

(Nigeria and Canada Under-utilized Vegetables Project)

Best UIV processing and preservation

Best UIV processing and preservationHands-on Training of farmers &

Radio campaigns

Hands-on Training of farmers & Radio campaigns

Cross Border Cooperation to build knowledge and capacity Continental: Nigeria and Canada

Inter University: UNIOSUN, UofM, CBU, OAUFunding Agency: IDRC-CIDA

Other organizations: FADAMA, Germany




Formation of UIV cooperative groups and initiating savings culture


Women economic empowerment and household food securityWomen economic empowerment and household food security

Optimum seeding density, seeding method, cutting length, staking option

Breaking seed dormancy



The Key Messages

Urban population

{~35%}

Urban population

{~35%}

Rural women and men farmers.{~65%}

Rural women and men farmers.{~65%}

Indigenous vegetables in the wild

Indigenous vegetables in the wild

The Challenge

•Highly cherished and valued•Gathered from the wild•Gathered by women•Not researched

Researchand PolicyResearch

and Policy

•Stereotyped to some elite crops

•Budgetary allocation never for edible wild plants

•Resource poor•Mostly illiterate•Women sustain several homes•No link with science

Project ObjectivesRaise awareness on the nutritional values and usability of under-utilized vegetables.

Diversify food base and increase income opportunities of the poor rural population.

Develop best management practices for UIVs to encourage cultivation and foster genetic resources conservation Reinforce capacity by training of women farmers and extension agents, students, research personnel and all other stakeholders in skill acquisition

Disseminate information to the resource poor women farmers, scientists, non-governmental organization and government.

Producing high value indigenous vegetables for food and economic security!

The Science in the NiCanVeg concept

Uptake promotion and scaling up

Gender mainstreaming in the value chain of UIVs

Intelligent technology for resource management and processing of UIVs

Development of best package for the UIVs

through on-farm research

Conservation of genetic resources

Farmers are proud and have sense of belonging, perhaps becoming scientists!

What is innovative?

Extensive and large-scale training of

farmers and public advocacy

Formation of farmers cooperative groups

for financial sustenance

Field research done on farmers farms and managed

by FADAMA-FARMER-

RESEARCHER

Integration of NiCanVeg with the FADAMA, resulting in

Researcher-Government linkage

Sustainable seed production

Where are we working?

Four States in Southwest Nigeria:Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti

Two agro-ecologies per State:Rainforest

Derived savanna

Experimental sites:Two sites per ecology resulting in 16 sites.

Igbagba, Ogunmo, Tete

atetedaye, Odu, Ebolo

Concluded Studies

Cutting length studies

Investigation of planting spacing

Optimum seeding density and seeding method

Ugu, Tomati elejo

Woorowo

Breaking of seed

dormancy

Igbagba

Training ofWomen

and farmers

Food values

analyses

Baselinesurvey

Vegetable Seasons Total carotenoid

Total flavonoids

Total Phenolics

Total phytate

Chl a Chl b

mg/100 g fw

CE/100 g fw

GAE/100g fw

mg/100g fw

g/100g fw

T. occidentalisRain 26.0 66.1 42.1 3.3 1.31 0.33Dry 27.5 67.1 44.8 3.2 1.46 0.47t-test 0.069* 0.559 ns 0.083* 0.423 ns 0.072* 0.10*

S. macrocarpon

Rain 36.8 50.9 65.1 2.2 1.44 0.48Dry 39.6 51.8 68.1 2.2 1.55 0.52t-test 0.189 ns 0.566 ns 0.085* 0.423 ns 0.033* 0.020*

S. scabrumRain 23.1 45.6 64.5 3.1 1.21 0.35Dry 22.8 47.5 46.0 3.2 1.31 0.40t-test 0.398 ns 0.223 ns 0.001* 0.199ns 0.013* 0.010*

Nutraceutical profiles of Telfairia occidentalis, Solanum macrocarpon and Solanum scabrum Nutraceutical profiles of Telfairia occidentalis, Solanum macrocarpon and Solanum scabrum

Dry season crops contain higher amounts of most nutraceutics. Chl a to Chl b ratio is 4:1 for ugu and 3:1 for igbagba and ogunmo. Flavonoids highest in ugu while phenolics and carotenoids are highest in igbagba. Flavonoids level declined sharply in ogunmo during the dry season. Phytate level is safe for humans.

Time series of fortnightly leaf yield of igbagbaacross two seeding rates, 16 locations and two seasons in SW Nigeria

Time series of fortnightly leaf yield of ugu across three populations, two seasons and16 locations in SW Nigeria

Vegetable *Production cost/6m2 (Naira)

**Revenue/6m2 (Naira) Profit/6m2 (Naira)

Rain season Dry season Rain Season Dry season Rain season Dry season

Igbagba* 1,045 2,120 2,400 4,800 1,355 2,680Tete 105 210 320 640 215 430Ugu* 1,250 2,760 5,000 10,000 3,750 7,240Woorowo 1,160 2,200 4,800 9,600 3,640 7,400Ebolo 65 130 180 270 115 140Yanrin 65 130 150 250 85 120Odu 65 130 180 270 115 140Ogunmo 65 130 180 270 115 140Tomati Elejo

** ** ** ** ** **

Ewuro ** ** ** ** ** **

Summary of production cost, revenue generation and profit (Naira) of UIVs enterprise in Southwest Nigeria.

Summary of production cost, revenue generation and profit (Naira) of UIVs enterprise in Southwest Nigeria.

Calculations are based on the leaf yields obtained by using Project 106511 best agronomic methods. Data are not available for Tomati Elejo and Ewuro because of lack of patronage. *On Ugu and Igbagba farmers realize these revenues fortnightly for a six month period.

Summary of findings: Impact on farmers practices

1. The baseline study in 72 locations on 4,600 farmers showed that 70% of the vegetable producers are women,

and 80% of the processors and marketers are women.

2. There are 553 farmers (336 men and 217 women) directly involved in on-farm experimentations at 16 locations in the four States. This figure is 5x higher than 100 farmers being

supported by the federal government of Nigeria.

3. The project which is focused on improving the livelihood of rural female farmers, has developed improved agronomic

practices such as optimum seeding rates, seeding methods and harvesting techniques.

. 4. Seed treatment is now a routine for farmers since it reduces the need for spraying the vegetables against insects.

5. Simple technology for breaking seed dormancy for igbagba which has reduced the germination time from 21-30 days to only 7-9 days. This is a 66% reduction in the time between planting, to harvest and marketing. This makes growing these vegetable more attractive for food and income as well as a more cost effective use of lands and inputs.

6. Farmers now know that woorowo could be grown outside cacao plantation.

7. Awareness by radio jingles and ongoing training sessions and information packages describing the agronomy, nutritional and economic values of these vegetables have created interests all over southwest Nigeria in respect of UIVs health benefits and economic potential.

ImplicationsAgronomic package:Underutilized Indigenous Vegetables and production innovations already developed and documented

as VegNews and fact-sheets publication. UIVs can be economically and successfully grown under domestic conditions. Optimum cutting length, seeding density and seeding method already tested and validated.

Gender Empowerment:• Gender Impact - Poor rural women farmers (over 40% of project participants) have been

empowered through collaborative and participatory demonstrations/training. Cooperative groups have been formed and savings cultured introduced to farmers and marketers of UIVs

Awareness: • Social impact is growing rapidly through radio communication(about 3m people are reached daily via radio),

newspaper articles and direct contacts on the need for growing and consuming locally grown nutritious indigenous vegetables.

• Government of Oyo State use our project sites as visitation sites during farmers training sessions

Economic potential in the market place:• Increased income for producers and sellers - • Incentives for scaling up – rationale for further investing in farming UIVs in SW Nigeria • Spin-offs for small local agric-businesses to provide inputs (credit, seeds, cuttings, fertilizers, etc.)

Impact of Radio Jingles• Over 3million Nigerians reached daily on Radio FM 89.5

“Orisun FM, Ile-Ife, Osun State”.• Over 5 million Nigerians reached weekly on weekly radio

programmes on FM 103.5 and FM 89.5. • Callers on telephone reach us (~20/week).• ~3 E-mail contacts/week• Numerous direct personal contacts. • The advocacy has spurred Osun and Oyo States governments

to establish indigenous vegetables units in the Ministry of Agriculture

• Three of our project farmers were recruited by the Oyo State Government as resource persons at agric training.

Farmers Testimonies:• A group of 18 women vegetable farmers at Akure said, “Thank God for this project. We now

export ugu to Abuja and other States. Our income has doubled in one year.”

• Farmers at Inisha said, “We got the technology of ugu cultivation from this project. Now we are making cool money. The market is now big and demand is higher than supply, no glut at all.”

• Farmer at Akanran said, “Knowledge of igbagba and ugu production is now a blessing. Our incomes have risen in 2 years. I bought a piece of land and started my own house. Thanks to the project.”

• Farmer at Osogbo said, “You need to move this project forward by reaching more States and poor farmers. 2014 is not a good time to terminate this good work. We want to continue to see the project scientists. They are great people.”

NiCanVegProject 106511

(Nigeria and Canada Under-utilized Vegetables Project)













Women economic empowerment and household food securityWomen economic empowerment and household food security





The Key Messages

underutilized indigenous vegetables for food security and livelihood resilience in nigeria

Technology

training of women farmers

farmers food values

resource poor women

farmers farms

rural women

seeding method ugu

wild indigenous vegetables

illiterate women