Nine extension agents (five male, four female), including two youths, have been trained by IITA–CGIAR as part of its efforts to strengthen the capacity of extension agents in knowledge and technology transfer in orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) vines and root multiplication in Oyo State. The three-day intensive training was held from 10 to 12 May under the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples (SNiPS) project funded by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). The training was held at the IITA Ibadan campus, and practical demonstrations on one of the project farmer’s farms in Ido Local Government Area (LGA).
The SNiPS initiative aims to increase the production and consumption of OFSP among smallholder farmers. Its main goals are to reduce malnutrition and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
While declaring the training open, the Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), Director and Program Lead IITA Mechanisation, Adebowale Akande, commended GAIN for ensuring that the SNiPS initiative covered nutrition as well as business, processing, and marketing.
“I am particularly glad that SNiPS has not been limited to nutrition alone,” he said. “It is engaging youth, women, and the private sector and covering business, processing, and marketing. This is highly commendable, and I hail the sponsors for this.”