Nigeria spends over $50m on biotech research

Nigeria has committed over $50 million to biotechnology research and the development of climate-resilient seeds in the last two years, as part of efforts to raise agricultural output, deepen agribusiness value chains and improve national food security.

 The Director General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Fatuhu Muhammed, disclosed this during the official launch and stakeholders’ engagement of the ProSeV Project, where he delivered a keynote address on Variety Adoption and the Impact on Agribusiness. He was represented at the event by the Director of Seed Industry Development, Kunle Adeseko.

Muhammed described seed as the most vital input in agriculture, stressing that widespread adoption of improved seed varieties is key to repositioning Nigeria’s agriculture from subsistence farming to a competitive and investment-ready agribusiness sector.

He said improved varieties deliver significant advantages such as increased yields, resilience to climate stress, resistance to pests and diseases, enhanced nutritional value, and more sustainable farming practices.

“As the global population grows and climate risks intensify, seed technology will play a decisive role in addressing food security challenges and promoting sustainable agriculture,” he said.

The NASC chief noted that agribusiness planning in Nigeria had long been undermined by inadequate data on the varieties farmers actually cultivate and how those varieties perform after release.

 According to him, dependence on farmer recall, visual identification and administrative records often fails to reflect on-field realities, creating uncertainty for seed companies, processors, investors and policymakers.

To address this challenge, he said NASC is implementing the Institutionalizing Monitoring of Crop Variety Adoption through Genotyping (IMAGE) Project, which applies DNA fingerprinting to accurately identify crop varieties grown by farmers and monitor their movement across the seed system.

“This approach brings accuracy, objectivity and credibility, three attributes modern agribusiness systems require,” Muhammed said.

He explained that through nationwide surveys covering rice, maize, cassava and cowpea, the council has generated reliable field-level data on varietal dominance, adoption trends and sources of planting materials across different agro-ecological zones.

Such data, he said, is critical for agribusiness development, enabling processors to forecast supply, investors to better assess risk, regulators to combat counterfeit seeds, and financial institutions to build confidence in agricultural investments.

Muhammed noted that the seed sector has made significant progress in recent years, including the distribution of over 120,000 metric tonnes of certified seeds, directly reaching millions of smallholder farmers nationwide.

He added that the Digital Seed Distribution System, introduced in 2021, has cut distribution costs by 25 per cent while improving efficiency and traceability. Under the Nigeria–Netherlands Collaborative Seed Programme, more than 20 new seed varieties, including drought-tolerant, pest-resistant and high-yield crops have been released in the past two years.

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According to him, women now represent 35 per cent of certified seed users, while over 2.5 million farmers have been trained on good agricultural practices and seed management across the country.

Speaking further, Muhammed said the $50 million biotechnology investment has supported innovations such as pest-resistant cassava, drought-tolerant millet and high-yield rice. He added that partnerships with international research institutions, including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and CGIAR, are accelerating advances in seed breeding and climate resilience.

On regulation, he said Nigeria’s seed industry has been strengthened by the Plant Variety Protection Act and NASC’s membership of international bodies such as ISTA, UPOV, ISF, OECD Seed Schemes and AFSTA, positioning the country as a leading player in Africa’s seed market.

In a welcome address, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Smallholders Solutions (FSSS), Dr. Isaiah Gabriel, said many farmers struggle not because of lack of effort but due to insufficient access to reliable information.

He explained that the ProSeV Project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is designed to replace guesswork with performance-based data, enabling farmers to select crop varieties best suited to their land, climate and market needs.

“When farmers adopt the right varieties, productivity improves, agribusiness thrives and the entire value chain benefits,” Gabriel said.

Muhammed noted that variety adoption lies at the crossroads of science, markets and investment, adding that data-driven seed systems are essential to unlocking Nigeria’s vast agribusiness potential.