Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), H.E. Ambassador Yaya Olaniran, has called for wider adoption of agricultural technologies developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to reduce food losses and create more opportunities for young entrepreneurs.
During a courtesy and learning visit to IITA Headquarters in Ibadan from 27 to 30 August 2026, Olaniran, who was accompanied by his wife, Monilola Olaniran, toured selected IITA laboratories and facilities. These included those working on germplasm health and diagnostics, food and nutrition sciences, early-generation seed technologies, cassava and yam breeding and processing, Aflasafe, and youth agribusiness. He described what he saw as an impressive demonstration of how modern and affordable technologies could be applied to Nigeria’s staple crops and linked to agribusiness.
Olaniran, however, stressed the need to do more to ensure that these technologies reach farmers, processors, and other value chain actors. “There should be an advocacy, a publicity that will bring this into the hands of the farmers, into the hands of the business people, and into the hands of processors,” he said. He stressed that increasing food production alone would not be enough if large volumes of produce continued to be lost or wasted after harvest. “It’s not enough to just produce and then have high level, high volume of food loss or food waste,” he said, adding that turning agricultural produce into different food products and snacks could make the difference between profitability and loss.
According to him, putting the technologies he saw at IITA into practice could also reduce foreign exchange wastage and improve the livelihoods of farmers, particularly young entrepreneurs who would take over agricultural practices from older generations.
He also called for collaboration between IITA and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, saying this could increase the visibility of agricultural technologies and improve profitability for local farmers. Beyond technology development and adoption, Olaniran stressed the importance of following recommended agronomic practices, noting that simple decisions on the farm could directly affect yield and profit. “If your plant density is not correct, you have lost a good percentage of your yield and by extension, a good proportion of your profit,” he said.
Olaniran noted that he would use his position and relationships to draw attention to areas requiring action and to support strategies for collaboration. He described the knowledge and technologies generated at IITA as public goods that Nigeria and other African countries should make the most of. “Let’s use what we have to get what we want,” he said.
Facts Only
* Ambassador Yaya Olaniran, Permanent Representative to FAO and WFP, called for wider adoption of agricultural technologies from IITA.
* Olaniran visited IITA Headquarters in Ibadan from August 27 to 30, 2026.
* The tour included IITA laboratories covering germplasm health and diagnostics, food and nutrition sciences, early-generation seed technologies, cassava and yam breeding and processing, Aflasafe, and youth agribusiness.
* Olaniran stressed the need for advocacy and publicity to bring these technologies to farmers, business people, and processors.
* Food production increases alone are insufficient if post-harvest losses remain high.
* Turning agricultural produce into different food products and snacks is presented as a way to improve profitability over mere volume.
* Implementing IITA technologies could reduce foreign exchange wastage and improve farmer livelihoods.
* Olaniran called for collaboration between IITA and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
* Following recommended agronomic practices, such as correct plant density, directly affects yield and profit.
* Olaniran stated that knowledge generated at IITA should be used by Nigeria and African countries.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative positions advanced agricultural technology not merely as a technical solution but as a crucial lever for economic restructuring and social equity within the Nigerian context. The core tension lies between technological potential (IITA’s innovations) and implementation reality (distribution and practice). Olaniran's focus shifts the discussion beyond yield maximization to value chain efficiency, suggesting that the bottleneck is not solely production capacity but market access and post-harvest management. The call for specific advocacy—reaching farmers, processors, and entrepreneurs—suggests a systemic failure in knowledge diffusion where research outputs remain siloed within institutions rather than translating into tangible economic benefits for the end-user.
The emphasis on correcting agronomic practices highlights a critical gap: the assumption that technology adoption is automatic once available overlooks the foundational role of local context and operational knowledge. The notion that technologies are "public goods" to be utilized suggests an expectation of shared stewardship, yet the insistence on focused collaboration with government bodies implies that current structures create barriers to this realization. A deeper implication is recognizing the responsibility for translating scientific outputs into practical economic agency; if innovations lead to reduced waste and better yields, failing to enforce basic agronomic wisdom effectively negates the potential profit gains, potentially entrenching existing power dynamics rather than leveling them.
The question for further inquiry centers on the friction between high-level policy goals (collaboration) and ground-level execution (practice). What systemic structures impede the visibility of these technologies beyond official channels? How can mechanisms be established to ensure that knowledge transfer acts as a catalyst for decentralized, profitable decision-making rather than remaining an abstract concept for external advocacy?