In this interview with WALE AKINSELURE, Professor Veronica Obatolu speaks on her tenure as Executive Director, Institute of Agriculture Research and Training, relationship between agricultural research institutes and policies, and attaining food security in the country
You served as Director of the Institute of Agriculture Research and Training for six years. Briefly run us through the milestones and challenges of your two terms in office.
I’m a Professor of Human Nutrition. As you said, about six years ago, I was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, which is known as IAR&T. For the Agricultural Research Institute, we have mandates. We have two major national mandates. One of the national mandates is soil and water resource management research, and the other is kenaf improvement and management. Then we have some zonal mandates, which include trypanotolerant research improvements. When we talk about trypanotolerant animals, it means livestock that can thrive in the southwestern region, in the humid area. We also have mandates for improvement of maize, grain legumes, which include beans, soybean, and other underutilised legumes. And one of our major zonal mandates is the southwest farming system research and extension, which deals with the southwestern region. One of the major challenges when I came in was that we talked about human nutrition and agriculture generally. Although it’s in the field of agriculture, which is a discipline that deals more with humans rather than the agricultural section, and now I have to combine all that ground right from the soil up till when it gets to the table and stomach. Before they say when it gets to the table, but being a human nutritionist, I have to change it to until it gets inside the human because that is when it’s nourished. So, putting all these things and adding the value chain from soil to end was a major challenge of how we have to. This is because I have to pass through the value chain from the soil. After all, we have a mandate for soil. Also, for crops, for animals, and how do we add value to them? How do we nourish the process? So that humans will be able to improve themselves?
How do you assess the quantity or quality of support you got to achieve these mandates?
I have received 100 per cent support, particularly from the researchers – that is, the research scientists, and both known and non-academic staff of the institute. This is because if they did not support us, we might not be able to record the success we have achieved. I cannot do it alone, everyone has to do what they are supposed to do. And I guess everyone, particularly within the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, has done their part, and I am grateful. Also, the government has performed to the best of its ability, aside from the untimely release of funds. Also, one of the major challenges is that the amount of budget being given to research institutes is low. If we are all talking about agricultural development, if we don’t put enough funds into research, how can agriculture develop? But we have been able to utilise the few funds received adequately.
What about support from TETFund?
Yes, TETFund is an externally funded project. That is one of the strategies which I used. When I observed that the government is not able to give us enough funds, we have to look for a lot of external sponsors, funders, and TETFund is one of them. We have written proposals. As I said, my people have given me 100 per cent support. If they don’t write a proposal that is suitable and adequate, we will not be able to win the grant. We also have people Food and Agriculture Organisation giving us sponsors. These were strategies which I used. We now don’t solely depend on the government. We look for other sources. We also have OCPs that are supporting us. We also collaborate with other organisations. For example, we collaborate with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture. We also collaborate with others by bringing our meagre resources together to be able to achieve more.
A lot has been done, yet food security remains a challenge across the world, especially in Nigeria. Where would you say Nigeria is on the food security ladder?
When we talk about Nigeria’s place on the food ladder, I would say it’s on the low side. This is because we have a lot of challenges, dangers that we face. One of the major challenges is climate change. If we want agricultural development, money needs to be put into research to tackle some of the climate change that is causing problems. The funding is one of them. We have not been able to do enough research to be able to tackle all the challenges we have. Another issue is that of insecurity, it’s one of the major challenges affecting Nigeria’s food security. We have farmers who farm on their farms, and by the next morning, everything has been eaten up. It happens to us also, even as a research institution. You can imagine making hectares of land for farming, for breeding seeds, which we are supposed to sell to farmers. From breeder seeds, it will be taken to foundation seeds, so that we have enough quality seeds to produce. You plant that type of seeds to be sold to farmers for high productivity, and by the time you wake up in the morning, everything is gone. These are the major things that affect our food security.
Your national mandates are soil research, kenaf and jute fibre crops. To what extent is the IAR&T achieving this mandate? What are the areas of focus for the southwest, where this institute is located?
When we talk about soil management, it’s a national mandate not only in the southwest. What we do is to do soil mapping. In doing any cropping, cultivation farming, it is necessary to know the type of soil you have, to know the soil health, because soil health affects the type of plants that we grow. It is also necessary to know the type of crop that you can produce within that area. We have done some of the soil mapping for certain states and local governments because it is very, very capital-intensive. So we’ve not been able to cover the whole country. But we have been able to take some states, some local governments, and categorically we can tell you, if you take Taraba State, for example, which is within an area, we state that this is the type of crop you can plant there, this is the type of fertilizer that you will need there. When we talk about Kenaf, Kenaf is a new, industrial crop entirely, which we have also worked on, as it is our mandate crop. With Kenaf, we’ve been able to release two varieties that are adaptable to all agro-ecological zones within the country. Aside from that, we’ve been able to add value to this Kenaf fibre. We have been able to replace sisal fibre, which is used for the POP ceiling. Normally, it is imported and it is very costly. But we’ve been able to replace sisal with this Kenaf fibre in the production of POP. We’ve been able to do that with Kenaf. Also, even the one within our southwestern cities, we’ve been able to release about two varieties of maize that are adaptable to all agro-ecological zones in the southwest. We’ve been able to release three cowpea varieties that are of high quality and high productivity. And if it’s very good within the southwestern region, definitely the cowpea will do better in the northern region. These are all targeted towards food security. And we have been able to add value even when we talk about food security. Now we talk about food and nutrition security because if nutrition is not provided, the productivity of human beings will be low. And so there won’t be development. So we’ve been able to add value to increase the nutrition, the consumption of people. Now we have used yellow flesh cassava, which they know as pro-vitamin cassava, with soybean to be able to produce garri, and we call it nutrient-dense garri. It’s an externally sponsored project by TETFund. We’ve also been able to develop some fertiliser that is crop-based, that is good for tomatoes, good for palm oil, and good for wheat. This is an externally-based program, being sponsored by OCP Africa. And fertiliser has to do with soil management.
As a nutrition expert, what do you make of the attitude of Nigerians concerning nutrition?
I wouldn’t say whether it’s satisfactory or not because nutrition depends on the individual. We all have different metabolisms. Although when we talk about our diets, it is mainly carbohydrates. For instance, people are aware of being nutritionally adequate. About 50 per cent of us now, aside from the fact that there’s no money to follow it up, the majority of Nigerians are aware that it is good for us to monitor what we take in if we want to remain healthy. But then the fact now comes – do we have the means to access the type of things we need? Is it available? When we talk about accessibility, it’s for you to be able to have money, the cash, to be able to get it. Number two, are those things available? If they’re available and you don’t have access to it, it’s a problem. So, these are the things that are distorting the majority of us from meeting our nutritional needs. And, you know, when we talk about hunger, you have to fill your stomach. So, if you cannot buy what you need, you buy what is available.
One sometimes wonders whether the researches from agric institutes drive the policies. What is the essence of this research if they simply end up on the shelves and don’t influence our agricultural policies? Do these agricultural policies come from the research you conduct?
No, the policy influences the research, and our research informs policy. And, our research does not end on the shelf. All agricultural research institutes are supposed to do research according to the policy that gets to farmers, that gets to the end users. And under our farming system, we disseminate any research being developed within the southwestern region to the farmers. We have what they call Agricultural Development Programmes. Under these ADPs, we have monthly technical review meetings, where we go to disseminate our research. We have the problem of the farmers. So it is the problem of the farmers that informs our research. And when it informs our research, what we do is to inform the policy, and the policymakers will now set their policy based on what we inform them of, and that will now influence what they will sponsor and what we will do.
Despite all these researches and policies, the concern of most Nigerians is food inflation. Why are food prices still high?
It is still because there are a lot of challenges. One of the issues is climate change. The majority of us, particularly in the southwest, depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture. But now, research is going to irrigation. Also, another major problem is the cost of input for farming. For farmers, there is also the issue of getting access having the good seeds that they are supposed to plant. The majority of farmers, once they get the seed for the first year and plant, they will keep, forgetting the fact that when you are keeping seed for planting, the way you store matters. In this institute, we train farmers every month. We have a building where we call the Agricultural Value Addition and Entrepreneurial Centre, whereby we train farmers in the art of business. We train them along the value chain of whatever crop. Then you also think about our population. Also, Nigerians are now used to buying imported food. When farmers produce their food and say it’s from Nigeria, people would prefer to go and buy tomato paste. In Kano, we have them making tomato paste. But then the cost of production is sometimes very high. There is the challenge of electricity. These are things that still prevent Nigeria from achieving food security. And we talk about insecurity also. A farmer who plants maybe 10, 20 hectares of maize, or grains, then the next day, it’s no longer there. If you are not strong enough, you won’t want to go back to farming. So, these are just the basics of what is affecting our food security.
You recently received the Transparency Africa Honour Award. That’s quite unusual for public office holders. How did you get to be awarded as a transparent official?
I would not be able to say, but people outside have access to you. I cannot access myself. And I felt I was awarded because of what they have seen, which is that I leave everything open. People outside know you better. It could be my principles, the strategy, or my leadership. One thing I know is that my leadership is based on transformative leadership, which means allowing participation of everyone who has to do with that matter. Those who gave me the award said they have done this and that checks. And what they said made me reflect on myself. I just want to do what is right, what is supposed to be done. Although when you go through the straight line, it could be very hard. You know, you have some obstacle, but I don’t bother about that obstacle. I climb through it, get to the next step until I get what I want. So I was indeed happy for that transparency award.
What cue can other public office holders take from you in terms of ensuring transparency and accountability?
Well, the cue I want them to take is that let them make public everything they do in public office. There’s this idea that all Nigerians are corrupt, that you can’t get something without giving something. That is incorrect. If you want the easy way, it could be correct. But if you persevere, you know this is the right thing to do, and you persevere, you will be able to get what you want without spending. I want to say categorically that all my achievements within the government system, even with TETFund and other external bodies, I have not given anything. My idea is perseverance and pushing. That is what I used to get whatever I got from either the budget or from anywhere. It’s usually perseverance.
So, as you leave the office, what legacies are you leaving behind?
One thing that I’m so proud of, and I want to continue here, is the culture of dignity of labour. Whatever you are doing, be proud of it. You don’t have to be up there before you can contribute to the development of the system. As I always say, if the people down there did not do their work, it could be impossible for the people at the top to do their work. So dignity of labour, hard work are the legacies I am leaving behind. You have to be very hardworking to achieve whatever you want to achieve. You should also have faith in yourself that you can always achieve your goal if you go straight. If you go the right, correct, and straight way, you will always get what you want. It could be late, but if you rush to get it, the way it comes, the way it goes. And that is why the majority in high positions find themselves in trouble, because they rush to get things done.
