Nutrition: Foundation distributes biofortified maize seedlings, others to Kaduna farmers

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss-based foundation, has distributed vitamin ‘A’ biofortified maize seedlings and other farm inputs to 400 farmers in Giwa LGA of Kaduna State.

The farm inputs were fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides.

Our correspondent reports that GAIN supports public-private partnerships to increase access to missing nutrients in diets necessary for people, communities and economies to be stronger and healthier.

It was created in 2002 at a Special Session on Children of the UN General Assembly.

At the beginning of the distribution on Wednesday in Giwa LGA, the Country Director of the foundation, Dr. Michael Ojo, said the biofortified seedlings were aimed at reducing malnutrition in the population, to ensure a healthy society.

Ojo, represented by Mr Lachang Faden, the Project Manager Biofortification, said the foundation through its biofortification component, was promoting the production and consumption of biofortified foods.

He explained that the aim of the foundation was to ensure that farmers transited from the production and consumption of traditional maize to that of the vitamin ‘A’ fortified ones.

He also explained that vitamin ‘A’ mitigated malnutrition which caused mental disability and vulnerability of the body to other diseases which in the long run, affected the labour force of the population.

Ojo added that under the GAIN’s biofortification component in Kaduna, they worked with 4,000 farmers in Lere, Kauru, Giwa and Chikun LGA.

He said they were supported with farm inputs and training on proximate processing of the vitamin ‘A’ biofortified maize, seasonal climate prediction and post harvest processing.

He said they would also distribute the vitamin A biofortified maize seedlings and other farm inputs to farmers across Lere, Kauru and Chikun LGA of the dtate.

“The GAIN project is a huge investment; last year we supported 2,000 farmers with agricultural inputs; our desire is to ensure the farmers produced and consumed the biofortified maize for a healthier society,” he said.

Also, the Acting Commissioner for Agriculture in Kaduna, Mr. Ya’u Kassim, said the biofortified maize would help the economy of the state and improve the health of the population, especially women and children.

Ya’u, who is the Director of Agricultural Services of the state’s Ministry of Agriculture, added that the fortified maize would show difference in what the farmers were cultivating.

“Most of them sell the produce they cultivate after harvest because they usually do it for commercial purpose, but for maize, is something almost everybody, no farmer can say he doesn’t eat it.

“This will translate to them eating a healthy variety of the maize and also flooding the markets with it,” Ya’u said.

He urged the farmers to make use of the seedlings, while urging them not to sell it for monetary exchange.

Also, the Village Head of Shika, Giwa LGA, Malam Salim Aboki, expressed gratitude to GAIN for the gesture to their locality.

Aboki, represented by Malam Muhammad Bello, said that the gesture was a great opportunity for the people of Giwa, adding that for it to reach their community, it was not a child’s play.

He thanked GAIN on behalf of the people of Giwa, while urging the beneficiaries to make proper use of the inputs and save large quantity when they harvested the fortified maize for their personal consumption.

It was reported that the beneficiaries, who were in clusters, comprised women and youths who were given adequate inputs to cultivate at least 1,652 hectares of the biofortified maize.