Sustainability planning meetings were held respectively in Nigeria on 30th -31st of March, 2021, and in Tanzania on 22nd – 23rd of April, 2021. The essence of the meetings was to develop plans for continuous use of AKILIMO by ACAI partners and other initiatives beyond June 2022, when the ACAI project comes to an end. The meetings, hosted by IITA’s ACAI project, brought together 39 participants from the two countries (25 participants in Nigeria, 14 participants in Tanzania) cutting across various organizations. The workshop successfully harnessed the experiences and resources of partners, reaching a wide range of agreements on how AKILIMO will be sustained.
AKILIMO NIGERIA AND AKILIMO TANZANIA BRING ACAI PARTNERS TOGETHER
The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) planning meetings which held in Ibadan, Nigeria and Dares Salaam, Tanzania, raised hopes for a bright future for AKILIMO ahead of the end of the ACAI project. The planning meetings brought partners together and one of the highlights was the formation of AKILIMO Nigeria and AKILIMO Tanzania to sustain the use of AKILIMO beyond the life span of ACAI.
AKILIMO PROMOTERS PLAN MOBILIZATION OF FARMERS IN NIGERIA
Promoters of AKILIMO in conjunction with Notore Chemical Industries plan to mobilize at least 30,000 cassava farmers for fertilizer recommendation (FR) tool.
Farmers Recount the Benefits of AKILIMO in Cassava Production
The out grower farmers of Psaltry International Limited (PIL) have started experiencing the positive impact of ACAI’s AKILIMO tool. A number of success stories in relation to the use of AKILIMO tools have emerged. Farmers from Ado Awaye in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State under the out-grower scheme of Psaltry recounted stories about how their cassava production has drastically improved due to application of the recommendations gotten from AKILIMO on their farms. The farmers were delighted because this has translated to increase in their cassava yields, an experience that they have not previously had.