IITA’s West Africa Soil Consortia (WASHC) project recently organized a courtesy and familiarization visit to the Department of Soil Science and Land Management (SSLM), Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta on 21 April. The WASHC team was led by Dr Jeroen Huising, WASHC project leader, accompanied by Samuel Mesele, WASHC Research Support Officer.
The visit was a step towards fulfilling IITA’s mandate through WASHC to establish soil research links with relevant academic and research institutions for a more concerted approach to soil fertility management in the West and Central African subregions as well as bringing relevant stakeholders together for data harmonization, better collection and management of data, and suggestions for improved soil fertility recommendations with visible positive impacts on rural livelihoods.
Dr Huising reiterated that the visit
aimed to get insights on the research focus and the capacity of the Department in soil fertility management so that jointly, they could explore opportunities for partnerships in tackling the problem of
land degradation and non-responsive soils. “SSLM has expertise in the various aspects of soil science and we are willing and ready to collaborate with IITA for good quality research,” said Prof. Babalola, SSLM
Head of Department, as she received the guests. The Department
also organized a tour around its Soil Science Laboratory facility for the
IITA team.
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