Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity Newsletter, 22nd Edition, March 2023
03 Integrated Agriculture Activity Highlights Work at
the Global (Shree Anna) Millet Conference
05 Field-Based Monitoring: USAID MELSA Team visits
IAA Implementing States 
06 Meet Mallam Shuaibu Sali, the OFSP Farmer
08 ‘Exclusive breastfeeding makes all the difference.’
– Mother of four children
09 “IAA taught me what my friend couldn’t” -
Nutrition Beneficiary
10 “About the Activity/Contact
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Integrated Agriculture Activity Highlights Work at
Global (Shree Anna) Millet Conference
At the Global (Shree Anna) Millet larger quantities can contribute to food
Conference in India organized to security and help provide more
commemorate the International Year of nourishment to people of all ages; hence,
Millet 2023, Integrated Agriculture Activity the efforts of India and its partner
(IAA) highlighted the efforts of USAID and countries (Nigeria inclusive) in educating
its implementing partner, the the world about the wonders of the crop.
International Institute of Tropical Other dignitaries such as the Indian
Agriculture (IITA), in ensuring food Minister of Agriculture and Farmers
security in northeast Nigeria. The Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar,
International Millet Conference took place Suriname’s Minister of Agriculture,
on the 18th -19th of March 2023 at the Parmanand Prahlad Sewdien, Guyana’s
Agricultural Research Institute, New Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustafa,
Delhi. The conference was themed Agriculture Minister of Zambia, Reuben
“Enhancing Productivity and Value Mtolo Phiri, agree that if countries of the
Addition in Millets”. world gather at agricultural conferences,
technologies needed for planting crops
The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra such as millet can be exchanged and
Modi, who inaugurated the conference higher yields achieved.
explained that the cultivation of millet in 
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During the presentations, the Chief of He emphasized the uniqueness of
Party (IAA), Mr. Prakash Kant Silwal, spoke USAID’s support in ensuring that
on “Millet stakeholders’ interface for northeast Nigeria has viable food value
leveraging market opportunities: IITA’s chains. The CoP also spotlighted some of
role in millet nutrition, value addition and the key technologies, such as Aflasafe,
interfacing different consumers” and and tools employed in the production of
“Market approach to improving the highly nutritive crops like millet.
livelihood of smallholder farmers in NE Mr Silwal attended the conference in the
Nigeria through technology (Aflasafe) and company of members of the Nigeria
community nutrition”. Silwal explained Millet Initiative and Niger State Ministries
how IITA has delivered more than 70% of of Agriculture, and Investment. The
the CGIAR’s impact in sub-Saharan Africa conference created global networking
through a science-driven improvement of opportunities and prospective
agriculture. partnerships.
 
Round table discussions on plant health, aflatoxin and Aflasafe during the Global Millet
Conference in India: Chief of Party(IAA), Mr. Prakash Kant Silwal (in black suit); flanked by
other top officials from India and Suriname.
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Field-Based Monitoring: USAID MELSA
Team visits IAA Implementing States 
The USAID Monitoring, Evaluation,  youth, and gender inventions while
Learning, and Social Accountability interacting with the Activity staff and
(MELSA) team has begun a field-based beneficiaries.
monitoring (FBM) exercise for Integrated In Yobe State, especially, the team met
Agriculture Activity (IAA) implementing with the Director of Agriculture and
states/communities. The exercise Extension services and the extension
commenced on the 20th of March, 2023 agents. They also visited communities
in Borno and Yobe States after which the with profiled farmers and interacted with
team will move to Adamawa and Gombe community leaders in Fika, Nangere, and
States in April. Damaturu LGAs. The beneficiaries in the
The purpose of the exercise is to conduct five implementing LGAs of Borno state
output verification in addition to the were receptive as they shared the
assessment of the Activity’s compliance Activity’s impact on their lives and
with the annual work plan and other communities. An official report will be
tasks. During this period, the MELSA team filed to the donor (USAID) by April ending
assessed agronomy, nutrition, as well as to mark the end of the exercise. 
A member of the USAID MELSA team, Professor John Jiya Musa, assessing a
bottle of Tomapepo (a mix of tomato, pepper and onions) made by the
Activity's beneficiaries in Kwaya Kusar LGA, Borno State.
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Meet 
Mallam 
Shuaibu 
Sali, 
the 
OFSP 
Farmer.
 
With one wife and 11 children, 56-year-old approached me about homestead
Mallam Shuaibu Sali understands what farming, I was excited. They also showed
providing food for a large family means. me a kind of potato that was not
Every season, he plants maize and other common in our community. I wanted to
crops to feed his large family. He then be the first to plant it,” said Mallam
sells the rest.  Income from the sale is Shuaibu.
usually small compared to the needs of
his family. In all, his wife tries to prepare In July 2021, Shuaibu provided the Activity
meals that are cheap but nourishing with a 10 X 10 piece of land for a
including vegetables. homestead farming demonstration in his
compound in Tashan Tsamiya
“As a farmer, I don’t joke with the planting community, Bayo LGA, Borno State.
of vegetables. The seeds are cheap, Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP)
available, and easy to cultivate even in the and other micronutrient-rich vegetables
dry season. Within a few weeks, they are were planted on the piece of land.
due for harvest and my family can Thereafter, Mallam Shuaib was put in
consume them. That was why when charge of the demonstration. By
Integrated Agriculture Activity December 2021 when he discovered how 
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successful the demonstration was,
Shuaibu got more of the OFSP vines from
the Activity and planted them on his
larger farm. He invested NGN30,500 in
planting, weeding, and fencing the farm.
The yield was plenteous. Shuaibu
harvested twelve and a half bags of OFSP
by March 2022. He made a sale of
NGN150,000.
A heap of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
(OFSPs) after harvest on Mallam Shuaibu's
farm.
Shuaibu is on his way to another bountiful
harvest. He harvested the first batch of his
OFSP on 12 March 2023 and has so far sold
NGN20,000 worth. He admits that
although he planted the indigenous
white variety of sweet potatoes, he got a
better yield with OFSP. 
Harvest time on Mallam Shuaibu's OFSP farm
“I never knew I could get such a yield let
alone make so much money. I and my
family consumed a good portion of the
OFSP and even gifted neighbors a lot of
the potatoes, despite that I still made a lot
of money. The potatoes are not only
unique, but they are also highly
nutritious”. 
OFSP contains vitamins A, B complex, C,
potassium, zinc, and magnesium. It helps
in the treatment of inflammation, and Bagging time: one of the full bags of OFSP
ulcer; aids digestion; reduces arthritis harvested on Shuaibu's farm
pain; and helps control diabetes.
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‘Exclusive “They taught us that only a mother’s
breast milk is needed from birth to six
breastfeeding makes months and that other liquids are not
dangerous. Water should not even be
all the difference.’ – given as the breast milk contains water
and other needed nutrients. I also learned
Mother of four that feeding bottles should be avoided as
children they could carry dangerous diseases.
Right now, I can tell you that exclusive
breastfeeding really makes the
Halima Mohammed is not a novice to difference.”
childbearing. She is a young mother of 4
children. When she had her first two The story is different with Halima’s third
children, she was unaware of the benefits and fourth children. Breastfeeding them
of exclusive breastfeeding. translated to healthy children and less
frequent visits to the hospital. She has
“My mom and my mother-in-law would since become an advocate of
ask me to give the children water at breastfeeding in her community.
intervals. My mother-in-law, especially,
would tell me that a baby will not tell you
when he is thirsty so you have to offer him
water as often as possible. They told me
that breastmilk is never enough for any
child. I followed their direction and I kept
wondering why my first two kids were
always falling ill”
When Halima joined the Gwathubur
farmers’ group in Mainahari community
(Biu LGA, Borno State), Feed the Future
Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity
provided training to mothers in the group
on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).
They were taught the appropriate kind of Exclusively breastfed, five-month-old Haruna
feeding for newborns and children under Salisu held by his mom, Halima Mohammed.
two years.
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Mrs. Zainab Isa is a prominent member of “I didn’t know the peanut snack will do so
the Women in Agriculture (WiA) group in well. I decided my profit must go into
Shani LGA, Borno State. She also weekly savings with my savings group. I
volunteers as a nutrition promoter for also started saving on behalf of my
Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated daughter. At the end of the day, I was able
Agriculture Activity. In August 2022, to save NGN68,000. 
Zainab was privileged to attend one of
the Activity’s micro-processing training in
her community. She learned how to
process peanut snacks among other
snacks and drinks.
“I was so excited about the peanut snack
because I had always wanted to learn
how to make it. One of my friends makes
and sells it. Each time I ask her to teach
me, she will say she is busy. I know she
isn’t busy; she just doesn’t want the
competition. When I got tired of asking
her, I stopped,” Zainab recounts.
To start the peanut snack business, Mrs. Zainab Isa diplays her packaged
Zainab bought groundnut, sugar, and nutritious peanut snacks
eggs for NGN3,000 and made a profit of
NGN1200. Due to the high demand, she From her savings, Zainab purchased
kept re-invested her capital and profit. NGN25,000 worth of firewood which she
She started processing 3 measures of deals in. She also bought NGN5,000
groundnut with a profit of NGN3,000 per chicks which she is currently raising in
week. With the profits, she purchased half readiness for sale during the festive
a bag of groundnut which she exhausted period. She spent NGN4,000 on fertilizers,
within six weeks. After three months, she pesticides, and laborers for the 2023 wet
was making a profit of NGN8,400. season farming.
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About the Activity Contact
The Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated
Agriculture Activity (IAA) issued under
the US Government's Global Food
Security Act was awarded by USAID
Nigeria to the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and its
partners in July 2019 towards the
economic recovery of North-East
Nigeria, in the wake of the devastation
caused by the ongoing insurgency in
the region. The Activity supports
vulnerable populations in 12 Local
Government Areas of Adamawa and Prakash Kant Silwal
Borno states to re-engage in basic Principal Specialist/Chief of Party
farming activities and aims to advance Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated
the objectives of inclusive and
sustainable agriculture-led economic Agriculture Activity
growth, strengthened resilience among IITA-Abuja, Beside Old Water Works,
people and systems, and a well- Kubwa,
nourished population, especially among Abuja FCT, NIgeria
women and children in targeted Mobile: +234-9062927839
locations. Email: P.Silwal@cgiar.org
To achieve these objectives, the Activity
works with a coalition of public and
private sector partners to facilitate
improved agro-input and extension Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated
advisory services to serve vulnerable Agriculture Activity
populations; strengthen the institutions
that form the market system and the @Integr_AgricAct
networks that serve smallholder farmers
disenfranchised by conflict, and iita_iaa
facilitate the engagement of youth and
women in economic and
entrepreneurial activities. Feed the Future Nigeria IAA 
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