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Knowledge before high-tech innovations: improving Nigeria’s agriculture to feed its growing population

19 July 2018

The Hague, Netherlands - Farming was a key topic this week during the visit of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh to The Hague.

President of Nigeria, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari (seated, centre) met with a delegation of Dutch CEOs with business ties in Nigeria. Bert van der Feltz, CEO of East-West Seed (seated, first from right), was encouraged by discussions on the importance of agriculture in Nigeria.

On July 16, the Nigerian leaders met with a delegation of Dutch CEOs with business ties in the West African nation, including East-West Seed’s CEO, Bert van der Feltz
In his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte afterwards, President Buhari again recognized the importance of modernising agriculture to unlocking the country’s vast agricultural potential.

“It was inspiring to see the time and importance given to agriculture from all stakeholders during our fruitful discussions,” said van der Feltz, “This topic is critical as Nigeria’s rapidly growing population of 200 million people rely almost entirely on smallholder farmers for their food.”

Knowledge before high-tech innovations

While there are exciting opportunities in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, there are also some challenges facing agribusinesses which include:

  • Poor cultivation techniques, limited access to advisory services and lack of awareness in the benefits of using improved seed varieties and agri-inputs 
  • Weak market linkages and poor infrastructure
  • Uncertain regulatory environment

Minister Ogbeh, a farmer's son himself, emphasized that the solution to Nigerian farming may not lie in high-tech innovations - such as greenhouse cultivation which is commonplace in the Netherlands.

Van der Feltz agreed, saying: “While such technologies may be implemented in the future, what Nigerian smallholder farmers need right now is product consistency, the right information on how to get the best possible yields and ongoing support to improve or fine tune their efforts,” said van der Feltz.

This is where East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer (EWS-KT) can make a significant difference, he said. EWS-KT’s mission is to improve on-farm skills of smallholder vegetable farmers through sharing evidence-based knowledge on profitable and sustainable farming practices. 


Talabi Olufolajimi, a vegetable farmer in Nigeria,
 is seen with his harvest of tomatoes. A former farm worker himself, he has become independent by learning improved farm techniques to see his crops flourish. Read his story here

To create a conducive environment for the company to be more successful in developing a vibrant seed market, EWS has recently started building a team (of 25-30 extension officers), dedicated to pre-commercial EWS-KT activities. By showcasing profitable and sustainable farm practices, the team will catalyze a demand for better quality agro-inputs. It is expected that, after intensive training, the team will first become operational by late 2018 in Kaduna, located in the north west of Nigeria.

Improved farming knowledge will enable farmers to maximise benefits from using commercial varieties bred for increased vigor and yields as well as tolerance to  stress and disease. With improved marketable and post-harvest qualities, smallholder farmers will be better positioned to supply the rapidly changing demands of their markets.

Read more about EWS-KT Nigeria here

Accessing quality seeds in Nigeria

Until recently East-West Seed’​s main presence in Nigeria has been focused on variety testing. This ensures that farmers have varieties suitable for local agronomic conditions and that they are better able to align their production towards the rapidly changing demands of their markets.

Since mid 2017 EWS has been building up a commercial presence through embedding EWS field promoters with with our well respected commercial partner and distributor Harvestfield Industries Limited.