Further to our work on developing a biocontrol product against aflatoxin contamination in food crops, we also developed six new aflatoxin-resistant maize inbred lines with our US-based partners. These maize lines, which have been released to farmers, are also well-adapted to the lowlands.

Resource-poor cowpea farmers in northern Nigeria have seen their profits jump an average of 55 percent due to improved dual-purpose cowpea varieties that we and our partners developed and introduced.

This year, a soybean variety resistant to the disease that we developed was approved for release by the Nigerian National Variety Release Committee (NNVRC). The rust-resistant soybean is the first of its kind to be made available for cultivation not only in Nigeria but also in West and Central Africa.

The successes recorded by the five-year run of the PROSAB project that we coordinated proved the effectiveness of our R4D approach in tackling not only livelihoods and food security but also social empowerment and gender equality.