The Kano State Government has assured readiness to partner the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) to scale up climate smart farming solutions to boost food production.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Danjuma Mahmoud gave the assurance on Thursday when he received members of AATF Board of Trustee at the Ministry.

Earlier, leader of AATF delegation and Vice Chairman, AATF Board of Trustee Ms Sylvia Kyeyune said the team were in Kano to seek collaboration for adoption of Tela Maize technology to enhance food security.

Kyeyune explained the crop was breed to resist drought and survive without chemical spray was introduced to farmers in Nigeria since 2024 to boost production.

According to Ms Kyeyune, Tela Maize is designed for Nigerian climate condition with little rain, urging intensify awareness and adoption of farmers in Kano.

“So we are here to actually seek your indulgence and further collaboration. I know you’ve been collaborating with us. We have been working with the National Seed Council. We’ve worked with seed companies.

“But Honourable Commissioner, we want to request that we have even further collaborations and further support from your office to increase awareness, a few people are aware right now because of the demonstrations that we’ve done, but we need to increase awareness and adoption.

“I’ve also observed that there’s a lot of use of open pollinated varieties in this country. But you know, with drought, with fall armyworm, these products will not be able to deliver food security at the end of the day if we do not adopt technologies that can actually fight those challenges.

“So we are here to ask for your support, further support, to ensure that we create even further awareness about this product, Tela maize. We also want to request for further support. Because you see, farmers will ask, why should I invest in this seed when at the end of the day, I don’t have market”. Kyeyune said.

Responding, the Commissioner disclosed that government will be ready to take necessary measures to support farmers production and productivity, opined that such collaboration will breed adopt of appropriate technologies.

Dr. Mahmoud asserted that government is particularly interested to adopt agribusiness solutions that enhance income of small holder farmers with gender mainstreaming.

“The bottom line is from farm to get to the shelf. So, you can’t do that unless, of course, you have the input to process. So, that output will only come if you have good seeds, farming practise, appropriate technologies, crop production, and of course, protection, processing.

“So, we need you and we are not doing any favour to you, partnering with you. We need you to work to achieve our own interest, to achieve results. You can count on cooperation, partnership, and collaboration”.

Besides the Tela Maize technology, the AATF disclosed other areas of intervention include biotechnology development and transfer to address challenges in Africa.