WACOT Limited, a leading food, and agro-processing company in West Africa, and Syngenta Crop Protection, a leading global agritech company partners to bring an impact by boosting Nigeria’s food security and ensuring the sustainable development of the agricultural industry.
This will make Syngenta Crop Protection and WACOT work closely for the next five years to help boost the quality, safety, and sustainability of Nigeria’s agricultural sector with world-class science and innovative crop solutions.
Although, the agriculture sector of the country is the highest employer of labor, which amounts to 70%, has suffered low productivity which results in poor returns for farmers and leads to large importation of food.
The collaboration with WACOT Limited will operate in the 36 states of Nigeria, supporting crop production which includes maize, soybean, rice, vegetables, cotton, and sorghum. This will help assist Nigeria in its drive towards attaining food self-sufficiency.
Through the collaboration, Syngenta and WACOT collaborate with farmers and others to bring sustainable improvement to the most vital factor in agriculture – yield. This involves WACOT providing support to farmers on cost-effective agronomic practices, advanced methods of crop protection via the usage of improved products and biological compounds to support the growth of the country’s agricultural sector.
Regarding the partnership, Ramesh Moochikal, the CEO of the agri division of TGI Group of the parent company of WACOT, stated that it wished Nigeria attains self-sufficiency in crop production and plan on entering a strategic partnership to attain the goal.
Moochikal said: “We are most pleased with this partnership that would further assist us to attain our dreams for Nigeria-food security and self-sufficiency.
Nigerian farmers are hardworking, and we are sure that if we can provide awareness about better crop production practices and provide the results of our research and development efforts, thongs will improve, and the country’s agricultural sector would benefit as a whole.
Also speaking, Frank Tokore, the Head of Syngenta Crop Protection West Africa, said the company was proud of its relationship with WACOT and will continue to assist Nigerian farmers.
He said: “We are glad to be renewing our partnership with WACOT. Through this partnership, we provide quality solutions to farmers in Nigeria and help support food security and livelihoods in Africa’s most populous country. By supporting farmers in Nigeria to sustainably increase their yields, we are also helping them be more competitive globally, hence reducing the need for imports. Nigeria has huge potential, which we strive to unlock sustainably through this partnership”.
