The Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, has announced a collaboration with the University of Alicante, Spain, and four other universities in Africa on a Capacity for Food Research Project.

The project, which is sponsored by the European Union and titled, “Integrated Soil Fertility Management for Food Security: Matching Capacities in Anglophone West African Nations with local needs,” is directed at fostering capacity building and regional integration in Integrated Soil Fertility Management, ISFM, for food security in Anglophone West African Universities.

Other universities involved in the project include, the University of Alicante, Spain, which is the coordinating University; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; University of D Schang, Cameroon; Njala University, Sierra Leone and University of The Gambia, Gambia.

The project, which is expected to run for 3 years, is aimed at enhancing regional networking in ISFM focusing on food security by setting up a Regional Network of Centers of Excellence, CoE in ISFM. The project has its Nigerian office based in the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, SAAT, building, FUTA.

Professor Adebiyi Daramola, Vice Chancellor, FUTA, said the research partnership is in tandem with the focus of the University to contribute meaningfully to evolving solutions to pressing societal problems.

He said FUTA is blessed with excellent scholars, researchers, facilities, staff and students and would therefore, play its part creditably well. “We already have a lot of international collaborations through our Centers like WASCAL, CEGIST, CERAD, CENT and others. And the team, led by Professor Mathew Oyun, which is driving this collaboration, comes highly recommended with a lot of research experience,” Daramola said.

Professor Oyun would be joined by Professor Shadrach Akindele, Professor Samuel Agele and Dr. Johnson Fasinmirin in coordinating the Nigerian leg of the project.