The International Potato Centre (CIP) has indicated its readiness to partner with the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) in “Food Baskets Project”.

The Regional Director of the Centre, Adiel Nkongu Mbabu disclosed this while on a courtesy call on the Project Coordination Office in Abuja.

According to Adiel Mbabu, he is leading a team to WAAPP office to familiarise with the activities of the Project and to seek possible areas of collaboration especially in WAAPP- Nigeria priorities commodities, while indicating the Centres readiness to work with WAAPP- Nigeria in developing nutritious food, through their Food Basket Project.

He added that the collaboration will alongside include strategies to build methodology on scaling up agricultural productivity in the country.

Responding , Acting National Project Coordinator WAAPP- Nigeria James Ocheme Apochi informed the team that WAAPP- Nigeria remains the special purpose Vehicle that is driving the Agricultural Change Mantra.

This he added that WAAPP- Nigeria with its objectives of Generating, Dissemination and Adoption of Technologies has been able to increased Agricultural Productivity especially among the low income farmers through making available to them improved seeds and seedlings.

James Ocheme Apochi stated that WAAPP being a brainchild of ECOWAS countries with its Headquarters in Dakar, Senegal and domiciled under the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMR&RD), has Aquaculture as the core mandate for Nigeria and also focus on other priority commodity such as sorghum, maize, rice, cassava and yam.