Research questions

RIU Nigeria programme objectives, strategies and activities were designed to address the overarching research question, shared by all the RIU programme: 'what configurations of actors, policies and institutions, under what circumstances and at what point in the innovation trajectory allow agricultural research to contribute to innovation and development?'

RIU Nigeria identified a number of specific research questions which were be reviewed during the life of the programme:

• What are the constraints to optimum uptake of agricultural research outputs in Nigeria?
• What policy and institutional environments would enhance uptake of agricultural research outputs in Nigeria?
• What opportunities exist to enhance uptake of agricultural research outputs across the country?
• What benefits will accrue to target stakeholders from optimum utilization of research outputs under a multi-stakeholder research for development paradigm?
• What are the socio-economic outcomes of involving socially excluded groups (i.e. poorly resourced stakeholders) in agricultural research for development networks in Nigeria?
• What are the mechanisms or pathways to scaling up and out the outcomes of the RIU programme?

These questions concentrate more on the success of the processes than the commodities, as these lessons will be more transferable.

Research which RIU Nigeria has been putting into use:

Aquaculture Innovation Platform

The RNRRS knowledge outputs adopted by stakeholders were:

• AFGP03 (integrated fish and vegetable farming) Huge potential for safe fish and vegetable production in urban areas Production of safe and nutritious fish and aquatic vegetables at the peri-urban interface of growing cities: an opportunity for poverty alleviation, food supply and environmentally sustainable greener cities
• AFGP05 (combating fish diseases)
• AFGP01 (household hatcheries)
• R8468 (capacity building in the use of FMSP stock assessment and tools and management guidelines).

None RNRRS research:
Locally produced high quality affordable fish meal and fish feed.

Cassava Innovation Platform

The RNRRS knowledge outputs adopted by stakeholders included:

• CCP22 (improved high-yield white-coloured varieties suitable for production of cassava flour)
• CCP24 (combating cassava mosaic disease through use of disease-resistant varieties and other control methods)

The cassava varieties adopted were:

• TME419
• TMS98/1642
• TMS98/0505
• TMS96/1632
• TMS98/0581
• TMS98/2101
• CPH30

Other research outputs utilised included:

• Locally fabricated hand-held cassava peeling technology developed by the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI) and National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), in collaboration with RIU-assisted Cassava Value Chain Innovation Platform
• New production techniques on post-harvest value addition (e.g. in making Odourless fufu developed by NRCRI
• Production of starch from cassava using cottage technology developed by NRCRI

Cowpea/ Soybean Crop Livestock Integration

The RNRRS outputs adopted by stakeholders were:

• CPP08 (Improving farmers' livelihoods through better crop options for getting high-yielding varieties, pest-control, fertilizers and weed control techniques )
• CPP28 (new high-yielding varieties)

Other research outputs utilised included:

• Fodder management and marketing (compacting, storage, marketing & utilization as livestock feed), designed and fabricated by Wetlands Nig Ltd, with field testing and rural advisory services from resource persons
• Rust resistant variety of soybean TGX 1835-10E developed by International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and National cereals Research Institute (NCRI)
• Dual purpose-High grain and fodder yielding cowpea varieties developed by IITA and IAR:
• IT277-2 (Dual purpose medium maturing-High yielding and forage potential variety)
• IT97K-499-35 (High yielding striga resistant medium maturing varieties)
• IT98K-205-8 (High forage potential and medium maturing)