The Food and Agri
culture Organisation (FAO),  an organ of the United Nations, says it has supported Nigeria’s  food security initiatives with  N73.4million.
The FAO Representative in Nigeria, Dr Louise Setshwaelo, said this last Thursday in Ibadan.
Setshwaelo spoke during  her visit to the National Horticulture Research Institute (NIHORT) in Ibadan.
She said that the money was spent basically on research methodology aimed at boosting  food security.
The FAO boss  said she was at NIHORT to inspect the Tissue Culture Laboratory set up to promote plantain/banana production.
In a response, the NIHORT Director, Dr Babasola  Adelaja ,  commended  FAO for its support to the country’s food production initiatives, adding that the programme was going on well.
“NIHORT is implementing   the FAO project according to the terms of the agreement in ensuring its success, ‘’ he said.
Mr Micheal Kanu, the National Project Coordinator, Plantain/Banana FAO Programme, said  the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had imported 275,000 plantain/banana seedlings from Costa Rica this year.
He said that the seedlings would be distributed nationwide while Oyo State alone would be given 10,000.
Kanu said that the variety,  which had a high yielding multiplication tendency,  could bear fruits under nine months.
The  FAO representative, at another forum,  said the organisation would establish food production channels in four local governments in the state.
Setshwaelo made this known when she paid a  visit to the Oyo state Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
“FAO is setting up food production channels in Oyo state in order to ensure food security in the country,” she said.
Mr Kunle Adeduntan, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of  Agriculture, commended FAO’s efforts to boost food production in Nigeria.
He, however, said that the state was facing the challenges of ageing farmers, dearth of storage facility, irrigation and climate change.