Canada has invested $2.9 million in a Nigerian research project for the ‘Sustainable Production and Utilisation of Under-utilised Nigerian Vegetables’, which will enhance food security.

The study, which is currently being carried out by the Osun State University, Osogbo, was only announced after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by all parties.

It is jointly funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) under the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF), and will see the University of Manitoba and Cape Breton University, both from Canada, also participate in the project.

Vice Chancellor of the Osun State University, who spoke at the signing ceremony in the university campus, revealed that the project was already ongoing in several other states including Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo.

He said six high premium underutilized indigenous vegetables in South West Nigeria have been selected and are being researched in more detail to better define their agronomic practices, nutritional and economic value.

According to the VC, those vegetables were chosen as object of research work because of its nutritional value and economic benefits of its cultivation for farmers.

Recent security and climatic challenges such as flooding cases experienced in several states last year and the Boko Haram menace currently plaguing the North, has pegged back food production in the country.