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IBADAN, Oyo State – Oyo State has secured a strategic partnership with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research CGIAR and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture IITA to advance the cassava and cocoa value chains, in a move projected to strengthen food security, boost agribusiness, and uplift farmers across the state.
The agreement was reached on Friday following a high-level meeting between Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, the Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency OYSADA, Dr. Debo Akande, and a delegation from CGIAR-IITA led by its Director-General, Dr. Simeon Ehui.
Speaking after the meeting, CGIAR Chief Scientist, Sandra Milach, and IITA Deputy Director-General, Dr. Bernard Vanlauwe, said Oyo State was strategically positioned to benefit from the collaboration due to its status as a major cassava-producing state and its growing potential in cocoa production.
The partnership will focus on developing actionable plans to address bottlenecks across the cassava and cocoa value chains, improve processing and value addition, and connect farmers directly to markets and industries.
“We just met the governor, and we talked especially about cassava. We know Oyo State is one of the major producers and it is also investing in processing and value addition. And we talked about cocoa. So, these are the two crops that IITA has a lot of expertise in,” Dr. Vanlauwe said.
“We have agreed to develop plans together with the governor on how we can advance both value chains.”
Dr. Milach, who leads CGIAR’s science agenda, said the organization’s mission is to transform global food systems through research that translates into real economic value for farmers and communities. She described Oyo as a state with immense agricultural potential that aligns with Nigeria’s broader food transformation goals.
“In CGIAR, we are on this mission of asking: how can we turn all the science we do into a real value proposition, real business? We see a very important role for our science to help raise the value proposition of agribusiness,” she stated.
She noted that the partnership will help Oyo identify critical gaps in infrastructure, processing, and market demand, while providing evidence-based solutions to scale production and profitability.
Addressing how the collaboration will impact farmers directly, Dr. Milach emphasized the need to understand constraints within the value chain — from production to processing and market access.
“Understanding the bottlenecks is the first step. Is it in processing? Is it in infrastructure, roads, and all that? There is also an important role for the processing industry to help farmers adopt better varieties,” she explained.
She added that creating a clear demand pull from processors would encourage farmers to adopt high-yield varieties of cassava and cocoa, thereby ensuring they produce what the market requires and can sell at competitive prices.
The meeting also had in attendance the Senior Executive Assistant to the Governor on General Duties, Chief Bayo Lawal, while Dr. Debo Akande anchored Oyo State’s agribusiness position for the delegation.
Dr. Akande’s presence underscores the Makinde administration’s deliberate strategy of positioning OYSADA as the technical and investment interface for global agricultural partnerships aimed at creating jobs and wealth for Oyo people.
The CGIAR-IITA delegation included Dr. Tahirou Abdoulaye, Dr. Ibnou Deng, and Mrs. Toyin Oke.
The partnership reinforces Governor Makinde’s agribusiness-led economic agenda, which prioritizes value chain development, youth inclusion in agriculture, and private sector investment. By leveraging CGIAR’s global research capacity and IITA’s tropical agriculture expertise, Oyo State is expected to unlock higher yields, better processing infrastructure, and stronger market linkages for cassava and cocoa farmers.
Concluding her visit, Dr. Milach said: “You have a wonderful country, and Oyo is a wonderful state, with a lot of potential for agriculture and food transformation. We are very aligned with the governor and with the leadership of Nigeria in this mission.”
Signed:
Dr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju
Special Adviser (Media) to Oyo State Governor
June 26, 2026.
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