Tissue culture: Why Nigeria should learn from Kenyan university

For millions of Kenyan farmers, where to get improved seedlings for many crops is no longer an issue. From peasant to commercial farmers, there are various varieties of fruit seeds readily available for farmers to choose from. Daily Trust recently paid a visit to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Science and Technology in Juja, […]

For millions of Kenyan farmers, where to get improved seedlings for many crops is no longer an issue. From peasant to commercial farmers, there are various varieties of fruit seeds readily available for farmers to choose from.

Daily Trust recently paid a visit to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Science and Technology in Juja, about 36km northeast of Nairobi, Kenya. This university is involved in extensive tissue culture projects for various types of plants, including aloe vera, banana, strawberry, pawpaw, guava, passion fruits, coconut and mushrooms.

The institution has set up numerous cutting-edge labs to apply tissue culture—which involves mass-propagation of the same plant’s tissue—and genetic modification technologies of a variety of crops.

Many farmers now visit the university to purchase good seedlings for their farms at affordable cheap costs. 

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Through these initiatives, Kenya is able to rank among the top exporters of fruits and vegetables from Africa to the United States, Europe, and other continents. 

Aggrey Bernard Nyende, a Professor of Crop Molecular Breeding, at the Department of Horticulture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi (JKUAT) is one of the researchers developing high-yielding crops at the university. 

When Daily Trust visited the crop breeder in his office, he gave an explanation of the university’s approach to tissue culture technology and how it has been of benefit to farmers in Kenya and even internationally.

Professor Nyende, who has bred a variety of crops, including orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, short types of pigeon peas and many others, said he is currently breeding high-yield, short-duration papayas alongside another university expert.

The primary objective of the tissue culture efforts, according to the expert, is to produce large numbers of fast-growing, disease-free plantlets for farmers that can begin producing in less than a year.

He said the university gives farmers quality plantlets and in whatever quantities they want. The university has different fruit projects suitable for every region of the country so that farmers can have easy access to these improved plantlets, which has placed Kenya on the global export map.

Kenya’s horticultural industry grew significantly in 2023, primarily due to increasing exports of fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers, according to statistics from the Central Bank of Kenya which the Trade Facilitation Office in Canada cited. 

Kenya exported a total of 580,648 tons of horticultural produce in the first 10 months of 2023, above the 572,290 tons exported in the same period in 2022.

“During this period, vegetable exports reached 245,194 tons, while fruit exports amounted to 224,643 tons, and cut flower exports totalled 110,811 tons. This marked a notable increase compared to 2022, when vegetable exports were 194,627 tons, fruit exports were 208,666 tons, and cut flower 127,406 tons,” the Canadian organization said.

Nigeria has four federal universities of agriculture: The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Benue State, and the newly established Federal University of Agriculture Zuru, Kebbi State.

But even with the abundance of highly skilled experts at these universities, inadequate infrastructure and funding have prevented farmers across the country from taking advantage of the institutions’ full potential. 

Because the federal government’s so-called financing is derisive and therefore unreliable, the majority of breeders at these universities and the other 17 agricultural research institutes rely significantly on donor contributions to support their work. This is problematic because research needs consistent funding in order to produce meaningful results. 

Researchers in Nigerian universities conduct research or teach in appalling conditions due to the poor state of research infrastructure.

This situation is however different in Kenya as Professor Bernard noted, saying that Kenya is seeing success in agriculture because, among other things, several public universities offer excellent laboratory facilities that support research and development of new, improved fruits, vegetables and crops, and enhancing access for millions of farmers. This, however, sharply contrasts with what is obtained in Nigeria.

While universities in Kenya have set up systems for spinoff businesses to manage the distribution of technology for farmers to access, institutions in Nigeria continue to face challenges.

The Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) amended Act 2021 permits research institutions to establish spinoff companies to commercialise their technologies, but the legislation has not yet had a significant impact on the sector because Nigeria still lacks access to improved seeds and seedlings compared to Kenya, an East African powerhouse from which Nigeria could learn.