Introduction: City Context

Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State is located in the South Western part of Oyo State, Nigeria. It is about 145 km north-east of Lagos, the federal capital of Nigeria. It has an estimated population of about 5 million (in 2006). As the dominant urban centre in Oyo State, its administrative and commercial functions transcend beyond the city boundaries.  Ibadan, with a total land area of 3,123 km2 is a metropolis consisting of 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs). However, they are scattered all over the landscape of the Ibadan city and majority are not used at all for either agriculture or for any form of land use. The focus of the RUAF–CFF programme implementation is on 3 selected LGAs in Ibadan (Akinyele, Ibadan North and Ibadan North West), Figure 1. Economic activities undertaken by people in Ibadan include trading, public service employment, and agriculture.

Most important types of urban agriculture in Ibadan

The predominant crop production in Ibadan is staple food (tubers and maize). Vegetables produced in Ibadan include Chinese spinach, okra, aubergine, cucumber, tomatoes, and pepper among others. Family land and leasehold accounts for the dominant part of land tenure systems of urban vegetable production. Farm sizes are on average below one hectare.

Source: Taiwo (2007)

Competition for land for non-agricultural use is regarded as the main threat to urban agriculture. This is to be expected as the value of land for development is always higher than it is for farming. Other constraints to urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Ibadan are inadequate finance, climatic factors, poor pricing, pests and diseases, prohibitive cost of farm input and lack of extension visits, disposal of farm waste, and misuse of agrochemicals (see
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAF-CFF/RUAF-CFF-regional-Ibadan.htm

The MPAP process

The activities which have been undertaken in Ibadan as part of the Multistakeholder Processes for Action planning and Policy formulation (MPAP), include, MPAP training, exploratory study, and the organisation of the Multi-stakeholder forum. Highlights of these activities are provided below, and more information can be found at:
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAFII-CFF.htm

Exploratory study

There were four components to the exploratory study:

Inventory on UPA

Farmers in Ibadan have one form of formal education or the other. Farming is the dominant economic activity in peri-urban Ibadan. There are over 5000 urban practitioners in the 3 selected Local Government Areas for the study. The major UPA activities were livestock keeping and crop cultivation.

Land use mapping

The Land use mapping component of the study investigated the state of lands within the city and activities taking place on these lands. It established the suitability or otherwise of these lands for UPA as well as their potential. The results from the survey of three Local Government Areas covered in the exploratory study shows land use / land cover, farms within the city, open spaces and water drainage systems. UPA activities are embedded into the economic and geographical life of the city and thus the need for their integration into development policies and plans.

Stakeholder analysis

The UPA stakeholders identified include Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Governmental Ministries and Departments, Farmer Organizations, National Agricultural Research Institutes, Academic Institutions, Local governments and individual practitioners in various UPA enterprises and facilitators of such activities. The number of participants and intensity of participation in the same UPA enterprises varied greatly from one location to the other.

Policy Review and Analysis

There is no specific policy on UPA. However, there are related legislation and policies which do not explicitly prohibit nor encourage UPA practice in Ibadan. It is possible within the ambit of urban and regional planning law to legalize agriculture as an urban land use category and thereby further boost the practice.

MPAP Training I and II in Ibadan

One of the objectives of the CFF programme, is training at different levels to enhance local capacity development regarding urban agriculture. Two parts of training sessions were thus planned:  Part 1: Understanding UPA and its linkages was organized in March, 2007 and Part 2: Establishing multi-stakeholder platform and pilot project on UPA was scheduled to take place later. A key output of the training I was a drafting of a communiqué and formation of the exploratory study team for Ibadan in collaboration with the participants. 

The second training workshop, held in July 2007, was a follow-up to MPAP training I. The purpose of the training was to build capacity of the local MPAP team for efficient implementation of the Ibadan Urban and Peri-Urban Project (IUPAP).  The Local MPAP facilitation and implementation team for UPA in Ibadan was inaugurated at this training. Also developed by all participants was a policy narrative, a synthesis of the exploratory study report and a policy agenda.

Multi-stakeholder forum for Action Planning on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Ibadan

As part of the MPAP, a 4-day Multistakeholder Forum for action Planning was held in July 2007 for 40 participants drawn from various institutions, NGOs, and various stakeholder groups. There were three key outputs of the forum, namely the agreement of the stakeholders on the Vision and Mission for UPA activities in Ibadan, the Action Plans for the thematic areas identified by the exploratory study, and the framework for developing a Pilot Project for Implementation in Ibadan. 

In relation to monitoring of the MPAP process and outcome so far, the RUAF Focal person for Ibadan, Nigeria included UPA in one of the courses in his department (Contemporary studies in Agriculture), and worked more closely on UPA issues as research topics.  Some of the challenges observed in the MPAP design so far include; low response and feedback from partners and limitation of access and use of ICT. There is also a lot of room for improvement on the sharing and exchange of experiences across the RUAF regions and cities with regards to good practices. 

Development strategies

The main objective of the city strategic agenda is to stimulate effective and coordinated UPA interventions for improved livelihood and healthy environment in Ibadan. The areas of intervention of the city team are: networking and communication, advocacy, pilot project implementation, capacity building, and Information and knowledge management.
Farmers’ structures and organizations need to be strengthened. The issues underpinning these interventions are the need: for safe water for UPA activities through bore holes, wells, and surface irrigation; to recycling organic waste for production purposes and clean environment, which can be done through capacity building on composting.

Coordinated intervention in the area of safe use of pesticide especially in the area of vegetable production is also important. Information on improved practices has to be disseminated   through the allocation of extension services to urban areas. Micro-credit programmes have to be designed for UPA farmers. There is the need to also promote safe practice of UPA through enforcement of current legislation on public health, environmental sanitation, and waste management among others and legalize UPA practice as an urban land use category.

Linkages

For more information on the RUAF-Cities Farming for the Future Programme in the region, contact the regional coordinator at RUAF West-Africa (Anglophone) or see their website.

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