Moscow and Abuja have signed a deal to advance crop breeding and seed production

Russia and Nigeria have signed an agreement to cooperate on seed production and crop breeding, the two sides confirmed on Wednesday during the 27th Golden Autumn Agro-Industrial Exhibition in Moscow.

The memorandum of understanding was signed at the West African collective stand, which featured representatives from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo. Vyacheslav Lukomets, director of Russia's P.P. Lukyanenko National Grain Center, and Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin, director general of Nigeria's Bank of Agriculture, were the signatories.

"Science lies at the core of all development processes," Lukomets noted. He emphasized that the partnership was initiated by business leaders who recognized that cooperation would be ineffective without scientific involvement.

In an interview with African Initiative, Sotinrin described Russia as "one of the world leaders in seed production," and said Nigeria seeks to become an equal partner through a knowledge-sharing alliance.

"We believe in the effectiveness of this partnership and in the mutual exchange of knowledge," he added.

Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Andrey Razin reaffirmed Moscow's commitment to partnering with African nations in achieving food security and sustainable agricultural development.

"We [Russia] are ready to work with the African continent - both by supplying our products and purchasing a range of goods that interest us, such as coffee, tea, flowers, fruits, and many other items that can find their consumers in our large market," Razin said.

The exhibition, organized by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, is taking place from October 8 to 11.

The new partnership builds on Russia's broader agricultural engagement with Africa, combining commercial exports with food aid programs. In July, Burkina Faso received more than 700 tons of yellow split peas from Russia as humanitarian aid.

Russia's agricultural exports to the continent surpassed $7 billion in 2024, a 19% year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Russian food products reached 45 African countries, with Egypt remaining the largest importer of Russian wheat.

(RT.com)