Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) has been awarded a €117,000 (approximately N200 million) grant from the European Union to develop a solar-powered integrated aquaponics system aimed at enhancing food security.
The project, titled “Integrated Aquaponics System for Sustainable Catfish Production and Dual-Crop Cultivation of Leafy Vegetables and Corn” (AQUACLEC), focuses on combining catfish production with vegetable and maize farming.
The initiative is led by Funmilayo Doherty, Director of the Centre for Research Support and Grants Management at Yabatech, with technical support from the University of Lagos, the University of Turku, and the University of Lapland.
According to Yabatech’s spokesperson, Adekunle Adams, the grant will facilitate the establishment of a local innovation hub in Lagos to test and replicate the system, promoting sustainable agriculture and community-based food resilience.
Doherty credited Yabatech’s success to its commitment to aligning research with national and global challenges under the leadership of Rector Ibraheem Abdul. She emphasized the college’s efforts to bridge the gap between technical education and real-world needs, preparing Nigerian youths for local and global competitiveness.
The project is designed to be scalable across Nigeria and West Africa, leveraging Yabatech’s pool of over 200 PhD-qualified lecturers for research, training, and policy engagement.
This milestone follows another achievement for Yabatech under the National Youth Employment Skills Acquisition Framework (NYESAF), where it trained 200 young Nigerians in digital and creative media skills. The EU grant and NYESAF program underscore Yabatech’s role as a center of academic excellence and a driver of national development.
