As part of efforts to enhance capacity building of researchers in the Ivory Towers, the Soils of Forest Islands in Africa (SOFIIA), has organised a Project Capacity Building Workshop for postgraduate students in the Department of Soil Science and Land Management, College of Plant Science and Crop Production (COLPLANT), of the University.
Speaking at the workshop, the Coordinator of SOFIIA Consortium in Nigeria, Dr. Jamiu Azeez, acknowledged the contributions made by SOFIIA in the purchase of important scientific equipment for the Department, to enhance teaching and research activities by broadening the skills and knowledge of both the staff and students. He appreciated the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, for providing an enabling and conducive environment for the implementation of the project.
According to him, SOFIIA is a consortium of experienced scientists that are seeking into the history of various types of soils and how forests could affect soil properties, comparable to others that are not forests such as plain-lands and grasslands, and study how people interact with soils in countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Dr. Azeez added that the project was funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), noting that SOFIIA has two objectives that are centred on gaining new knowledge on bio-geochemical mechanisms in the creation of forest islands in Africa as well as utilising the knowledge gained to develop agronomic practices and carbon off-set programmes in Africa on climate change. He urged participants to take active part in the workshop because they had a lot to gain alongside their sponsorship opportunities and accessibility to various equipment, which are rare to come by in the laboratory.
Welcoming participants, the leader of SOFIIA consortium and the Principal Investigator, Professor Jonathan Lloyd of the Imperial College, London (ICL), implored them to be abreast of others as the advantage for attending the programme, during which lectures on “Tropical Soils and Ecosystem Function”, “Soil Profile Description” and “Soil Carbon and Phosphorous Fractionation”, were delivered by experienced resource persons such as Dr. Carlos Quesada from Brazil, Dr. Gustavo Saiz from Spain and Mr. Martin Hodnett from the United Kingdom.
