INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (KCRG) – On Wednesday, the governor of the state of Benue in Nigeria visited the Buchanan County Fair to learn more about Iowa’s agriculture.

The state is working to improve their farming systems and is using Iowa as a model to strive for.

Benue is known as the Food Basket of Nigeria but Governor Hyacinth Alia said its agriculture industry isn’t producing up to its full potential and is a hundred years behind Iowa in farming.

“Agriculture, it’s not just meant for sustenance. It is a full-fledged business. So why are we not cashing in on that? We are we not taking advantage of what we have if we have the soil? If we have the water?” Alia said.

That’s why he and his delegates came to visit Iowa – to learn how to increase its output of crops and livestock.

“This is quite a very new learning curve,” Alia said.

Alia said he was surprised to learn just how big some cattle breeds grow in only a year.

He said the cows in Benue are dwarves, so introducing a larger breed could mean more harvestable meat.

“Having one that could be new. Something that would be more productive and something that the livestock farmers would also benefit from and get more from, even commercially,” Alia said.

The delegation also had the chance to visit with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig to talk about strategies to improve crop seedlings to grow more produce and better animal feed.

Alia said he hopes to use Iowa as a model to make Benue’s agriculture even better for both its farmers and the rest of its six million population.

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