Temidayo Oniosun, a Nigerian space scientist, is leading a groundbreaking scientific project that will send egusi seeds into space; a first for both Nigeria and Africa. Egusi is a common ingredient in Nigerian soup and a staple in West Africa. The project’s lead investigator, Oniosun, said on his LinkedIn account that egusi seeds will be launched into space on July 31 for evaluation of their viability for long-term human space exploration’s nutritional and functional uses.
Egusi seeds, often called melon, are used to make a variety of Nigerian dishes, particularly the well-liked Egusi soup. “A Nigerian seed is going to space for the first time ever,” he posted on LinkedIn. That is Egusi, the seed. The straightforward yet impactful statement has changed the course of Nigeria’s history by emphasizing the enormous potential for the continent’s most populous black country to contribute to the global agriculture industry.
The seed is the first agricultural product from West Africa to be used in a space-based experiment, despite not being the first African seed to arrive in space. According to Oniosun, the egusi seed, which comes from Oyo State, would be used in an ISS resupply mission run by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He clarified that he was permitted to select a seed that symbolizes Nigeria because he got the chance to participate in the Karman Project’s Seeds program.
“And I chose Egusi, not just for its nutritional value, but for what it carries; culture, memory, and identity.” As part of Crew-11’s journey to the ISS, the seed will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on board SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. It will participate in an experiment to learn how traditional agricultural seeds react to microgravity with other culturally significant crops from nations including Egypt, Armenia, and Pakistan.
A global interest in food security and agricultural adaptation to new environments, including space, is shown in the mission’s inclusion of Nigerian egusi. Additionally, the study is a component of larger endeavors to include African crops into global scientific and technology projects.
