Researchers and policymakers meet to discuss cassava agronomy

Scientists across Africa and their colleagues in other parts of the world are meeting with policymakers in Tanzania under the auspices of the African Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) to discuss the progress made in the last two years in providing clues to the agronomy of cassava.

The meeting, holding December 11-15, is set to review the progress made by the ACAI—a project managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture— and plan for the year ahead.

Addressing participants at the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, expressed optimism that the ACAI project would provide solutions to some of the problems faced by cassava farmers in Tanzania and sub-Saharan Africa.

The Permanent Secretary was represented by Dr Geophrey Kajiru, Assistant Director, Research and Development.

The Tanzanian meeting, which is taking place in Mwanza, will also include a planning workshop for the ACAI 2018 project activities in line with the implementation strategy for year 3 of the project. The meeting is thus organized for planning and setting new goals for the 2018 activities, sharing roles, and understanding the expectations of each party represented in the project.

The event is earmarked to set pace for transitioning into the validation and the onset of dissemination stage of the Decision Support Tools (DSTs).

Dr Bernard Vanlauwe, Director for Central Africa Hub with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), said ACAI would tap into new opportunities and partnerships to ensure sustainability of the project and use of the tools developed.

Through extensive research working with development partners, ACAI has developed the initial version of the decision support tools that will be showcased at the meeting. This will provide an opportunity for the partners to examine the tools and offer feedback on how the prototype DSTs can be improved. ACAI DSTs are developed based on demand and needs identified by development partners actively engaged in cassava value chain.

ACAI’s Senior Systems Agronomist, Dr Pieter Pypers said the interaction among project partners would generate concrete ideas that would be incorporated into the development of the DSTs to make them more useful and user friendly.

“The tools we have developed must meet the needs of the development partners, that is why we are planning for the partners to have a practical feel of the tools in Mwanza and share with us their expectations of the tools,” Dr Pypers added.

Project team members are making presentations on the progress of the work under their specific roles in the project. ACAI is structured in workstreams that inform the project’s critical path through research, development, to the use and dissemination of the final project tools.

Dr Geoffrey Mkamilo, the National Coordinator for Root and Tuber Crops, Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) in Tanzania said the project had made significant gains in 2017 in research especially in meeting the high demand data in ACAI.

“The trials have performed very well, especially when you look at cassava response to fertilizer in the field, we are looking to hear about updates from other project sites,” Dr Adeyemi Olojede, ACAI coordinator at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike said.

The project has achieved significant milestones in 2017, a trend that the core team and partners will be seeking to further in the new season.

The meeting in Tanzania has more than 60 participants representing at least 21 organizations partnering with ACAI in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Scientists to detail progress and challenges regarding global cassava threats

The world’s top cassava experts are gathering in Nigeria to report progress on developing new varieties of cassava with higher yield and nutritional content. The meeting will take place on March 14-16, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Ibadan.

“Africa produces more than half of the world’s cassava — about 86 million tons from over 10 million hectares,” said Chiedozie Egesi, IITA-based project manager of the Next Generation Cassava Breeding (NextGen Cassava) project, who also works to biofortify cassava with essential micronutrients. “But disease pathogens and climate change threaten cassava production and jeopardize the income and food security of smallholder farmers. Since 2012, scientists on the NextGen Cassava project have been working to significantly increase the rate of genetic improvement in cassava breeding and unlock cassava’s full potential.”

Cassava is a clonally propagated crop and seed set is difficult. New varieties with enhanced productivity and nutritional traits typically take up to 10 years to develop.

Scientists on the NextGen project are focused on giving breeders in Africa access to the most advanced plant breeding technologies to deliver improved varieties to farmers more rapidly.

“Partners of NextGen Cassava are using a state-of-the-art plant breeding approach known as genomic selection to improve cassava productivity for the 21^st century,” said Ronnie Coffman, Cornell professor of plant breeding and genetics, director of International Programs, who is the principal investigator on the multi-partner grant.

Genomic selection shortens breeding cycles, provides more accurate evaluation at the seedling stage, and gives plant breeders the ability to evaluate a much larger number of clones without the need to plant them in the target environment. Using genomic selection, new releases of cassava are ready in as little as six years.

“The best clones from NextGen Cassava genomic selection efforts are in Uniform Yield Trials this year and are due to be released to farmers in the next two years,” said Egesi.

Cassava is predicted to be one of the few crops that will benefit from climate change because it requires few inputs and can withstand drought, marginal soils and long-term underground storage. A cash and subsistence crop, the storage roots of this perennial woody shrub are processed, consumed freshly boiled or raw, and eaten by people as well as animals as a low-cost source of carbohydrates. No other continent depends on cassava to feed as many people as does Africa, where 500 million people consume it daily.  “The purpose of NextGen Cassava project is to improve the cassava breeding process making it faster and more efficient to produce the varieties farmers need,” said Peter Kulakow, cassava breeder at IITA, Ibadan.

In 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID) under its UK Aid program invested $25.2M to improve the staple crop’s productivity and build human and technical capacity for plant breeding in sub-Saharan Africa.  

The five-year project, led by Cornell University, works with 10 institutional partners across six countries on three continents: Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI/USA), Embrapa (Brazil), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT/Colombia), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA/Nigeria), National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI/Uganda), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI/Nigeria), University of Hawaii (USA), U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, and U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. Most recently, NextGen Cassava has expanded to include Tanzania, partnering with the Lake Zone Agricultural Research and Development Institute (LZARDI).

The partners share cassava data, expertise, and information on a publicly available website (www.cassavabase.org).

In addition to reporting on the latest genomic information from cassava sequencing to improve productivity and yield, project partners will discuss progress on incorporating cassava germplasm diversity from South America into African breeding programs, training the next generation of plant breeders, and improving infrastructure at African institutions.

Yam farmers exposed to smart technologies to be climate resilient

Yam farmers in parts of Ghana have been exposed to smart technologies needed to build a resilient cropping system in order to increase yields to at least 30% over current yields.

With climate change thwarting the efforts of yam farmers, researchers have emphasized that having a technology packaged with fertilization, seed treatment, minimum staking and ridging does not only help farmers to be competitive in meeting  yam export standards but further reduces their production cost.

Ghana’s Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CRI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, has trained and disseminated good agronomic practices to more than 250 yam farmers from Ejura, Atebubu and Kintampo between 2014 and 2016.

This is under the 5-year Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Speaking to farmers at a field day to harvest the crop in Atebubu, an agronomist from the CSIR-CRI, Felix Frimpong, stated that the project has helped to increase yam production and raised income levels of yam farmers through participatory demonstrations, on-farm trials and farmer’s field days. 

“The project has helped doubled or in some cases tripped the yield of farmers compared to their conventional practice. It is estimated that the improved agronomic package is able raise yields to about 55% over the current achievable yields in-spite of climate change,” he said. 

The improved technology builds up farmers resilience because the ridging helps in moisture conservation, the use of the trellis staking reduces farmers contribution to deforestation as a result of the reduction in the number stakes used by at least half.

“It is also evident that the technology promotes intensification on the given area because of the high population density and arrangements it accommodates. Sprouting which is also key for yam production is assured because seeds are pre-treated thereby reducing pest incidence and rot,” explained Mr. Frimpong.

When adopted, the technology ensures better living standards compared to traditional farming of mounding and planting.

 

Some beneficiary farmers are excited at the opportunity to increase yield under with the improved technology.

The researchers have advised policy makers to help promote such innovations and make available mechanized ridges for commercial production.

The YIIFSWA project ended in December 2016 with an expected additional grant for a second phase upscale.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh   

Paying lip service to agriculture could have negative consequences for Africa, IITA boss

The Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga has warned there are negative consequences if Africa continued to pay lip service to agriculture, and failed to invest in the sector.

He said the neglect of agriculture would cost $110billion in terms of food imports by 2025 to feed Africans up from the current $35bn.

Besides, a failure to invest in agriculture would deprive the continent of necessary jobs and further fuel the spiralling rate of unemployment among the youth on the continent.

Addressing members of the Board of Trustees of IITA and researchers during the 2016 Partnership for Development Week (P4D Week) in Ibadan, Dr Sanginga, acknowledged that though some African governments have come to the realisation that agriculture was one of the ways to save the continent from the mess, most countries were not investing enough in the sector.

“Take for instance, the commitment to invest at least 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture. Not many countries are meeting this goal,” Dr Sanginga said.

He commended the African Development Bank for the new initiative—Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation—to transform agriculture on the continent.

The TAAT program is a new initiative of the AfDB in collaboration with the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) under the Feed Africa Initiative to drive agriculture development on the continent.

Through the TAAT program, the Bank aims to invest more than $800 million to the agricultural sector. The funds would be channelled into upscaling of proven innovations that will improve the fortunes of farmers and address the twin problem of food insecurity and unemployment.

Dr. Sanginga also reiterated IITA’s commitment to supporting African smallholder farmers in the context of agribusiness such that agriculture transcends food for the fork to money in the pocket.

According to him, IITA will continue to respond to the needs of Africa by developing innovations that will provide answers to Africa’s food insecurity. To this end, IITA will be demonstrating its scientific leadership not only in terms of qualitative research in the lab, but also impact in farmers’ fields.

Dr Sanginga who began his second tenure earlier this year said that IITA’s priority for the future would focus on research, capacity development, partnerships, impact at scale, and most importantly delivery.

The director general said IITA’s internal reorganisation had put the Institute in a better position to address the challenges confronting Africa more than ever before.

He called on researchers to redouble their efforts and commitment to the ideas, mission and vision of the Institute which includes lifting 11 million Africans out of poverty, and the reclamation of 7.5 million hectares of degraded land and putting them into sustainable use.

Chair of IITA Board of Trustees, Prof Bruce Coulman commended Dr Sanginga for the efforts in repositioning IITA for the challenges ahead, stressing that the Board was convinced that “IITA is in safe hands.”

He emphasised that IITA would continue to support Africa in achieving the goal of eradicating hunger and poverty in Africa.

The P4D Week is an annual event that brings together more than 200 international researchers working for IITA across the world to review, share experiences and plan for the way forward.

Deputy Director General, Partnership for Delivery, Dr Kenton Dashiell said the P4D week’s emphasises for the year was not just on research but also on delivery at scale.

New initiative puts emphasis on technology to transform agriculture in Africa

More than 200 research and development partners and experts are meeting at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, to discuss a new initiative known as “Africa Feeding Africa”.

The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program is a critical strategy for transforming agriculture on the continent that would ensure continent is able to feed itself through agriculture.

The goal of the TAAT Program includes eliminating extreme poverty, ending hunger and malnutrition, achieving food sufficiency, and turning Africa into a net food exporter as well as setting Africa in step with global commodity and agricultural value chains.

Adopting modernized, commercial agriculture is the key to transforming Africa and the livelihoods of its people, particularly the rural poor.

To carry out these objectives, the African Development Bank (AfDB), working with IITA and other partners, has identified eight priority agricultural value chains relating to rice sufficiency, cassava intensification, Sahelian food security, savannas as breadbaskets, restoring tree plantations, expanding horticulture, increasing wheat production, and expanded fish farming.

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the CGIAR Consortium and 12 of its 15 international agricultural centers active in Africa support this initiative by the Bank and the co-sponsors.

It is expected to revitalize and transform agriculture within the shortest possible time while restoring degraded land and maintaining or strengthening the ecosystems that underpin agriculture.

“IITA supports AfDB and partners in ensuring that TAAT is effectively set up,” said IITA Director General, Nteranya Sanginga. “The whole CGIAR system is backing this huge initiative with its research infrastructure in collaboration with FARA, AGRA, Africa Harvest, and the national partners. Everybody wants to ensure that this initiative succeeds.”

The 12-14 April workshop is being organized by IITA in partnership with the Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC) project for the African Development Bank, which is funding this mega initiative.

To date, about 22 African countries have been identified as potential partners with the CGIAR centers in the planning, content and evaluation of investments in agricultural transformation.

Researchers proffer recipe on how to scale out agricultural technologies

Researchers from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and HarvestPlus have proffered some solutions on how to scale out agricultural innovations and create impact at the farm level.

They are drawing from experiences and lessons learned from past agricultural projects.

This comes at a time when interest in agriculture is back and science-driven agriculture is on top of the agenda of several national governments and is being seen as part of the solutions to development constraints in sub-Saharan Africa.

The researchers recommended that for agricultural innovations to create impact at scale, researchers must adopt the use of innovation platforms—working with multi-stakeholder groups—to effectively catalyze engagement with partners and ensure participation of important actors.

At a meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa to mark the 15^th anniversary of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the team of scientists also identified the application of innovative communication and dissemination approaches such as the use of  champions and novel information and communication tools (ICT) in outscaling innovations among target beneficiaries.

According to them other measures that could ensure dissemination of knowledge and catalyze technology adoption include: Encouragement of counterpart support/funding (not necessarily cash) by partners to get buy-in and to sustain interest and continuity; Development of an exit strategy at the beginning of the project for continuity and sustainability at the end of the project; Understanding what the beneficiary audience really wants and needs: that is, agricultural innovations should be grounded on audiences’ requirements and based on local knowledge and contexts for them to work.

Dr Alfred Dixon, Head of the Partnership Coordination Office at IITA and Project Leader of the Cassava Weed Management Project, said the strategies shared came at an opportune time when donors and policy makers are looking for methodologies to tackle hunger and poverty and ensure sustainability and impact of projects and programs.

According to him, researchers must do things differently to achieve positive results and impact at the farm level.

“It is no longer business as usual. Our research must benefit the poor farmers and this should be at scale,” he emphasized.

Paul Ilona, Country Manager for HarvestPlus in Nigeria reechoed the need for advocacy through engagement with policymakers and the development of an enabling environment for policy formulation.

He stressed that such approaches influence and facilitate the adoption of agricultural innovations.

The event drew lessons from presentations made on the IITA Business Incubation Platform (BIP) with focuses on aflasafe and Nodumax; Cassava commercialization in Africa; Maize revolution in West Africa; Support for Agricultural Research and Development in Strategic Crops (SARD-SC) in Africa; Dissemination of vitamin A cassava and maize; and Yam for Income and Improvement in Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) model.

Policymakers and researchers declare youth unemployment a “time bomb”

Policymakers and researchers in Africa have declared the rising youth unemployment in the continent a “time bomb” that should be quickly “defused” using appropriate policies and initiatives before it “detonates” and wreaks havoc on the continent.

They also worry over the continent’s rising food import bill which is estimated at $35 billion annually. This amount, they say, if invested in agriculture could generate jobs and take some youths out of the labor market.

“The youth problem is indeed a ‘time bomb’ but also an opportunity if we can quickly harness the energy in this population and channel it to constructive use,” said Dr Fina Opio, Executive Director, Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA).

She chaired a special session titled, “Promoting Youth Engagement in Agribusiness: the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Agripreneur Model,” at the event marking the 15^th anniversary of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in South Africa.

Accounting for about 70 percent of the African population, the youth comprising young men and women have the most education, enthusiasm, and strength, yet very limited opportunities to apply such talents within communities.

However, the recent experience by the IITA Youth in Agribusiness reveals that young individuals between 21 and 27 years old with different backgrounds and academic disciplines – ranging from art, information technology, and engineering to the biological sciences and agriculture – can take on the challenge of self-development with the right environment and encouragement.

The initiative, which began in 2012, under the leadership of Dr Nteranya Sanginga, IITA Director General, has proven that given the proper opportunities and incentives, the urban and rural youth can quickly be directed towards market-oriented agriculture, agribusiness, and agro-services provision, with a huge impact upon the larger farming community.

Dr Opio backed the initiative by IITA and called on donors and policymakers to support it.

“I was in Ibadan and was very impressed with the achievements of these young men and women. This is the way we should go and IITA has shown the way,” she added.

The special session among others, recommended the following: Mainstreaming the youth unemployment challenge at the national and even on regional and continental levels; Review and change of curriculums on agriculture in schools to encourage youth to go into the business of agriculture and thereby create agricultural entrepreneurs.

In addition, the business orientation has to be emphasized and incorporated in the new curriculum; Provision of access for youths to resources (funds, innovations, etc.) and collective assets such as machinery, land and productive assets.

The position of the special session was reechoed by Dr Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) during his keynote talk at the highlight of the celebration.

According to Dr Nwanze, if we wait further and do nothing, the ‘time bomb’ will explode.

The IFAD president called on African governments to develop policies that would encourage inclusive growth, giving greater attention to marginalized groups including youth and women, development of rural infrastructure, and provision of social services in the rural areas to curb rural-urban migration.

He said that Africa’s food import bill of $35 billion was a source of concern because the continent’s dependence on food imports was hurting the creation of local jobs which the youth would have benefited from.

The Celebrating FARA event was attended by over 500 policymakers, researchers, and the donor community both from within and outside of Africa.

Dr Alfred Dixon, Head of the Partnership Coordination Office at IITA and Project Leader of the Cassava Weed Management Project, said the event reechoed the magnitude of the youth problem among policymakers, technocrats, development investors, and other stakeholders in Africa. 

Vitamin A cassava as a game changer to “Africa’s best kept secret”

The bio-fortified cassava which is rich in vitamin A is becoming widespread in Africa, driven by increasing awareness of its health and nutrition benefits.

The variety is changing the description of cassava – a root crop often referred to as “Africa’s best kept secret.”

Consumed by over 300 million people in Africa, cassava has been marginalized in several debates because of myths and half-truths about its nutritional value and role in farming systems.

The greatest burden of the crop is the stigma of being considered an inferior, low-protein food that is uncompetitive with the glamorous crops such as imported rice and wheat.

“But the perception about cassava is changing… with vitamin A cassava, we are not talking just about a crop that is rich in starch but about a crop that has one of the vitamins that are most important for human Development,” said Dr Wolfgang Pfeiffer, Deputy Director (Operations), HarvestPlus at the recent Crop Meeting in Abuja.

Popularly called yellow cassava, vitamin A cassava was bred by a coalition of partners, including International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike, and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and released in Nigeria in 2011.

 

The first wave consisting of three varieties was disseminated to hundreds of thousands of farmers across the country.  Farmers’ adoption of the varieties is on an impressive scale and the appeal for the varieties has fuelled their spread for research trials to other African countries including Republic of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Ghana.

“Demand for the varieties is up and we have engaged farmers for multiplication,” Pfeiffer explained. “Our strategy is to get planting materials available to farmers so they can consume these nutritious varieties and improve their health.”

Vitamin A deficiency is a malady in Nigeria affecting about 20 percent of pregnant women and 30 percent of children under 5 years, elsewhere in Africa the statistics are no better. A lack of or a deficiency of vitamin A lowers immunity and impairs vision. This can lead to blindness and even death.

Paul Ilona, Country Manager, HarvestPlus Nigeria, estimated that about 2 billion people suffer from hidden hunger in which vitamin A is an integral part.

He said that HarvestPlus and its partners were working on several staples to address hidden hunger, adding that in general the organization had worked with partners to release bio-fortified crops in 27 countries including those in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Researchers want action stepped up against weeds in crop production

Researchers rising from a two-day meeting at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Ibadan, Nigeria have called for more concerted efforts to tackle the menace of weeds in Africa.

The members of the Steering Committee of the IITA Cassava Weed Management project unanimous stated that unless the problem of weed infestation on farmers’ field is addressed, Africa will not maximize the gains of crop improvement.

The IITA has a new research agenda of investing in weed science and bringing weed science — a very important but often neglected component of agronomy— to the front burner, and also supporting partners in tackling the problem.

“We thank IITA for the equipment given to us under the Cassava Weed Management Project to help find solutions to the problems of weeds,” said Dr J.C. Okonkwo, Executive Director, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, who was also unanimously elected as the Chair of the Steering Committee.

 

The IITA and its partners would work to develop state-of the art weed management practices, by combining improved cassava varieties with proper planting dates, plant populations and plant nutrition options.  

Project Leader, Cassava Weed Management, Dr Alfred Dixon, says the project is also focusing on intercropping and tillage research, as well as testing 21 different pre-emergence and 19 post-emergence herbicides at different application rates to discover the best combinations for sustainable weed control in cassava.

He explained that integrated weed management practices, including the use of herbicides that meet globally accepted conventions and safety thresholds appropriate for smallholders would be crucial in making weed control in cassava more efficient and effective.

The Project Leader decried farmers’ continuous use of obsolete herbicides despite their adverse effects on the environment and health.

Dr. Dixon said the project intended to change the situation by offering farmers evidence-based information that would help them make better choices.

Young farmers rate weeds as most challenging constraint to cassava farming

In an interactive discussion aimed at unraveling bottlenecks to farming, young farmers identified devastations by weeds as the most challenging constraint demoralizing cassava farming and hurting yields.

“Our experience is that even before you complete the first course of weeding, you see another set of grasses coming behind,” Akinyele Bankole, a youth agripreneur with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, said during a meeting with members of the Cassava Weed Management team at IITA.

“We have weeded about five times but it appears we are not doing anything when you see the weeds in the fields. This is the most difficult challenge we are facing,” he said.

“And sometimes it looks discouraging seeing our fields with weeds competing with cassava,” Evelyn Ohanwunsi, another youth agripreneur added.

Generally, farmers weed cassava three times, but in cassava farms where perennial weeds such as spear grass are predominant, more weeding may be required.

Researchers estimate that weeding takes 50 to 80% of the total labor budget, and up to 200-500 hours of labour of mostly women and children per ha are required to prevent economic cassava root losses in Nigeria.

Dr Alfred Dixon, Project Leader for the project Sustainable Weed Management Technologies for Cassava Systems in Nigeria said solutions on weed control in cassava farms were underway following efforts between IITA and partners to combat weeds in cassava.

Under the cassava weed management project, Dr Dixon and his team are conducting research that will develop new best bet innovative weed management practices, combining improved varieties, proper planting dates, plant populations, and plant nutrition, all coupled to intercropping and tillage options, through well-focused trials in the three agro-ecologies where cassava dominates in Nigeria.

The project is also testing herbicides for efficacy and economic merit to help make weed control in cassava more efficient and effective.

Dr Dixon said results from the 5-year cassava weed research would be shared with the IITA young agripreneurs and other farmers to enable them to make informed decisions that would not only increase the productivity of cassava but also make cassava farming more attractive and put money in their pockets.

“I am sure with the cassava weed project, we will be able to tackle the menace of weeds… so be rest assured… we will support you,” he said.

Established two plus years ago under the leadership of Dr Nteranya Sanginga, IITA Director General, the IITA Youth Agripreneur program is an Africa-wide initiative that is attracting youths back to agriculture by exposing the youth to the numerous opportunities that exist in the agricultural sector.

Last year, the IITA youth agripreneurs in Nigeria cultivated more than 50 hectares of cassava, maize and soybean. The group intends to more than double the hectarage this year as weather conditions look positive.

IFAD backs cassava flour in bread and confectionery initiative

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is supporting the inclusion of cassava flour in bread and other confectioneries as part of efforts to improve food security and the livelihoods of farmers especially those in the rural areas.

This follows the launching of two projects under IFAD grant: Enhancing the Competitiveness of the High Quality Cassava Flour Value Chain (HQCF) in West and Central Africa; and Improving Quality, Nutrition and Health Impacts of Inclusion of Cassava Flour in Bread Formulation in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana).

The projects will among others support the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies for cassava production and processing; develop and pilot-test a set of integrated best-bet options for HQCF production and promote market access to secondary products; and develop and promote appropriate evidence-based models for sustainable value chain development for African agricultural commodities using HQCF production and processing.

Dr Alfred Dixon, Project Leader for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’s project on Sustainable Weed Management Technologies for Cassava Systems in Nigeria, said the two IFAD-funded projects were timely in view of Africa’s comparative advantage in cassava production.

He described cassava as a poverty fighter, and stressed that improving the utilization of the crop, and scaling up/out processing technologies would help Africa address the issue of poverty and hunger on the continent.

“Africa has a comparative advantage in cassava production… so let us use cassava to get what we want,” he said in Lagos at the launch of the projects.

Grown mostly by small scale farmers, cassava is a source of livelihood to about 600 million people in the developing world including Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, the value chain of the root crop is under developed and coupled with the relative high perishability of the crop, farmers in Africa are yet to exploit the full potential of the crop in terms of livelihoods improvement.

In recent times, researchers from IITA and partners successfully baked bread using 40 percent cassava in wheat flour, providing an alternative source of raw material for makers of bread and other confectionery.

IFAD sees the inclusion of cassava in bread/confectionery as a major step that would address food insecurity, create jobs especially for rural youths, and incomes.

“Our expectation is that these projects will touch the lives of rural poor farmers,” Dr Malu Ndavi, Senior Program Officer, IFAD said.

He urged implementers and partners to work together towards ensuring that the project’s goals and objectives were delivered on time.

The 18-month project on cassava is for increasing nutrition and health impacts.