countries: Congo

Ibadan, Nigeria – Scientists at IITA are working on developing new cassava-based recipes that will be used in improving the nutrition and health of vulnerable groups, specifically mothers, children below 5, and pregnant women, as part a $5.3 million United States Agency for International Development project on ‘Unleashing the power of cassava in Africa’ (UPoCA). Besides the cassava-based recipes, which will be first introduced in Sierra Leone, the project will also introduce and test cassava-based complementary food for acceptability. Aside from the country, the two-year project also covers DR Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

Speaking during a field training of trainers in Sierra Leone on Global Positioning System (GPS) as a new farm measurement tool, UPoCA Project Manager, Dr. Braima James, said the project would deploy proven technologies to maximize production, commercialization, value addition and utilization of cassava. The training is part of UPoCA’s activities aimed at generating important information to be used in developing farm plans for the optimal production of cassava in the participating countries. GPS is a worldwide satellite-based system used in measuring three dimensional position of any location on earth.

“The project aims to ensure adequate supply of cassava and cassava food products at economically-affordable prices in the participating countries by making readily available improved cassava varieties, production processes and farm gate processing. Information, education and communication strategies will help to boost previously piloted research-for-development gains in the cassava sub-sector,” James who is also an IITA Scientist said. He added that knowing the locations of cassava processing sites would guide UPoCA to select and train clusters of farmers around those sites in the project’s value chain.

IITA Crop Utilization Specialist, Dr. Busie Maziya-Dixon, said that the Institute had already developed several value-added food products from cassava. “Cassava is no longer seen as a ‘poor man’s crop’ but an industrial crop that is not just providing food for resource-poor farmers but also money in their pockets,” she said.

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For more information, please contact:

Braima James, b.james@cgiar.org
UPoCA Project Coordinator/ Entomologist
IITA-Benin

Busie Maziya-Dixon, B.Maziya-Dixon@cgiar.org
Crop Utilization Specialist

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer

IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

A USAID-funded project is seeking to further increase cassava production in farmers’ fields by 30 per cent in seven sub-Saharan African countries. The project, themed “Unleashing the Power of Cassava in response to the food price crisis (UPoCA),” aims to maximize the utilization of cassava to address food price crisis in Nigeria, DR Congo, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. IITA and its national partners across the seven countries will implement the US$5.3m project which has a time frame of two years.

“About 267,000 farmers of which 125,000 are extremely vulnerable are expected to benefit from the project,” Dr Richardson Okechukwu, Assistant Project Manager, says. “The beneficiary-farmers are currently harvesting between 7 and 12 tons per hectare across the seven countries but the project aims to raise yield to between 12 and 30 tons per hectare.”

“The specific objectives of this project include rapid mass propagation of improved varieties of cassava with on-farm yield potential which is at least 30 per cent greater than those of existing varieties; promotion of farm gate processing to increase the shelf life of cassava and building the capacity of farmers in improved cassava production and farm gate processing techniques,” says Dr Braima James, Project Manager. He adds that the project’s overall goal is to enhance food security in farming communities of Africa in the face of a global food price crisis.

“The project will help ensure adequate supply of cassava products at economically-affordable prices in the participating countries by making readily available improved cassava varieties, production processes and farm gate processing.”

In Africa, cassava provides a basic daily source of dietary energy. The roots are processed into a wide variety of products such as starch, chips, gari and high quality flour among others, or consumed freshly boiled or raw. In most cassava-growing countries in Africa, the leaves are also consumed as a green vegetable, which provides protein and vitamins A and B.

It is envisioned that through the project’s interventions and activities, diverse stakeholder groups would take up the technologies for improved cassava production, crop management, product development and trade.

James says the primary focus of the project is to exp and and sustain on-farm productivity and profitability of cassava.

He explains that this will be achieved through the distribution of elite varieties and related inputs; dissemination of appropriate integrated crop management techniques to ensure at least 30 per cent increase in root yields in holdings; and the promotion of entrepreneurship in cassava planting material supply.

Dr Robert Asiedu, IITA Director, underscored the importance of the project, saying that “given the agricultural assets and opportunities in Africa, the continent should not be a ‘victim’ of the food crisis but rather a provider of solutions to it. “This project is another important step in realizing food security for the people of Africa,” he adds.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr Braima James, b.james@cgiar.org
Entomologist/ UPoCA Project Manager
IITA – Benin
BP 08 0932
Cotonou, Republic of Benin

Dr Richardson Okechukwu, r.okechukwu@cgiar.org
Database/Statistics Manager/ UPoCA Asst Project Manager
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa)

Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

IITA, Nigeria – With diminished access to European markets threatening to cost African farmers millions of dollars in lost exports, an international assemblage of banana experts that met in Kenya last week warned that African growers must move quickly to take advantage of many local and regional opportunities for exp anding production and boosting incomes.

For decades the income potential of many large-scale African banana farmers has been tied to exports to the European Union (EU), where African farmers—along with growers in the Caribbean and Pacific (the so-called ACP countries)—have enjoyed tariff-free access. But a relentless push from big producers in Latin America to “level the playing field”—a pitched battle often referred to as “the Banana Wars”—is finally bearing fruit.

Talks are likely to resume this fall between the EU and Ecuador, Latin America’s biggest banana exporter, after the two nearly came to terms this summer. If, as expected, a deal is reached, the consensus view is that African farmers in places like Cameroon, Cîte d’Ivoire and Ghana would quickly lose a sizeable chunk of their already meager 4% share of what is now a US $4 billion market.

“The current (European) trade policy is clearly in favor of ACP countries, but this is likely to change. So, Africa must prepare itself to remain competitive,” said Thomas Dubois, a researcher at African based IITA, which is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). IITA organized this first-ever pan-African conference in partnership with Bioversity International, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

Dubois said that rather than focus on potential losses in Europe, Africa’s mostly small-scale banana farmers—who produce a third of the world’s bananas and plantains—should look to the untapped potential of local and regional dem and for bananas and banana products. Already, more than 90 percent of Africa’s crop is consumed on the continent, where in countries like Ug anda it is the main dietary staple. And regional dem and, particularly in rapidly growing urban centers, is increasing.

“Instead of depending solely on exports to Europe, African countries have an opportunity to adopt more liberalized policies that could increase cross-border trade between banana producing and consuming countries,” he told attendees, who included growers, government officials, trade experts, banana researchers and industry representatives.

“The future of banana in Africa should move towards strengthening local and regional markets and market linkages that can feed the increasing urban populations, as well as taking advantage of value addition through processing for products like banana chips, beer, fried snacks, flour, fibre, and other consumer goods,” said Sidi Sanyang of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa or FARA. “This will not happen without more intensive and deliberate efforts towards developing marketing strategies that will facilitate the consumption of these products.”

For example, experts at the conference pointed to efforts in Kenya, where banana growers have doubled and even tripled their incomes through relatively simple steps, like organizing growers groups and adopting product st andards that allowed them to sell directly to wholesalers. Also, on the trade front, there was discussion of how insufficient credit, inadequate transportation, unfair taxes and inconsistent prices are significantly stifling what could be a vibrant and, for farmers, highly profitable regional banana trade between Rw anda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Ug anda alone, there are more than 200 processed banana products, yet limited investment in facilities and transportation has left them largely unavailable beyond local markets. That means farmers depend almost entirely on sales of fresh, perishable fruit for income.

“The processed food market is quite small and tends to be focused on middle income consumers who can afford to buy packaged foods from grocery stores, street vendors and kiosks in urban areas,” said Richard Markham of Bioversity International. “For banana, the big problem is perishability. Small-scale farmers could use post-harvest processing to develop products like flour or other food ingredients that could be stored for longer periods, particularly during times of seasonal glut, when prices are low.”

While developing local and regional markets is crucial, there was also agreement that efforts to improve incomes should not occur at the expense of food security. Recent studies have found that the proliferation of small banana farms in places like Rw anda—where in some areas bananas meet 80 percent of nutritional needs—has helped shield many Africans from the shock of soaring food prices.

“In Africa alone, over 100 million people depend on banana as a staple of their diet,” said Hartmann, Director General of IITA. “Trade is important but we must be sure to also look at the impacts of trade on food security.”

Sub-Saharan Africa produces 30 million tons of bananas, which provide food for about 100 million people and account for 35 percent of global banana and plantain production. Ug anda alone produces 10 million tonnes of banana annually, with an estimated value of US$1.7 billion, making this country the world’s second largest banana producer after India.

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For more information, please contact:

Thomas Dubois, t.dubois@cgiar.org
Biocontrol Specialist
IITA – Ug anda

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: http://www.iita.org/

Related resources:

R4D Review
Banana Conference 2008 website
Banana-based systems for the African Great Lakes Region
Superior plantain and banana hybrids in Ghana

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR (http://www.cgiar.org/).

The potential sources of agricultural growth are l and, agrochemicals, labor quantity, labor quality, tractors, livestock, technology, and r andom factors. All these put together and harnessed determine both agricultural and economic growth in Africa. This was the submission of Dr Guy Blaise Nkamleu, IITA Yam Economist, at a recent seminar as part of a routine scientific forum in the Institute.

Titled: “Disentangling the sources of growth – l and, labor, fertilizer, tractor, research, extension 
 what are their exact contributions to agricultural growth in Africa: lessons from macro-data”, the seminar was aimed at investigating sources and determinants of agricultural output in association with growth in physical and nonphysical factors, with the attendant focus on how much output growth is due to technology, productivity improvement, efficiency change and other production factors’.

Dr Nkamleu drew the attention of the audience to some salient questions on agricultural growth. He queried why some African countries had rapid economic growth, while others experience economic stagnation and regression under the same conditions. Furthermore, he sought to know how African countries could achieve now what they could not achieve in the past 30 years. To remedy the situation, Dr Nkamleu said the driving forces affecting African agricultural growth must be explored and acted upon.

His presentation provided a quantification of the contribution of different inputs in the agricultural growth, and highlights the fact that input accumulation accounts for a large share of agricultural output growth and fertilizer has been the most important physical input contributor to agricultural growth. He also highlights the extent to which agricultural growth contributors vary across countries and regions in relation with different country conditions, institutions and politico-historical factors.

“These findings have important implications for research and show types and the extent of interventions needed to be put in place in each region/countries for enhancing the agricultural growth of African agriculture”, Dr Nkamleu said.

Authors: L. Tripathi, M. Mwangi, S. Abele, J. Tripathi, R. B andyopadhyay, A. Tenkouano, T. Dubois, D. Coyne, and P. Bramel

There is no doubt that farmers and governments have tried to make the most use of available methods to fight banana wilt. But these efforts need to be supported with additional alternatives-developing transgenic banana varieties resistant to banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) would boost the available arsenal to fight the disease and save livelihoods in the Great Lakes region.

The incomes of millions of farmers in East Africa are threatened by continuing outbreaks of BXW. The disease has been reported in Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rw anda, Tanzania, and Ug anda, which make up the largest banana-producing and consuming African region.

Banana wilt attacks all banana varieties resulting in absolute crop loss. According to a recent impact assessment by IITA in Ug anda, letting BXW spread uncontrolled could cost the country’s economy up to US$200 million per year.

The most commonly recommended measures for managing BXW involve a set of practices that include removing the male flowers, disinfecting farming tools and using healthy planting materials. When well practiced, these methods have succeeded in reducing the disease’s spread.

But although over 85% of Ug andan farmers are aware of these measures, a recent study shows that less than 35% carry them out. Thus these practices alone might slow but not stop the spread of BXW, a goal that requires developing other options to be integrated into ongoing disease management efforts across East Africa. For diseases like BXW that spread rapidly with total yield loss, developing resistant varieties is an economical and more sustainable option. It is also one that faces challenges. To date, no useful source of resistance has been identified in banana genetic material and conventional breeding of the crops remains a difficult and lengthy process.

One approach being explored is to transform farmer-preferred banana cultivars by introducing a resistance gene from sweet pepper. Such an initiative is spearheaded by the IITA in collaboration with Ug anda’s National Agricultural Research Organization, the Kenya-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation, and Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

Priority has been given to the major farmer-preferred banana varieties, including Kayinja. The improved varieties will be tested rigorously for efficacy against BXW and for environmental and food safety in compliance with regulations of each of the countries where such bananas could be grown and consumed.