IITA–CGIAR has been providing support to the Agricultural Value Chain Development Project in the Savannahs in CAR (PADECAS) following an agreement signed with the Government for technical assistance in the cassava value chain.

Following the agreement signed in October 2020, the training of trainers on sustainable cassava production has been the most prominent activity, with the trainees recruited among the Central African Agency for Agricultural Development (ACDA), the National Seeds Office (ONASEM), the Central African Institute for Agricultural Research (ICRA), and the seed multipliers (GAMS). Eighty-one trainees—71 male and 18 female—have benefitted from the program so far.
Several training materials covering cassava seed and root production and pest and disease management have been developed and distributed to trainees. Seven improved cassava varieties were introduced in the country in August 2021 through ICRA and multiplied on a 4 ha plot at the Boukoko station.

With additional support from the TAAT cassava compact, arrangements have been made with ICRA during the field visit in April 2023 to extend the seed multiplication field to 10 ha from June 2023.

IITA’s support to PADECAS also includes the transfer of the SAH technology to the renovated laboratory building of ICRA in Boukoko. The list of SAH equipment and supplies has been provided to the PADECAS Project Implementation Unit (PIU), and technicians from ICRA will be sent to DRC for training in August 2023.
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