IITA–CGIAR hosted the close-out workshop of the Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS-II) project from 25 to 27 August at the headquarters in Ibadan. The three-day event brought together partners and delegates from Nigeria and Tanzania to reflect on five years of achievements and chart the way forward for cassava seed systems in Africa.
Funded by the Gates Foundation, BASICS-II was implemented by IITA in
partnership with the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Sahel Consulting, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI), the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). Together, these institutions worked to build a seed system that delivers high-quality, disease-free cassava planting materials to farmers, thereby helping to improve yields, incomes, and food security.
In a welcome address by the Technical Advisor, BASIC-II, and Director, Development and Delivery (P4D), IITA, Dr Alfred Dixon, he expressed his excitement about the successful completion of the project. He also explained the intended transition into the PROSSIVA project – Cassava component, which will replicate the BASICS-II model across other regions, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Tanzania, as well as transfer technologies. “The close-out of BASICS-II is not the end, it is the beginning of broader replication and deeper transformation in Africa’s cassava seed systems,” he emphasized.
IITA Director General, Dr Simeon Ehui, also commended the BASICS-II team and partners for their dedication. He mentioned that the workshop is to close a chapter and celebrate a remarkable five-year journey of research, innovation, and partnerships. “This project shows how science and collaboration can change lives by building seed systems that farmers and processors can rely on,” he said.
The workshop featured presentations from the six project components, including the Integration of Breeding and Seed System Activities; Development of Early Generation Seed Entrepreneur; Development of Commercial Seed Entrepreneur; Development of the Processor-Associated seed System; Quality Control and Disease Management, and Catalyzing Scaling and Replication through partners. Each team shared their successes, lessons learned, and practical ideas for sustaining impact. One key theme was ensuring that cassava seed enterprises remain profitable so that the system continues to thrive beyond donor support.
The Project Manager, Professor Lateef Sanni, explained in his speech that the teams have worked effectively in the last five years to achieve the proposed goals. “It is a pleasure to announce that the BASICS-II project has done so well in the target countries –Nigeria and Tanzania, and even beyond,” he added. He further appreciated the team spirit of every member and partner involved in the project.
The Senior Program Officer, BASICS-II, Lawrence Kent, emphasized that the goal has always been to create businesses that continue to generate value and income long after the project ends, to which the participant agreed that the project had set in motion a movement for change. It was also agreed that, as BASICS-II transitions into PROSSIVA, some of the interventions brought up through the components would be implemented moving forward to fill some of the existing gaps from the just-concluded project. The close-out workshop was wrapped up with a field trip to the Fashola Agribusiness Hub in Iseyin by the participants.
Contributed by Tolulope Akinola
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