Jobs

Contact

Subscribe

IITA NEWS

Tanzania spotlights its first-ever matooke hybrids at the 2020 national farmers’ exhibition “Nane Nane”
September 4, 2020

Mbongo Daud Batson explaining the qualities of the new matooke varieties, called NARITA, during the Nane Nane at Mbeya-Uyole.

The East Africa Highland cooking banana, matooke, is a hugely popular food in Tanzania. With the impending release of the first-ever high-yielding hybrids of matooke on the horizon, researchers took the opportunity to exhibit them at this year’s annual agricultural show “Nane Nane” in Tanzania. The new hybrids created much excitement among the attending farming community, and they look set to score well with farmers who have been helplessly watching as their banana plants are ravaged by pests and diseases, threatening their income and food security. One such farmer, Anacret Rweyemamu from Katoma village who visited the banana demonstration plot at the Nane Nane grounds in Bukoba, Kagera Region, was excited to hear about the NARITA hybrids. He learned that they were developed from and tasted just as good as their traditional “matooke” varieties such as Mbwazirume and Nshakara and that they are resistant to the deadly nematodes and weevils. “If what I have heard about the NARITA hybrids is true, then this is very good news for farmers in Kagera Region as, finally, we will have a “Mulokozi” for our traditional “Matooke”, Mr. Anacret said. “Mulokozi” means savior in the local Haya language spoken in Kagera Region. “Our plantations have suffered a lot because of nematodes and weevils. We have lost many plants during strong winds, and as a result, our plantations are now dominated by FHIA, and Yangambi Km 5. I, therefore, cannot wait until these new matooke hybrids are officially released,” he added as he also requested some of the planting materials of the hybrid to start planting on his farm. The hybrids were developed jointly by CGIAR-IITA and Uganda’s National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO), over 18 years. Breeding new bananas is particularly difficult and takes a long time. To reflect the combined involvement of both organizations in this effort, NARO and IITA, they have been named NARITA. IITA, together with the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI), NARO, and Bioversity International, has been evaluating these new hybrids in Tanzania since 2015, to establish which ones are the most suitable for the growing conditions and which are most acceptable to farmers as well as consumers. The improved matooke varieties most preferred by farmers and consumers were exhibited at the annual agricultural shows at Simiyu, Mbeya, Kagera, and Arusha regions, by the TARI banana breeding team between 1 and 10 August 2020. Under the direction of the National Coordinator for banana research in Tanzania, Dr Mpoki Shimwela, based at TARI-Maruku in Kagera Region, 29 NARITA hybrids were evaluated for yield, resistance to major pests and diseases, and for their taste in Mbeya, Kagera, and Kilimanjaro regions. These are among the most important banana growing and consuming areas in the country. “From the trials, we have selected 10 varieties that are yielding 30% higher than farmers are currently getting and which have good resistance to major pests and diseases. These have been identified for future release in Tanzania through the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI),” Mpoki said while speaking to the media at the national exhibition at Nyakabindi ground in Simiyu Region. In Tanzania, cooking bananas are essential as a staple food crop, providing carbohydrates for about a third of the population. However, their production is substantially low, at just 10% of their true potential, due to attacks by pests and diseases, drought, and other factors. The evaluation of the NARITA in Tanzania, and also in Uganda, is supported by the IITA-led Accelerated Breeding Better Banana project. Together, these two countries account for more than half of the Eastern Africa Highland bananas grown in Africa, and which is valued at around US$4.3 billion. However, access to improved varieties has, to date, not been possible, as they have not been available. Due to the complicated and lengthy process of breeding bananas, it has taken time to develop and evaluate these varieties. The release of these new high yielding varieties, with good resistance to pests and diseases, therefore, creates a historic milestone for banana research and banana agriculture in the region. And the good news does not end there. The Accelerated Breeding Better Banana project is focused on increasing the speed and efficiency of breeding new, better, higher-yielding bananas for the region, to deliver more improved varieties of cooking banana to farmers faster. The work is also supported by the CGIAR Fund and, in particular,  the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers, and Bananas (CRP-RTB) Other related stories in the media https://allafrica.com/stories/202008100645.html https://www.dailynews.co.tz/news/2020-08-105f311b288473b.aspx

Contributed by

Related news

No items found

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top
Olaosebikan, Olamide

Olamide Deborah Nwanze is a Senior Research Associate specializing in gender mainstreaming research to inform participatory and inclusive breeding, variety development, and seed systems policies regarding root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan and holds an MSc and B. Agric in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. Olamide is a fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development – Gender Responsive Agricultural Systems Policy (AWARD-GRASP) and the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT). She seeks to apply her gender-mainstreaming learnings, gender-responsive research, and policy development, and review expertise to facilitate women, youth, children, and vulnerable social group’s access to and adoption of agricultural Innovations that guarantee food, nutrition, income, and livelihood security in Africa. Her current roles include mentoring research fellows, development of guides and training manuals, implementation and adaptation of gender frameworks and tools, value chain actors’ engagement as citizen science partners, policy review and redesign, data management, and analysis. Her current research explores mixed methods and participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to capture and highlight gender dynamics, needs, preferences, and challenges stakeholders face within the agricultural livelihood value chain to prioritize gender-inclusive strategies in breeding programs, policy design, and implementation.

At IITA, she contributes to the implementation of the CGIAR Accelerated Breeding Initiative and Genetic Innovation Programs; participatory and gender research within the NextGen Cassava, HarvestPlus, RTBFoods, and Tricot-ClimMob 1000Farms Projects; and gender knowledge communication via the G-LENS webinar series, video documentary, policy briefs, publications, and blogs.

 

Recent publications

de Sousa, K., van Etten, J., Manners, R. Bello, A., Teeken, B., Olaosebikan, O., et al. 2024. The tricot approach: an agile framework for decentralized on-farm testing supported by citizen science. A retrospective. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 44, 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-023-00937-1

Madu, T., Onwuka, S., Nwafor, S., Onyemauwa, N., Ejechi, M., Ofoeze, M., Ukeje, B., Eluagu, C., Olaosebikan, O., Okoye, B., 2024. Gender-Inclusive Consumer Studies Improve Cassava Breeding in Nigeria in: Frontiers in Sociology, volume 9, number: 1224504, doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1224504

Olaosebikan, O.; Bello, A.; Utoblo, O.; Okoye, B.; Olutegbe, N.; Garner, E.; Teeken, B.; Bryan, E.; Forsythe, L.; Cole, S.; Madu, T. 2023.  Stressors and Resilience within the Cassava Value Chain in Nigeria: Preferred Cassava Variety Traits and Response Strategies of Men and Women to Inform Breeding. Sustainability 15, 7837. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107837

Okoye, B., Ofoeze, M., Ejechi, M., Onwuka, S., Nwafor, S., Onyemauwa, N., Ukeje, B., Eluagu, C., Obidiegwu, J.*, Olaosebikan, O., Madu, T.* 2023. Prioritizing preferred traits in the yam value chain in Nigeria: a gender situation analysis in: Frontiers in Sociology, volume 8, number: 1232626, pages 1 – 9, ISSN 2297-7775, 2023. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1232626/full

Olaosebikan, O., Bello, A. A., de Sousa, K., Ndjouenkeu, R., Adesokan, M., Alamu, E. O., Agbona, A., van Etten, J., Kegah, F. N.*, Dufour, D., Bouniol, A., Teeken, B. 2023. Consumer acceptability of cassava gari-eba food products across cultural and environmental settings using the triadic comparison of technologies approach (tricot) in: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture,

Teeken, B., Olaosebikan, O., Bello, A. A., Madu, T.*, Cole, S. M. 2023. Qualitative assessment on the positionality and preferences of dyads in relation to cassava-related activities: working with tricot trial citizen scientists https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138326 Type: Manual

Bouniol, A., Ceballos, H., Bello, A. A., Teeken, B., Olaosebikan, O., Owoade, D., Agbona, A., Fotso Kuate, A., Madu, T.*, Okoye, B.*, Ofoeze, M.*, Nwafor, S.*, Onyemauwa, N.*, Adinsi, L.*, Forsythe, L., Dufour, D. 2023. Varietal impact on women’s labour, workload and related drudgery in processing root, tuber and banana crops: focus on cassava in sub-Saharan Africa in: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, pages 1 – 25, ISSN 0022-5142,

Bello, A. A., Agbona, A., Olaosebikan, O., Edughaen, G., Dufour, D., Bouniol, A., Iluebbey, P., Ndjouenkeu, R.*, Rabbi, I. Y., Teeken, B. 2023. Genetic and environmental effects on processing productivity and food product yield: drudgery of women’s work in: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, pages 1 – 32, ISSN 0022-5142, 5

Cavicchioli, M., Zimbiti, T., Teeken, B., Nwanze, D.O., Liani, M., Parkes, E. & Bello, A. 2023. IITA-Gender Responsive Breeding Training Report. Genetic Resources Center, IITA-HQ, Ibadan, 21-23 September, 2022. Ibadan, Nigeria: IITA, (34 p.).https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131368

Agbona, A. Peteti P., Teeken B., Olaosebikan O. Bello, A. A., Parkes, E., Rabbi, I. Y., Mueller, L., Egesi, C., Kulakow, P. 2022. Data Management in Multi-disciplinary African RTB Crop Breeding Programs. In: Williamson, H.F., Leonelli, S. (eds) Towards Responsible Plant Data Linkage: Data Challenges for Agricultural Research and Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13276-6_5

Lora Forsythe, Pricilla Marimo, Sarah Mayanja, Olamide D. Olaosebikan, Esme Stuart, Bela Teeken, Benjamin Okoye, Tessy Madu, (2021). Cross-product Gender Analysis of RTBfoods Step 2 Gendered Food Mapping on RTB Products. Understanding the Drivers of Trait Preferences and the Development of Multi-user RTB Product Profiles, WP1. London, UK: RTBfoods Field Scientific Report, 30 p.

Teeken, B., Garner, E., Agbona, A., Balogun, I., Olaosebikan, O., Bello, A., Madu, T., Okoye, B., Egesi, C., Kulakow, P. and Tufan, H.A. 2021. Beyond “Women’s Traits”: Exploring How Gender, Social Difference, and Household Characteristics Influence Trait Preferences. Frontiers Sustainable Food Systems 5:740926. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.740926

Teeken, B., Agbona, A., Bello, A., Olaosebikan, O., Alamu, E., Adesokan, M., Awoyale, W., Madu, T., Okoye, B., Chijioke, U., Owoade, D., Okoro, M., Bouniol, A., Dufour, D., Hershey, C., Rabbi, I., Maziya‐Dixon, B., Egesi, C., Tufan, H. and Kulakow, P. (020. Understanding cassava varietal preferences through pairwise ranking of gari‐eba and fufu prepared by local farmer–processors. Int J Food Sci Technol. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.14862

Bela Teeken, Olamide Olaosebikan, Ireti Balogun, Benjamin Okoye, Tessy Madu, Steven Cole, Abolore Bello, Elizabeth Parkes. (2020). Piloting the G+ customer and product profile tools for gender-responsive cassava breeding in Nigeria. Nigeria: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/13000