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.
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