The African Development Bank (AfDB) yesterday said it will invest $120 million between the next two and three years to boost the productivity and transform cassava and other eight other commodities on the continent. The nine commodities are cassava, rice, maize, sorghum/millet, wheat, livestock, aquaculture, high iron beans and orange fleshed sweet potatoes.

“Transforming cassava on the African continent would help African nations to cut imports and redirect about $1.2billion into African domestic economies,” its Director for Agriculture, Dr Martin Fregene, said at the fourth international conference on cassava, being organised by the Global Cassava Partnerships for the 21st Century, GCP21, in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

The cassava conference is being attended by more than 450 local and international partners in the cassava sector, coming from research and development organisations, government, farming community, and the private sector.

The bank’s investment in cassava comes at a time when African governments are scaling up efforts to end food imports and create wealth.



Fregene said cassava was a strategic crop for Africa’s food security and wealth creation for youth, and women, adding that “another dimension to the importance of cassava is in nutrition where cassava can enhance the nutrition of children directly or as feed for poultry and other livestock.”

With the largest volume of cassava coming from Africa, cassava supports more than 350 million people in Africa.

The Minister of Agriculture for the Republic of Benin, Dr Gaston Dossouhoui said cassava remained the cheapest staple consumed by Africans, adding that “addressing the constraints of cassava production in Africa will have a positive impact on African farmers.”

He lauded AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina for his commitment of investing in agriculture and cassava, in particular.

The minister also commended the GCP21 for organising the cassava conference, emphasising that it would contribute to knowledge sharing that would help in removing the bottlenecks in the cassava sector.

Deputy Director-General for Partnerships for Delivery at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Kenton Dashiell, said unlocking the potential of cassava required partnerships and close collaboration of partners to address the constraints facing cassava.

Dashiell commended GCP21 for filling the gaps in cassava R& by organising a series of conferences with experts sharing knowledge on innovations in cassava.

This year’s conference is supported by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin (INRAB), Faculte des Sciences Agronomique – Universite Abomey-Calavi (FAS-AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research (CORAF/WECARD), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CGIAR Research Programme on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB), International Center for Agricultural Development (CIRAD), the Institute for Research & Development (IRD), French Embassy in Benin, French Institute, NIRSAL, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Cibus, China’s TAGRM, Inqaba Biotec, PRASAC, Interteck, Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS), Sino-Food Machinery, OC, NextGen Cassava project, and CTA.

Founded in 2003, GCP21 is a not-for-profit international alliance of 45 organizations and coordinated by Claude Fauquet and Joe Tohme of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). It aims to fill gaps in cassava research and development to unlock the potential of cassava for food security and wealth creation for poor farmers.

http://thenationonlineng.net/afdb-okays-120m-to-boost-cassava-others/