A four-year $11.6m project ending 2019 to develop a commercially sustainable cassava seed value chain in Nigeria, was recently launched at the headquarters of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Titled ‘Building Sustainable, Integrated Seed System for Cassava in Nigeria’ the project funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is led by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB). Despite being the largest cassava producer in Africa, Nigeria’s average yields of 14 tons per hectare are less than half of what may be realistically attainable.

The project aims to help Nigerian producers reach this potential through developing a commercially sustainable cassava seed value chain based on the purchase of quality seed by farmers provided by vibrant and profitable village seed entrepreneurs and basic seed production linked to cassava processors.

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