Title
Is there a space for medium-sized cassava seed growers in Nigeria?
Date Issued
01 January 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Bentley J.W.
Nitturkar H.
Obisesan D.
Friedmann M.
CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas
Publisher(s)
Bellwether Publishing, Ltd.
Abstract
Until recently, there has been little commercial sale of vegetatively propagated crop seed, except for potatoes (Solanum tuberosum). This is especially true in developing countries. However, a formal, commercial seed sector for cassava (Manihot esculenta) is emerging in Nigeria. In 2016, a project, Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System in Nigeria (BASICS), started to encourage village farmers to certify and sell cassava seed. A questionnaire survey of 30 cassava entrepreneurs across Nigeria in 2019 included some of those village-based growers as well as larger producers, including some who certified their planting material. In the long run, if there is a consistent demand for certified cassava seed, medium-sized producers may be able to satisfy some of that demand, especially if they have continued programmatic support; otherwise, these budding seed entrepreneurs may close down.
Start page
842
End page
857
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Agricultura
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85087796664
Source
Journal of Crop Improvement
ISSN of the container
15427528
Sponsor(s)
The research to prepare this study was undertaken as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas. Funding was provided by the grant opportunity [ID: OPP1130642]: Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System in Nigeria (BASICS) project, to the International Potato Centre, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). We thank the following people for being generous with their time and with helping us to contact seed entrepreneurs: Peter Kulakow, Mercy Diebiru-Ojo, Richardson Okechukwu, Frederick Schreurs, Alfred G.O. Dixon, Paul Ilona, Chiedozie Egesi, Iluoma Okwuona, and others at (IITA); Emmanuel Azaino, Oluwatosin Oni, Segun Owayemi, and Joseph Abechi of CRS; Chyka Okarter of the MADE Project; Ishiak Khalid (NASC); Godwin N. Asumugha, Mark Tokula, Tessy Madu, and others of NRCRI; and Aaron Baldwin of Flour Mills of Nigeria. We are especially grateful for the interviewees who traveled long distances to meet with the study team.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus