Is there a space for medium-sized cassava seed growers in Nigeria?

Bentley, Jeffery W.; Nitturkar, Hemant; Obisesan, David; Friedmann, Michael; Thiele, Graham

doi:10.1080/15427528.2020.1778149

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…It is also remarkable that in-ground storage is not prioritized in the North Central region. This could relate to more commercially oriented cassava farming in this region, where there is also an existing seed system (Bentley et al, 2020). In this case, harvesting more roots at the same time for the market is more important than the need for storability.…”

Section: Regional Differences Are Complex But Draw Lessons Important For Breedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond “Women's Traits”: Exploring How Gender, Social Difference, and Household Characteristics Influence Trait Preferences

Teeken

Garner

Agbona

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Demand-led breeding strategies are gaining importance in public sector breeding globally. While borrowing approaches from the private sector, public sector programs remain mainly focused on food security and social impact related outcomes. This necessitates information on specific user groups and their preferences to build targeted customer and product profiles for informed breeding decisions. A variety of studies have identified gendered trait preferences, but do not systematically analyze differences related to or interactions of gender with other social dimensions, household characteristics, and geographic factors. This study integrates 1000minds survey trait trade-off analysis with the Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey to study cassava trait preferences in Nigeria related to a major food product, gari. Results build on earlier research demonstrating that women prioritize food product quality traits while men prioritize agronomic traits. We show that food product quality traits are more important for members from food insecure households and gender differences between men and women increase among the food insecure. Furthermore, respondents from poorer households prioritize traits similar to respondents in non-poor households but there are notable trait differences between men and women in poor households. Women in female headed household prioritized quality traits more than women living with a spouse. Important regional differences in trait preferences were also observed. In the South East region, where household use of cassava is important, and connection to larger markets is less developed, quality traits and in ground storability were prioritized more than in other states. These results reinforce the importance of recognizing social difference and the heterogeneity among men and women, and how individual and household characteristics interact to reveal trait preference variability. This information can inform trait prioritization and guide development of breeding products that have higher social impact, which may ultimately serve the more vulnerable and align with development goals.

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Section: Regional Differences Are Complex But Draw Lessons Important For Breedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond “Women's Traits”: Exploring How Gender, Social Difference, and Household Characteristics Influence Trait Preferences

Teeken

Garner

Agbona

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To move away from aid-based seed systems, it seems important to determine at which stage of the seed value chain commercialization should start. Many studies that report the emergence of commercial seed enterprises for vegetative propagated staple crops in Sub-Saharan Africa do not report where and how sellers obtain their material in the first place (see for example Bentley et al,2020;Rachkara et al, 2017). When prices are based on the actual costs of breeding and early generation seed production, it is unknown if actors along the value chain would still be willing-to-pay, and if investments can be profitable considering the (highly fluctuating) prices of cassava roots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bartle and Maredia, 2019; Boadu et al, 2019; Maggidi, 2019) and that commercial seed sectors are emerging in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. Bentley et al, 2020; Gibson et al, 2009; Namanda et al, 2011), though there is little detail of the type of farmer who is prepared to pay and under which conditions (Rachkara et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing cassava farmer typologies and their seed sourcing practices to explore opportunities for economically sustainable seed business models in Rwanda

Kilwinger

Mugambi²,

Manners³

et al. 2021

Outlook Agric

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The overdependency on local cassava varieties and informal seed sources by farmers in Rwanda has contributed to the spread of cassava viral diseases. The use of improved planting materials made available through formal seed sources, that assure seed quality, is one way to prevent future disease outbreaks. In order to increase the availability of, and farmers access to, such materials there is increasing interest to develop seed business models. This study aims to understand seed sourcing practices of different farm typologies to inform the development of tailored seed business models. A total of 390 farmers were interviewed and the collected data was analyzed into clusters, resulting in seven farm typologies. Seed sourcing strategies, seed replacement dynamics and purchasing behavior of these typologies were explored via a seed tracing study. We find that more commercial oriented farmers have better access to formal seed sources. Nevertheless, the majority of farmers in all typologies accessed new varieties and quality cassava seed via informal channels. At both formal and informal sources, cash investments in seed were mainly made by the categories of better-off farmers, and were one-time investments to acquire a new variety. Based on farmers current seed sourcing practices, clarifications on the differences between farmers and their willingness-to-pay, the roles of seed degeneration, cost-benefit analysis, value propositions and profit formulas seem important requirements for the further development of viable cassava seed business models. We conclude that tailoring seed business models can have a high potential as it acknowledges differences among farmers, but that careful coordination is needed to ensure that one approach or intervention does not contrast with and/or undermine the others.

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“…Since 1984, more than 46 improved cassava varieties have been released and disseminated to farmers, yet adoption rates of these improved varieties are still relatively low. For instance, while approximately 60 percent of the farmers in Nigeria report that they are cultivating improved cassava varieties, only 38 percent of the cassava-cultivated area is under improved varieties (Wossen et al, 2017a;Thiele et al, 2020). Not surprisingly, cassava yields in the country are only about 10.6 t/ha, far below the global average, and only a third of yields in other major cassava producing countries such as Thailand (FAOSTAT, 2016).…”

Section: Data and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But yields for these crops in Africa lag well behind global averages. A wellestablished path towards yield improvement is increasing the availability of improved genetic traits and quality planting material for VPCs (Almekinders et al, 2019;Andrade-Piedra et al, 2016;Jeffery et al, 2020). Yet seed systems and markets for VPCs in many African countries south of the Sahara face many challenges, contributing to low use-rates of improved varieties and quality seed, low yields, and low yield growth rates relative to other countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cassava seed system in Nigeria: Opportunities and challenges for policy and regulatory reform

Wossen¹,

Spielman²,

Abdoulaye³

et al. 2020

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In many African countries south of the Sahara, farmers depend on the cultivation of vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) for both consumption and commercial purposes. Yet yields for these crops remain at low levels due, in part, to the persistent use of low-quality planting material. Efforts to improve the quality of planting material exchanged in markets or through other channels are often hampered by the unique biological and economic characteristics of vegetative propagation—characteristics that distinguish VPCs from the major cereal crops that drive and shape the policy and investment choices made in many of these countries. This suggests that continued investment in new technologies and systems to produce, package, and distribute VPC planting materials will require customized policies and policy support if these systems are to supply farmers with quality planting material at any significant and sustained scale. This paper explores these issues in the context of the cassava seed system in Nigeria by drawing on (1) prior research, public policy documents, and government statistics; (2) key informant interviews and focus group discussions with seed system actors; and (3) a unique dataset from the 2015 Cassava Monitoring Survey of Nigeria (CMS). The paper examines the production and supply of cassava planting material, the influence of various quality assurance systems on production and supply, and the implications for smallholder farmers in Nigeria. We describe the market, non-market, and regulatory systems that shape the cassava seed market in Nigeria, focusing on effectiveness, influence, and reach. We then explore the ground realities—how farmers actually acquire and use cassava planting material—given the (weak) state of markets and regulation. This is followed by a discussion of alternative policy and regulatory approaches to managing and expanding the cassava seed system, emphasizing a more decentralized approach that prioritizes investment in innovative capacity at the community and enterprise levels.

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Is there a space for medium-sized cassava seed growers in Nigeria?

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

Beyond “Women's Traits”: Exploring How Gender, Social Difference, and Household Characteristics Influence Trait Preferences

Beyond “Women's Traits”: Exploring How Gender, Social Difference, and Household Characteristics Influence Trait Preferences

Characterizing cassava farmer typologies and their seed sourcing practices to explore opportunities for economically sustainable seed business models in Rwanda

The cassava seed system in Nigeria: Opportunities and challenges for policy and regulatory reform

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