Business
Cameroun Double Cassava Yield Following IITA Intervention
Camerounian farmers participating in the “National de Developpement des Racines et Tubercules (PNDRT)’’ programme have doubled cassava yield using improved cassava planting materials from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.
A statement from the institute, made available to newsmen on Friday, showed that current cassava production in Cameroun was estimated at 2.3 million tonnes.
”From 10 tonnes per hectare, farmers are now harvesting between 25 tonnes and 30 tonnes per hectare,” the statement quoted Ngue Bissa Thomas, the National Coordinator, PNDRT, as saying during the presentation of cassava chipping machines to beneficiaries of the programme in Cameroun .
He noted that IITA had produced improved cassava varieties resistant to diseases, pests, with low cyanide content, short crop cycle, high yield, and in some cases, resistant to drought.
”Our next challenge is processing and the creation of markets for cassava farmers to avoid glut,’’ he said, adding that the 100 processing machines had been developed under the programme in collaboration with the IITA.
The statement said the machines would ease the drudgery associated with cassava processing in rural Cameroun.
Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD ) , the PNDRT project involved 250 villages across Cameroun , the statement said.
It said the beneficiaries had expressed joy with the introduction of the project.
Mrs. Nke Susanne, the President of the Rural Consultative Committee of Minkoa, a women farmer group, said: “We are happy with the implementation of this project because it has improved cassava production in our community.
”More importantly, the current introduction of chipping machines will ease processing.”
Susanne expressed optimism that the processing equipment would enhance value addition, create more marketing options, avoid glut and make cassava more profitable.
The IITA Country Representative in Cameroon, Dr. Rachid Hanna, said the chipping machines was a novel technology developed by the Institute as “a processing option to reduce the bulk of cassava, extend its shelf life, and reduce transportation cost while adding value and creating markets for the root crop.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
