Yellow Cassava: Hope Of Better Nutrition

Eye problems are very common among Nigerians these days and medical experts say that diet intake, somehow, determines people’s susceptibility to various eye diseases, as with other ailments.

Fufu, garri (eba), lafu, abacha, garri-rogo and usi are some of the commonest foods derived from cassava. These foods are available in most parts of the country and their consumption is not limited to any particular ethnic groups.

The good news, however, is that scientists have developed “Yellow Cassava”, a new variant of the root crop, which is fortified with Vitamin A — a vital nutrient that aids man’s health.

Vitamin A is particularly helpful against eye diseases, which in some cases lead to blindness.

At the forefront of the development of this variant is Harvest-Plus, an international agricultural research organisation, which partnered with the Ibadan-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), to make the breakthrough.

By the opinion of medical experts, about 30 per cent of children under five, especially in resource-poor countries of the world, are at risk of Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD).

VAD lowers immunity and makes children in particular susceptible to many childhood infections such as diarrhoea, measles and various forms of eye infections. And these infections could indeed be fatal.

VAD, medical analysts say, is widely prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and it also affects about 20 per cent of pregnant women.

Partly to ensure the bio-fortification of key staples, which is crucial to stemming ill health in resource-poor families, Harvest-Plus, has been partnering with organisations across the world to improve the vitamin content of cassava.

Some of such partners include the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the IITA, the Nigerian National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) and some private sector organizations in Nigeria.

Besides working for the improved cassava variety, Harvest-Plus has also led an international effort to develop other micronutrient–rich staple food crops.

Sometime ago, stakeholders, including agricultural and health experts met at IITA to discuss the progress made in breeding a new variety of Vitamin-A-rich cassava.

The interactive session was co-convened by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

It is not in doubt that many Nigerian farmers have found the new cassava variety irresistible, despite certain reservations.

Chief Tola Adepomola, an official of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), who participated in the pre-release trials, said that “farmers love the variety”.

“The new variety has good culinary qualities. When you make lafun with it, it is very smooth.

“To us, the variety saves cost in the production of garri. We do not need to buy palm oil to process yellow garri. We hope that this variety will help solve the problem of Vitamin A deficiency and make farmers have more access to nutritious foods,” Adepomola said.

Mr Paul Ilona, the Country Crop Manager of Harvest-Plus in Nigeria, said that there had been Vitamin A fortification in sugar and flour but not in staple foods such as cassava.

“We have seen fortification of Vitamin A in commodities such as sugar and flour but we feel that bio-fortification of cassava, which is widely consumed across the country, will give the vulnerable groups more access to nutritious diet.

“We are making good progress in reaching the target levels we have set for Vitamin A in cassava,” Ilona said.

“The long-term goals are to ensure that millions of people have access to, and are using Vitamin A cassava variety by 2018,” he added.

Mr Harrie Hendrickx, the Head of Product Delivery at Harvest-Plus, said since the daily diets of most Nigerian homes were cassava-based; the new cassava variety could improve the nutrition for millions of Nigerians.

Dr Peter Kulakow, IITA Cassava Breeder, said that the multiplication of the nutritionally-improved variety of cassava had progressed satisfactorily.

“The plan is to ensure that farmers have access to the varieties once they are officially released,” he said.

Some governments, including Oyo State Government, have shown great interest in the new development, hoping to make the new variety available to their farmers, with a view to improving the people’s nutritional status, food security and standard of living.

Mr Kunle Ishola, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in Oyo State, applauded Harvest-Plus for its initiative, saying that its efforts would aid the improvement of the people’s health.

“We identify with this programme; the new variety will help to reduce Vitamin A deficiency among undernourished communities, which rely on cassava for sustenance,” he said.

Similar commendations came from Prof. Malachy Akoroda, a don with the University of Ibadan.

The agronomy professor said that since Nigerians ate a lot of cassava, a naturally fortified Vitamin A variety would go a long way at enriching the daily diet of the poor masses.

According to him, Vitamin A is very good for improving eyesight.

“Users do not need to add palm oil or any other source of the vitamin to the garri they process from cassava once they use the new yellow variety.

“There are many poor Nigerian households, which cannot afford palm oil but can at least afford garri.

“Children no longer have to go blind because they don’t have access to Vitamin A; once they eat garri processed from the new cassava variety, they will have access to the vital vitamin,’’ Akoroda said.

He particularly urged farmers and governments to support the IITA/Harvest-Plus initiative, pointing out that the new variety was complementary and not a replacement of the white cassava, which is already popular in the country.

Akoroda said that some African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had long started the consumption of the yellow variety of cassava, adding that Nigeria cannot be an exception.

“Every Nigerian with the new variety can give it to a neighbour, friend or relative so that the multiplication project would be boosted within a short time; everybody will have cheap access to Vitamin A in their diet,” he said.

The nutritional value of the new variant notwithstanding, Adepomola observed that it had some drawbacks, which the researchers should critically address.

“The yield of the variant is still not very encouraging. Other varieties like the white type can yield 30 to 35 metric tonnes per hectare, whereas this yellow variety is yielding just 22 to 24 metric tonnes per hectare,” the AFAN chief pointed out.

Besides, he observed that the “yellow cassava” cannot stay long in the ground before harvest.

Adepomola appealed to researchers to do something about the limitations, so that farmers and Nigerians could enjoy the maximum benefits of the new cassava variety.

“I still want to plead with researchers to do their best to ensure that the productivity per hectare or per area of land increases. Secondly, farmers will like cassava tubers that will not rot if they are not harvested after a period of 12 months.

“But this one cannot last more than 12 to 15 months. We want a cassava variety that can mature at 12 months but can stay long in the ground before harvesting without getting rotten,’’ he said.

The drawback notwithstanding, Adepomola stressed that the yellow variety had a comparative advantage over other varieties, as it tasted better when processed into garri.

“And when you process it into cassava flour, it looks like custard. So, it’s very good. Actually, the texture is better than the white one,’’ he said.

Nonetheless, HarvestPlus predicts that by the middle of 2014, more than 150,000 households in Nigeria will be eating the fortified yellow cassava variant. This, it says, will invariably provide more Vitamin A in the diets of more than 70 million Nigerians who eat cassava everyday.

It says that the variant is already being multiplied through stem cuttings, with the expectation that by 2013, sufficient certified stems will be available for distribution to about 25,000 farming households initially.

By this measure, it is also hoped that farmers will on their part multiply and share cuttings with others in their communities so as to amplify the nutritional benefits of the variety.

Towards achieving a wider distribution of the new variety, Mr Charles Iyangbe, IITA’s Agri-business Development Coordinator, has advised farmers to form more cooperative societies.

“If farmers can form themselves into cooperative groups, they will be at an advantage as they will have easy access to mechanized equipment from the service providers.”

He, however, said that the IITA had already begun a linkage process between cassava farmers in the South West geopolitical zone and private mechanization service providers in a public-private partnership, so as to make the project a success story.

Razak Owolabi