Report of Virtual Conference. BASICS Phase I - Achievements and Learnings Meeting. May 18-19, 2020

The Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System in Nigeria (BASICS) project began in 2016 and formally ends on 30 June 2020. The project has made progress in demonstrating that commercially viable production and sale of breeder, foundation and certified seed is possible. Furthermore, the project has established a strong basis for building a sustainable seed system by developing building blocks across the seed value chain. This meeting had the following objectives: 1. To identify the achievements and lessons learned in each of the project components; 2. To identify the shortcomings in each component (what would I do differently, knowing what I know now?), remaining challenges and ideas to overcome them; 3. To assess and discuss the challenges and progress made in integrating the components into an integrated seed system and identify ways integration can be improved; 4. To assess and discuss the commercial sustainability of the seed system and identify options to promote its sustainability and further scaling; and 5. To make plans for the publication of the findings and lessons learned during BASICS-

BASICS Phase I Final Report

The Building a Sustainable, Integrated Seed System for Cassava in Nigeria (BASICS) was a five-year (2016-2020) project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that worked to strengthen all components of the cassava seed value chain. The project was led and implemented by the CGIAR program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas in partnership with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Context Global Development (CGD), and Fera Science Limited (Fera)

Characterizing Nigeria’s cassava seed system and the use of planting material in three farming communities

To archive a larger impact of seed interventions, we need to understand root, tuber and banana seed systems better. In the context of the intervention “Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Seed System for Cassava in Nigeria” (BASICS), there was a need to better understand the seed-sourcing behavior of cassava farmers and identify entry points for decentralized stem multipliers (DSMs). To this end a multi-stakeholder workshop provided insights into the wider landscape of Nigeria’s cassava seed system. In an explorative study we collected qualitative data via focus group discussions and complemented them with quantitative data from a survey of 90 cassava farmers in three study sites with different agro-ecological conditions. Our findings show that the cassava seed system is largely informal with vibrant stem trade within and between communities. Farmers in all study sites maintain a mix of varieties with multiple traits that is adapted to agro-ecological conditions and farmers’ preferences for use of roots. They value short maturity for early harvest, long storage of roots in the soil, bitterness as a protection against rodents, and high starch content for preparation of fufu. Although farmers in Nigeria’s South South region used only local landraces, farmers in other study sites dynamically combine those with new germplasm from the formal system. Because of a longer dry season, not all farmers are able to cover their need of planting material from their own fields alone. Despite using technologies for storage of cassava stems, there is still a demand for stems from relatives, friends, and neighbors; local traders and seed markets; and agricultural development programs. Differentiation of farmer categories by the size of their cassava fields showed no explainable pattern of different seed-sourcing behavior. Across the study population, the shortage of planting material and farmers’ interest in trying out new varieties were identified as entry points for the DSMs of the BASICS project. Further research on seed-sourcing dynamics, however, is needed to create a clear profile of stem buyers. We emphasize the importance of understanding the dynamics and the involvement of various actors in informal seed exchange to harmonize the work of DSMs in a seed system

Reaching farmers with weed management technologies: Scaling approaches that work

United States Agency for International Developmen

A practical tool to enhance the chances of success of digital agriculture interventions for sustainable development in Africa and India

Effective and sustainable tools, mechanisms and strategies are needed to significantly improve the prevailing agricultural productivity, farmer remuneration, and food availability globally to be able to meet the food, livelihood, and nutritional needs of the projected population in coming decades. Digital agriculture has the potential to efficiently bring together the benefits of the advances in agricultural research and the developments in information and communication technology space to help positively transform the entire spectrum of pre-farm to post-fork activities in the agriculture sector. Through interactions with over 338 stakeholders across India and Africa, supplemented with study of various digital agricultural interventions across the globe, the author observed that most digital agricultural interventions did not succeed, causing great loss of time and resources, which the world can ill afford. The world is falling behind on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing lessons from the failures and successes of the past digital agricultural interventions, the author has developed an innovative MS Excel tool called HeDAPSEE, to help estimate the success of a digital agricultural intervention before implementing it. This can help strengthen it in planning stages and enhance its chances of success

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

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

How responsive is Nigeria’s cassava seedsystem to farmers’ demand? Exploring supplyand demand interactions in three farmingcommunities

Based on a concept for demand-orientation in seed systems, we characterized Nigeria’s cassava (Manihot esculenta) seed system from national to local level and farmers’ demand in three study sites. Interviews with seed-system actors explained their roles for supply-side functions. Focus group discussions and a survey described multiple aspects of farmers’ demand. Our findings show that the national agriculture development program alone did not have the capacity to supply farmers with sufficient seed of desired varieties. Seed exchange between farmers and informal seed sellers contributed to the distribution of seed and new varieties. The presence of seed sellers and farmers’ demand for cassava seed varied between the three study sites, farmer types and gender. We conclude that informal seed sellers and village seed entrepreneurs have a potential to respond to farmers’ heterogeneous demands. However, without recurrent demand for specialized seed pro-duction or continuous support from the formal system, they do not reach underserved markets

Commercially sustainable cassava seed systems in Africa

Published online: 07 Apr 2022Cassava is an important crop in sub-Saharan Africa for food security, income generation, and industrial development. Business-oriented production systems require reliable supplies of high-quality seed. Major initiatives in Nigeria and Tanzania have sought to establish sustainable cassava seed systems. These include the deployment of new technologies for early generation seed (EGS) production; the promotion of new high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties; the updating of government seed policy to facilitate enabling certification guidelines; the application of ICT tools, Seed Tracker and Nuru AI, to simplify seed system management; and the establishment of networks of cassava seed entrepreneurs (CSEs). CSEs have been able to make profits in both Nigeria (US$551–988/ha) and Tanzania (US$1,000 1,500/ha). In Nigeria, the critical demand driver for cassava seed businesses is the provision of new varieties. Contrastingly, in Tanzania, high incidences of cassava brown streak disease mean that there is a strong demand for the provision of healthy seed that has been certified by regulators. These models for sustainable cassava seed system development offer great promise for scaling to other cassava-producing countries in Africa where there is strong government support for the commercialization of the cassava sector