Trends in farm labour productivity and implications for cassava industrialisation in Nigeria

Nigeria is presently the largest cassava producing country in the world. Cassava production is primarily at the smallholder level relying heavily on the hoe and cutlass and driven by human physical effort. Agricultural farm labour is a critical factor as Nigeria strives to utilise cassava as an industrial crop. With increase in rural urban migration, the aging of the rural population, and the feminisation of agriculture, rural farm labour is likely to remain inelastic and expensive for agro industrial purposes. This paper isbased on panel data collected in 46 villages first by the Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa (COSCA) in Nigeria in 1990 and the Integrated Cassava Project in 2004. The same methodology was used in the two surveys. But unlike the COSCA survey. The 2004 survey adopted GPS equipment’s for field measurements unlike the compass and tape method adopted by COSCA. The specific field activities in each village include group interviews, farmer interviews, field and yield measurements. Results indicate that the trend in the use of labour by gender and source for cassava production has not changed over the last 15 years in Nigeria. However agricultural farm labour costs and farm wages have risen significantly over the same period. Since labour costs are usually sticky downwards, rising labour costs may pose a threat to the utilisation of cassava as a raw material for industrial purposes in Nigeria. Producing cassava in the sub humid ecology of Nigeria seems to have a relatively higher comparatiile farm labour advantage while the use of improved cassava varieties reduced labour costs by 15 percent in physical and economic terms. But further input such as mechanisation and agrochemicals are required to improve technical efficiency at the farm level and reduce production costs in the cassava enterprise in Nigeria

Cassava improvement in sub-Saharan Africa: contributions of IITA and its partners

Cassava is well recognized for its capacity to address food needs of vulnerable communities in unstable environments in SSA. IITA and colleagues in African NARS, in collaboration with CIAT and ARIs have played leading roles in the development of improved cassava varieties which are disease and pest resistant, early maturing, and high yielding. Through a combination of conventional and new approaches, over 400 cassava genotypes have been developed. The characteristics of the new generation of cassava germplasm broke what had been an apparent yield barrier in cassava improvement increasing yields in many locations by at least 50–100% without the use of fertilizer. The improved germplasm is shared with NARS within the region as specific genotypes or improved seed populations for evaluation and selection under local conditions. Improvement programs in Africa that received these materials have tested them under local conditions, selected varieties that outperform local varieties, and released them to farmers in virtually every major cassava producing country. Today, about 30% of the area cropped with cassava in Africa is planted with improved varieties. Without the introduction of more productive cultivars with multiple diseases and pest resistance, the effective biological control of the cassava mealybug and, to a certain extent, of the green mite, cassava production in SSA would be 50% or less of what it is today. That translates to over 13 million tons of dry cassavayear, enough to meet the calorie requirements of 65 million people. The significant gains in the crop’s output in farmers’ fields are not only contributing to the African diet but also propelling commercialization of the crop. This paper highlights contributions to cassava improvement in SSA since 1970 by IITA and its partners, and suggests areas needing strengthening in the drive to produce better crop varieties for different regions and enduses in Africa