Appropriate Post-Harvest Technologies for Biofortified Crops Pro Enhanced Utilization, Value Addition, and Micronutrient Retention

Biofortified cassava and sweet potato, targeted for vitamin A deficiency reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa, are highly perishable at post-harvest. Appropriate technologies for processing these crops should primarily be protective of their micronutrients otherwise the purpose of their biofortification is defeated. One of the value-added OFSP root products is the puree, which several techniques have been developed for its consistent quality, preservation and packaging. However, use of aseptic packaging and continuous flow microwave system of rapid sterilization have been reported most suitable, for its high temperatures (≥125°C) and short time principle. For biofortified cassava varieties, post-harvest advances have been on drying, moving from sun drying on bare floor to use of raised platform, solar and mechanical drying. Flash-drying technology is an effective and efficient drying technology that uses rapid heat transfer, which makes it suitable for biofortified cassava. With these advanced technologies, OFSP puree, wet or dried and flash-dried biofortified cassava mash can be targeted for diverse end uses in the food industry-baby foods, jam, pastries, and confectionaries. These technologies, with increased adoption through favorable policies, can enhance availability of diverse nutritious food products, utilization, consumption, and commercialization of locally produced staples, for improved food system transformation

Cassava processing, consumption and dietary cyanide exposure

Cassava is a major component of the diet of more than half a billion people in the tropics. Cassava is an important crop in the farming system in the tropics because it can be intercropped with many other crops, and yields well in poor soils. Cassava roots contain cyanogenic glucosides that release cyanide when hydrolysed during processing or when consumed. Several methods of processing cassava roots have been developed to reduce the content of cyanogenic glucosides and produce food products that have longer shelf life than cassava roots. Residual amounts of cyanogenic glucosides and products of their hydrolysis often remain in cassava foods after processing. Consumption of cyanogenic glucosides and products of their hydrolysis in gari, the most widely eaten cassava food product in Nigeria, has been linked with the development of tropical ataxic neuropathy (TAN). TAN was reported from several communities in southwestern Nigeria in the 1960s and 1970s, but anecdotal reports suggested that the occurrence of TAN diminished in the early 1980s. A recent study, however reported high prevalence of TAN in Ososa, a Nigerian community designated endemic for TAN in the 1960s. Recent findings of continued occurrence of TAN in Ososa motivated the studies in this thesis. The studies were conducted to investigate if method of processing cassava into gari, the intake of gari, and exposure to cyanide from intake of cyanogens in gari differs in communities where TAN is endemic and communities where TAN has not been reported in southwestern Nigeria. The method of processing cassava into gari in TAN endemic communities differs from the method of processing cassava into gari in non-TAN endemic communities. Gari produced in TAN endemic communities contain higher levels of residual cyanohydrin compared with gari produced in non-TAN endemic communities. Food processing experiments showed that the higher residual cyanohydrin content of gari produced in TAN endemic communities was due to the effect of continuous dewatering of grated cassava mash during fermentation and the duration of fermentation. Intake of gari and exposure to cyanide were also higher in TAN endemic compared with non-TAN endemic communities. Although the role of dietary cyanide in the causation of TAN is not established, measures to reduce exposure to cyanide should be promoted. Short-term storage of gari before consumption, and further processing of gari into eba by adding boiling water, will contribute to reduction of exposure to cyanide in gari eating populations

Operationalizing the recommendations from Nigeria 2021 Food Systems Dialogues: a position of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria

Food systems contribute to major global challenges including persistent poverty, competition over environmental resources, climate change and escalating hunger and malnutrition. The United Nations Food Systems Summit was convened to support governments to identify and implement actions that will transform national food systems toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In Nigeria, more than 40 Dialogues involving over 4,000 multisectoral participants including academia, policymakers, the private sector, Non-Governmental agencies and the Nigerian Government were convened by the Nigerian government and other actors. A total of 79 recommendations from these dialogues were consolidated into six clusters to transform Nigeria's food system including; 1) Invest in food security and nutrition knowledge dissemination, skills development, and information management systems; 2) Build sustainable, responsive, and inclusive agricultural input supply and food production systems; 3) Develop value chains and market systems; 4) Increase demand for, and consumption of, adequate, nutritious, and healthy foods; 5) Promote peace-building initiatives, early warning systems, food marketing and regulation standards, and an enabling environment; and 6) Link research, innovation, and extension for a sustainable food system. The Nutrition Society of Nigeria explored the strategy to operationalize the 79 recommendations through a panel discussion and public lecture/engagement and her position includes the need for a national food systems dashboard and command centre; state governments support for food commodities of comparative advantage; filling critical gaps in building capacity for regulatory monitoring; improving on the existing national food-based dietary guidelines; integrating nutrition education into all efforts to transform food systems; active involvement of young people; leveraging the potential business/investment opportunities across the 79 recommendations to generate income while solving food systems challenges; re-positioning the academic/ research community in Nigeria to explore funding opportunities for food systems-related research and build consensus with other stakeholders to define priority research questions across the entire food system. The NSN is committed to supporting skills building around forming partnerships/collaborations, advocacy, and convening consultations to bring stakeholders together

Eptd Discussion Paper No. 118

this paper. The preparation of the discussion paper was supported by the IFPRI. The paper was prepared while the author was a Visiting Professor at the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. Dr David Wiley, the Director of the Center and other colleagues in the Center and in the Department of Agricultural Economics offered valuable administrative and technical support and encouragement. Steve Haggblade and Carl K. Eicher provided incisive comments on the various drafts of the paper. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY consumed. In the early 1960s, Africa accounted for 42 percent of world cassava production. Thirty years later, in the early 1990s, Africa produced half of world cassava output, primarily because Nigeria and Ghana increased their production four fold. In the process, Nigeria replaced Brazil as the worlds leading cassava producer. The cassava transformation involves a shift from production as a low-yielding, faminereserve crop to a high-yielding cash crop increasingly prepared and consumed as gari, a dry cereal. This discussion paper aims to document the key factors which are driving the cassava transformation in Nigeria and Ghana, two of the three largest cassava producing countries in Africa: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ghana. In Nigeria and Ghana, four key factors are driving the cassava transformation. First, the IITAs new high-yielding Tropical Manioc Selection (TMS) varieties boosted cassava yield by 40 percent without fertilizer application. Second, high consumer demand for cassava by rural and urban households fueled the producer incentive to plant more land to cassava. Third, the use of the mechanical grater to prepare gari released labor, especially female labor, from processing for planting more cassa..