From cassava to gari: Mapping of quality characteristics and end-user preferences in Cameroon and Nigeria

User's preferences of cassava and cassava products along the value chain are supported by specific root quality characteristics that can be linked to root traits. Therefore, providing an evidence base of user preferred characteristics along the value chain, can help in the functional choice of cassava varieties. In this respect, the present paper presents the results from focus group discussions and individual interviews on user preferred quality characteristics of raw cassava roots and the derived product, gari, ‐ one of the major cassava products in Sub Saharan Africa ‐ in major production and consumption areas of Cameroon and Nigeria. Choice of cassava varieties for farming is mainly determined by the multiple end‐uses of the roots, their agricultural yield and the processing determinants of roots that support their major high‐quality characteristics: size, density, low water content, maturity, colour and safety. Processing of cassava roots into gari goes through different technological variants leading to a gari whose high‐quality characteristics are: dryness, colour, shiny/attractive appearance, uniform granules and taste. Eba, the major consumption form of gari in Cameroon and Nigeria is mainly characterized by its textural properties: smoothness, firmness, stickiness, elasticity, mouldability. Recommendations are made, suggesting that breeding will have to start evaluating cassava clones for brightness/shininess, as well as textural properties such as mouldability and elasticity of cassava food products, for the purpose of supporting decision‐making by breeders and the development of high‐throughput selection methods of cassava varieties. Women are identified as important beneficiaries of such initiatives giving their disadvantaged position and their prominent role in cassava processing and marketing of gari

Collecting meaningful data on labor use and farm size for economic analysis associated with onfarm trials in subSaharan African

On-farm research alms at examining the effects of physical, biological, and socioeconomic factors on the performance of different farming systems as well as testing the acceptability or adoptability of new technology by farmers. Gomez (1977) distinguished these aims as technology development and technology adoption research. Researcher-managed on-farm trials play a more significant role in technology development research, while in the case of technology adoption research, farmer-managed trials become more important. Inland-abundant economies, such as those found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, labor is the most important input in farming systems and the key to development of its agricultural economies (Mellor and Johnson 1984). An accurate estimation of labor productivity is, therefore, vital in the economic assessment of existing technologies as well as the adoption of new technologies in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to make such estimates one needs accurate measures of farm size, the actual labor input (e.g, man-hours/ha). as well as accurate estimates of crop yields. Much of the literature on the design of on-farm experiments is dominated by agronomic features relevant to the estimation and measurement of yield. Most experiments are conducted on small plots, the data from which are extrapolated to the per hectare basis. Little attention is paid to the accurate estimates of farmers' labor use and farm sizes. If we could accurately estimate labor use/ha for small experimental plots (usually less than 100m), we could theoretically obtain all the information necessary for the calculation of the economic profitability of a new technology. However, there are many difficulties involved in using small plots for estimation of labor use at the farm level. This paper discusses the need for estimating labor data from a range of plot sizes, and the accuracy of different methods of estimating farm/plot size in sub-Saharan Africa

Experiences with rice in West Africa

In IDL-622

Diverses expériences dans la culture du riz en Afrique

Réunion: Colloque sur la participation des paysans au développement et à l'évaluation des technologies agricoles, 20-25 sept. 1983, Ouagadougou, BFDans IDL-688

Development strategies for West Africa

This brief considers the comparative advantage of strategies for West Africa based on the four agroecological zones - humid, subhumid, semiarid, and arid - found there. These zones are defined by the amount and distribution of rainfall, temperature, and length of the annual growing period

Economic analysis of soil erosion effects in alley cropping. No-till and bush fallow systems in south west Nigeria

Presents results of economic analysis carried out in southwestern Nigeria to determine the profitability of alternative land use systems, taking into account the short and long-run impact of soil erosion on agricultural productivity. The fallow systems include 1. two continuous cultivation alley cropping systems with leucaena hedgerows, 2. the continious cultivation no-till farming system and 3. two traditional bush fallow systems. The results shows that where access to new forest land is 'costless', slight yield damage from erosion will not detract significantly from the immediate profit advantage of traditional bush fallow systems, with longer fallow systems, with longer fallow periods