People tend to overlook the “small” and “insignificant”, focusing more on the “big” and “obvious”. In economic development, micro-businesses often receive less attention and access to growth-enhancing support facilities. Their contribution is also often undervalued.

Until recently in Nigeria, when people discussed economic development, they mainly talked about the oil and natural gas industries. These industries account for nearly 100% of earnings and more than 80% of government revenues¹ and they receive all the inputs and attention. Small-scale agriculture and agriculture-based enterprises are hardly ever talked about, as if they contribute very little to economic development. And yet agriculture still provides more than 60% of employment.

During the last 3-5 years, cassava has joined oil in the headlines. Because it is a highly important element in the Nigerian diet, growing cassava is embedded in the daily routine in many rural areas and city suburbs. For many years, it was considered a woman’s subsistence crop. Things changed when the Presidential Initiative on Cassava was introduced early in 2002 by then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. A directive of the Federal government followed instructing bakers to include 10% cassava flour in the production of bread and confectionery. Two years later, the directive urged flour millers to buy high quality cassava flour from local processors. This has encouraged both farmers and processors to produce large volumes of this good quality cassava flour.

In line with the Cassava Presidential Initiative, IITA implemented the Integrated Cassava Project (ICP). Through its two subprograms, the Preemptive Management of Cassava Mosaic Disease Project (CMDP) and the Cassava Enterprise Development Project (CEDP), ICP aims to reduce the impact of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and increase productivity in 11 states in the south-south and southeast of Nigeria. The project benefits farmers, many of them smallholders, and small and medium cassava-processing enterprises (SMEs).

Through strong partnerships with the government, private sector, and farmers, the project deployed and tested 40 new cassava varieties to counter the threat of CMD and increase yield. Usually it takes 6-8 years to release a new variety in Nigeria, but in agreement with various partners, ICP adopted a participatory approach that led to the official release of 10 new varieties in just 2 years.

This had dramatic results. A disease monitoring field survey in 2006 found no severe forms of CMD, and 10-30% of fields were completely free. A similar survey in 2007 showed that disease incidence in fields with mixed virus infections on the same plants had dropped by 20%. The two variants of CMD can recombine to form the virulent Ugandan mosaic virus.²

The Project continues to distribute planting materials of these varieties. Recorded yields were impressive, averaging 25.6 t/ha, a significant increase over the 12 t/ha from traditional varieties. Some beneficiaries got even higher yields at 30-50 t/ha.

CEDP was implemented in 2004 to increase economic opportunities through sustainable and competitive cassava production, processing, marketing, and enterprise development. It links farmers to processors and facilitates processors’ access to basic technologies and markets. It provides training on production and business development services, such as planning, record keeping, pricing, developing market linkages, sanitation and hygiene, and machine maintenance.

On the production side, nearly 250,000 farmers have benefited so far. They were trained on proper farm management and rapid multiplication techniques. Farmers succeeded in rapidly multiplying the planting materials and are gaining from increased income from greater production and sales and by selling cassava stems as well. In support and to provide a means of employment and income, a group of young people has been trained on proper weed control techniques to provide service whenever needed.

Other beneficiaries are the processors, including the mobile graters, microprocessing centers (MPCs), and the SMEs, which serve as market outlets to farmers.

Cassava is bulky and heavy. With the mobile grating service, women were able to save time and labor for other productive activities. The project created employment and income for the beneficiaries, mostly youths.

The MPCs, which are equipped with more facilities, can produce 1 t/day with basic equipment such as a grater, press, sieve (manual or motorized), and fryers. Owned mostly by cooperatives and women’s associations, the MPCs produce value-added cassava products for sale, and provide service—grating, pressing, or frying—to the public.

SMEs produce value-added cassava products. They have processing equipment similar to that in the MPCs but usually of higher capacity or more sophistication, such as flash and rotary driers. CEDP provided only a few of the machines for the MPCs and SMEs. The beneficiaries acquired most of them from more than 20 machine fabricators who had been trained by IITA and are now manufacturing machines of better quality and efficiency.

In collaboration with partners, especially the Agricultural Development Program in each beneficiary-state, CEDP provided intensive training for MPCs and SMEs on producing improved and high-quality flour, odorless fufu, garri, starch, chips, and their uses for industry as well as human consumption. A recipe book was also published.

Overall, the project introduced 22 technologies for beneficiaries, generating a total gross income of US$50 million, and creating 6,000 jobs. They gained knowledge and skills in farming and business development. The cooperatives and women’s associations became stronger.

Through continuous collaboration with IITA, some of the SMEs have scaled up their farm production. Now Nigeria has factories producing glucose syrup, ethanol, adhesives, and starch, all using cassava raw material and assisted by ICP.

These enterprises may be small, but with assistance and opportunity, the small could become powerful instruments of economic development.

¹ Economy of Nigeria. 2008. www.wikipedia.org.
² IITA Integrated Cassava Project. 2007.