University of Greenwich announces grant from Gates Foundation
30 April 2008
Ghana
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has backed the initiative with a $13.1 million grant. This is one of two projects announced today that the foundation is funding to support cassava producers in Africa, most of whom are women.
The University of Greenwich project will link more than 90,000 smallholders to national and international markets by turning their main crop, cassava, into processed flour which can be sold at a premium price. Each household is expected to earn an additional $190 a year by 2012; currently they live on average incomes of less than a dollar a day.
Professor Andrew Westby, University of Greenwich, is Project Director of “Cassava Adding Value for Africa” (C:AVA). He says: “Around 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, many in rural areas, live on terribly low incomes. But cassava has the potential to significantly reduce their poverty; and we expect that by connecting farmers to new markets we can help them increase their incomes and change their lives.”
A starchy root crop, cassava is a major staple food in Africa. As it has a short shelf-life and is difficult to transport, prices are generally low. However, as cassava is drought resistant and can be planted on poor soils and grows well without fertilisers or pesticides, it is grown widely by some of the world’s poorest farmers. Cassava is a particularly critical crop in Sub-Saharan African, where millions depend on it for food security.
The project will help to develop the market for high quality cassava flour as a partial replacement for wheat flour in bakery products, other food products or in the commercial manufacture of products, such as plywood and paperboard. The new project will enable farming households to process their cassava, by grating and drying it, and so adding value at the household level. Women are expected to specifically benefit from the initiative.
Dr Lateef Sanni of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Country Manager for Nigeria, comments: “Basic food prices in Nigeria and other Africa countries have rocketed in the past 12 months, squeezing the household budgets of many consumers. Partially replacing wheat flour with cassava flour is a win-win intervention, which will benefit both consumers and the local farming households who produce it.”
One of project’s major innovations is the idea of supporting small and medium scale companies in the private sector to fill a key role in the supply chain: they will buy the dried cassava from farmers, turn it into flour and market it to manufacturers. A network of local organisations will support this process, involving non-governmental agencies, research institutes, chambers of commerce and others. The principal partners in each country are national leaders in cassava commercialisation activities: Food Research Institute (Ghana), University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Nigeria), Africa Innovations Institute (Uganda), Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (Tanzania) and Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Malawi). Together these local and national partners will ensure the long-term viability of the initiative, beyond the end of the project, expanding it to involve more farmers in more areas.
“Cassava is key to maintaining food security in Sub-Saharan Africa and it also presents important market opportunities to replace imported starches and flours,” said Dr. Rajiv Shah, director of agricultural development for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Development Programme. “We hope this public-private partnership will help develop a sustainable market for cassava so small farmers can market their crops, improve their incomes, and lead healthy and productive lives.”
The foundation’s Agricultural Development Initiative is working with a wide range of partners to provide millions of small farmers in the developing world, most of whom are women, with tools and opportunities to boost their productivity, increase their incomes and build better lives for themselves and their families. The foundation invests in efforts across the entire agricultural value chain, from seeds and soil to farm management and market access.
In parallel with this project, the foundation is supporting an initiative led by the US-based development organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support the supply of disease-resistant planting material to millions of farmers in the Great Lakes area of East and Central Africa, where cassava mosaic disease and cassava brown streak are decimating production. The two projects will collaborate in some geographical areas, including Tanzania and Uganda, and share technical information, methods and approaches to benefit women farmers.
The C:AVA initiative follows a series of successful pilot projects by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich and partners supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission.
Professor Tom Barnes, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) at the University of Greenwich, adds: “This is an ambitious initiative which will make a big difference to the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. We look forward to working with very experienced partners in Africa and with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, building on the success of previous work in this field.”
NRI is an internationally renowned multi-disciplinary centre that carries out research, development and capacity-strengthening activities in support of sustainable development. The institute has extensive experience of working in partnership with African organisations on agricultural development, food processing and marketing and social development issues.
The University of Greenwich project will link more than 90,000 smallholders to national and international markets by turning their main crop, cassava, into processed flour which can be sold at a premium price. Each household is expected to earn an additional $190 a year by 2012; currently they live on average incomes of less than a dollar a day.
Professor Andrew Westby, University of Greenwich, is Project Director of “Cassava Adding Value for Africa” (C:AVA). He says: “Around 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, many in rural areas, live on terribly low incomes. But cassava has the potential to significantly reduce their poverty; and we expect that by connecting farmers to new markets we can help them increase their incomes and change their lives.”
A starchy root crop, cassava is a major staple food in Africa. As it has a short shelf-life and is difficult to transport, prices are generally low. However, as cassava is drought resistant and can be planted on poor soils and grows well without fertilisers or pesticides, it is grown widely by some of the world’s poorest farmers. Cassava is a particularly critical crop in Sub-Saharan African, where millions depend on it for food security.
The project will help to develop the market for high quality cassava flour as a partial replacement for wheat flour in bakery products, other food products or in the commercial manufacture of products, such as plywood and paperboard. The new project will enable farming households to process their cassava, by grating and drying it, and so adding value at the household level. Women are expected to specifically benefit from the initiative.
Dr Lateef Sanni of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Country Manager for Nigeria, comments: “Basic food prices in Nigeria and other Africa countries have rocketed in the past 12 months, squeezing the household budgets of many consumers. Partially replacing wheat flour with cassava flour is a win-win intervention, which will benefit both consumers and the local farming households who produce it.”
One of project’s major innovations is the idea of supporting small and medium scale companies in the private sector to fill a key role in the supply chain: they will buy the dried cassava from farmers, turn it into flour and market it to manufacturers. A network of local organisations will support this process, involving non-governmental agencies, research institutes, chambers of commerce and others. The principal partners in each country are national leaders in cassava commercialisation activities: Food Research Institute (Ghana), University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Nigeria), Africa Innovations Institute (Uganda), Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (Tanzania) and Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Malawi). Together these local and national partners will ensure the long-term viability of the initiative, beyond the end of the project, expanding it to involve more farmers in more areas.
“Cassava is key to maintaining food security in Sub-Saharan Africa and it also presents important market opportunities to replace imported starches and flours,” said Dr. Rajiv Shah, director of agricultural development for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Development Programme. “We hope this public-private partnership will help develop a sustainable market for cassava so small farmers can market their crops, improve their incomes, and lead healthy and productive lives.”
The foundation’s Agricultural Development Initiative is working with a wide range of partners to provide millions of small farmers in the developing world, most of whom are women, with tools and opportunities to boost their productivity, increase their incomes and build better lives for themselves and their families. The foundation invests in efforts across the entire agricultural value chain, from seeds and soil to farm management and market access.
In parallel with this project, the foundation is supporting an initiative led by the US-based development organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support the supply of disease-resistant planting material to millions of farmers in the Great Lakes area of East and Central Africa, where cassava mosaic disease and cassava brown streak are decimating production. The two projects will collaborate in some geographical areas, including Tanzania and Uganda, and share technical information, methods and approaches to benefit women farmers.
The C:AVA initiative follows a series of successful pilot projects by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich and partners supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission.
Professor Tom Barnes, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) at the University of Greenwich, adds: “This is an ambitious initiative which will make a big difference to the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. We look forward to working with very experienced partners in Africa and with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, building on the success of previous work in this field.”
NRI is an internationally renowned multi-disciplinary centre that carries out research, development and capacity-strengthening activities in support of sustainable development. The institute has extensive experience of working in partnership with African organisations on agricultural development, food processing and marketing and social development issues.