YIIFSWA-II staff and Dr. Mercy Diebiru-Ojo at the Exhibition

The Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa, Phase II (YIIFSWA-II) project participated in the joint public presentation on value addition and crop variety display by the Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed Systems, Phase 2 (BASICS-II), and Sano Foods.

The event was designed to make a case for utilizing biofortified crops, i.e., orange flesh sweet potato, cassava, and maize, to produce value-added products like bread and much more to nourish the Nigerian population. IITA also promoted the importance of varietal development, and the distribution of quality improved released varieties.

Although IITA is yet to develop yellow or orange flesh yam, YIIFSWA-II was invited through GoSeed to participate in the event. At the opening, Dr. Norbert Maroya, Project’s Leader, ably represented Dr. Morufat Balogun, highlighted in his goodwill message the achievement of the YIIFSWA-II projects in establishing a formal seed system for yam in Ghana and Nigeria through the introduction of High Ratio Propagation Technologies (HRPTs) developed in YIIFSWA. He also stated that “value addition begins with ensuring that quality seed is used to produce crops for processing. Without seed, farmers cannot cultivate crops for processing; therefore, ensuring the seed security of major crops is paramount for value chain development.”

Farmers crowd YIIFSWA-II Stand during the exhibition.

During the exhibition, YIIFSWA-II showcased some of the HRPTs used to produce the planting materials on display for processors, farmers, and other stakeholders to see and interact with the team on producing quality seed yam. It should be noted that YIIFSWA-II will be working with IITA GoSeed Ltd to ensure the sustainable supply of Early Generation Seed (EGS) to stakeholders as the project nears its end.