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Background: Gari and eba, forms of cassava semolina, are mainly consumed in Nigeria and other West African countries. This study aimed to define the critical quality traits of gari and eba, to measure their heritability, to define medium and high throughput instrumental methods for use by breeders, and to link the traits with consumer preferences. The definition of a food product's profiles, including its biophysical, sensory, and textural qualities, and the identification of the characteristics that determine its acceptability, are important if new genotypes are to be adopted successfully. Results: Eighty cassava genotypes and varieties (three different sets) from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) research farm were used for the study. Participatory processing and consumer testing data on different types of gari and eba products were integrated to prioritize the traits preferred by processors and consumers. The color, sensory, and instrumental textural properties of these products were determined using standard analytical methods, and standard operating protocols (SOPs) developed by the RTBfoods project (Breeding Roots, Tubers, and Banana Products for End-user Preferences, https://rtbfoods.cirad.fr). There were significant (P

This perspective describes the opportunities and challenges of data-driven approaches for crop diversity management (genebanks and breeding) in the context of agricultural research for sustainable development in the Global South. Data-driven approaches build on larger volumes of data and flexible analyses that link different datasets across domains and disciplines. This can lead to more information-rich management of crop diversity, which can address the complex interactions between crop diversity, production environments, and socioeconomic heterogeneity and help to deliver more suitable portfolios of crop diversity to users with highly diverse demands. We describe recent efforts that illustrate the potential of data-driven approaches for crop diversity management. A continued investment in this area should fill remaining gaps and seize opportunities, including i) supporting genebanks to play a more active role in linking with farmers using data-driven approaches; ii) designing low-cost, appropriate technologies for phenotyping; iii) generating more and better gender and socioeconomic data; iv) designing information products to facilitate decision-making; and v) building more capacity in data science. Broad, well-coordinated policies and investments are needed to avoid fragmentation of such capacities and achieve coherence between domains and disciplines so that crop diversity management systems can become more effective in delivering benefits to farmers, consumers, and other users of crop diversity.

Quality phenotype and genotype data are important for the success of a breeding program. Like most programs, African breeding programs generate large multi-disciplinary phenotypic and genotypic datasets from several locations, that must be carefully managed through the use of an appropriate database management system (DBMS) in order to generate reliable and accurate information for breeding-decisions. A DBMS is essential in data collection, storage, retrieval, validation, curation and analysis in plant breeding programs to enhance the ultimate goal of increasing genetic gain. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), working on the roots, tubers and banana (RTB) crops like cassava, yam, banana and plantain has deployed a FAIR-compliant (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) database; BREEDBASE. The functionalities of this database in data management and analysis have been instrumental in achieving breeding goals. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for each breeding process have been developed to allow a cognitive walkthrough for users. This has further helped to increase the usage and enhance the acceptability of the system. The wide acceptability gained among breeders in global cassava research programs has resulted in improvements in the precision and quality of genotype and phenotype data, and subsequent improvement in achievement of breeding program goals. Several innovative gender responsive approaches and initiatives have identified users and their preferences which have informed improved customer and product profiles. A remaining bottleneck is the effective linking of data on preferences and social information of crop users with technical breeding data to make this process more effective.

This study investigated the trait preferences for cassava in the context of climate change and conflict stressors among value-chain actors in Nigeria to strengthen social inclusion and the community-resilience outcomes from breeding programs. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used to select and interview male and female value-chain participants in the Osun, Benue and Abia States. The results indicated that farmers preferred cassava traits such as drought tolerance, early bulking, multiple-product use and in-ground storability to strengthen resilience. Climate change and challenges related to social change shaped the response strategies from both genders, and influenced trait preferences, including the early re-emergence of cassava leaves, stems that had ratooning potential, and especially the root milking that was important among female respondents. The major response strategies employed by men included frequent farm visits to prevent theft and engaging in non-agricultural livelihoods. Those employed by women included backyard farming, early harvesting, having preferences for food with fewer processing steps, and depending on remittances. The resilience capacity was higher for men than for women due to their better access to assets, as well as their abilities to relocate their farms and out-migrate in search of other livelihoods. Considering gendered cassava traits, and enhancing their resilience and response strategies, can complement efforts to make breeding more socially inclusive, resilient, and anticipatory to future challenges created by climate and related social changes.

The Togo Hills borderland between Ghana and Togo is known for its cultural and ecological diversity and dynamic socio-political history. In this setting, African rice (Oryza glaberrima) is cultivat...

Within communities in Osun and Imo States of Nigeria, farmer–processors grew and processed a diverse set of improved and landrace cassava varieties into the locally popular foods, gari, eba and fufu. Local and 15 main varieties were grown in a ‘mother and baby trials’ design in each state. Mother trials with three replications were processed by farmer–processors renown in their community for their processing skills. Baby trials were managed and processed by other farmer–processors. The objective was to identify food quality criteria to inform demand‐led breeding to benefit users, especially women, given their key roles in processing. Farmer–processors evaluated the overall quality of fresh roots and derived food products through pairwise comparisons. Improved varieties had higher fresh and dry root yield. Overall, landraces ranked first for quality of gari and eba, but several improved varieties were also appreciated for good quality. Landraces in Osun had higher gari yield and a higher swelling power compared to improved varieties. Colour (browning), bulk density, swelling power, solubility and water absorption capacity were the criteria most related to food product ranking by farmer–processors. Evaluation of varieties under farmer–processors’ conditions is crucial for providing guidance to breeders on critical selection criteria., Using a socially inclusive ‘mother baby trial’ approach, farmer processors in two states in Nigeria grew and processed a diverse set of cassava varieties and evaluated the root and food product quality and provided quality criteria through pairwise ranking. This evaluation was linked to fresh roots agronomic data as well as the laboratory measurements on the food product gari to inform breeding.

Gender-responsive breeding is a new approach to making sure modern breeding takes advantage of opportunities to improve gender equality in agriculture. Conventional research on the acceptability of modern varieties has scarcely addressed gender differences during adoption studies. Gender-responsive breeding starts from a different premise that adoption and social impact will be enhanced if gender is addressed at early stages of variety design and priority setting in breeding. However, until recently, there was no concrete way to integrate gender considerations into the practice of breeding. This chapter draws lessons for the future from three RTB breeding programs innovating with gender-responsive breeding with a focus on piloting novel tools. The new G+ tools are designed to help gender researchers and breeders make joint, evidence-based decisions about the significance of gender differences for customer targeting and trait prioritization in variety development. Their piloting in the context of each program’s practice of gender-responsive breeding throws light on some valuable good practices that contributed to successful innovation.

The development and scaling out of flash-dryer innovations for more efficient, small-scale production of high-quality cassava flour (HQCF) and starch is described. The diagnoses of cassava-processing SMEs (small and medium enterprises) revealed their energy expenditures for drying were considerably higher than those of large-scale industrial companies, which was mostly due to suboptimal design of flash-drying systems. As a result, small-scale production of cassava starch and HQCF often incurs high production costs, incompatible with market prices of final products. Taking stock of this situation, RTB scientists have developed several innovations to optimize energy efficiency and costs, including a longer drying pipe, reengineered heat exchanger, larger blower for higher air velocity, and a higher product/air ratio. This was based on numerical modelling to determine the key design features of energy-efficient flash dryers, followed by construction and demonstration of a pilot-scale prototype. As a result, improved small-scale flash dryers are now being scaled out to the private sector in various countries, using the Scaling Readiness framework and achieving 10–15% gains in productivity and incomes. A method for diagnosis of process efficiency is also described, to identify technical bottlenecks and to document and measure the outcomes and impacts during the implementation of scaling-out projects.

Breeding programs are increasing efforts towards demand-led breeding approaches to ensure that cultivars released meet the needs of end users including processors, traders, and consumers, and that they are adopted by farmers. To effectively deploy these approaches, new tools are required to better understand and quantify the degree of preference differences among alternative trait changes competing for measurement and selection effort. The purpose of this study was to present a method of quantifying preferences and developing typologies according to breeding priorities by applying an online trait preference survey approach to cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). This paper presents a conjoint analysis based on Potentially All Pairwise RanKings of all possible Alternatives (PAPRIKA) to help guide breeding programs in understanding trait preferences across value chain roles and social contexts and set breeding priorities that represent diverse interests. Trait preferences were assessed using a comprehensive survey and analysis package incorporating a core adaptive conjoint method (1000minds, 2020). Trait selection was based on a trade-off of 11 cassava traits carried out with 792 cassava value chain actors in four geopolitical regions in Nigeria. Principal component and cluster analyses revealed three clusters (typologies) of respondents according to their trait preferences. The results demonstrate the usefulness of this methodology that innovates on previous trait preference approaches to address the expanding needs of plant breeding programs within smallholder contexts. © 2021 The Authors. Crop Science © 2021 Crop Science Society of America

Client-responsiveness is a foundation for effectiveness of public sector breeding programs in agriculture, aquaculture and livestock. However, there remains a considerable lack of clarity about what this means, specifically in terms of how programs can be gender-responsive. This study contributes to addressing that need. It does so through sharing higher-level insights emerging from the combined experiences of eight gendered trait preference cases from across nine countries in Asia and Africa. The cases spanned crops, fish and livestock. This study inquires into the nature of gendered trait preference information that can be generated, if there are systematic gendered preference differences and how to understand these, and implications for breeding programs seeking to be more gender-responsive. Key findings include that while not all data are immediately usable by programs, the information that is generated through mixed method, intersectional gender preference assessments usefully deepens and widens programs’ knowledge. The study evidences differences in trait preferences between women and men. It also reveals that these differences are more complex than previously thought. In doing so, it challenges binary or homogenous models of preferences, suggesting instead that preferences are likely to be overlapping and nuanced. The study applies a novel ‘Three models of gendered trait preferences’ framework and sub-framework and finds these useful in that they challenge misconceptions and enable a needed analytical nuance to inform gender-responsive breeding programs. Finally, the study highlights implications and offers a call to action for gender-responsive breeding, proposing ways forward for public breeding programs, teams and funding agencies. These include investments in interdisciplinary capabilities and considerations for navigating trade-offs while orienting to sustainable development goals.

Plantain is an important food security crop for farming households in Nigeria. This study investigates the relative importance of plantain food products and their quality descriptors from the perspective of farmers in Southern-Nigeria, to inform end-user oriented and socially inclusive breeding strategies that drive hybrid adoption. Surveys were conducted in twelve rural communities in three states in the plantain belt of Nigeria, consisting of key informant interviews, sex-disaggregated focused group discussions and individual interviews. Dodo (fried plantains), boli (roasted plantains), boiled plantain, plantain with beans and porridge were the most common food products identified in the study areas. Fruit size, pulp texture (firmness/softness), colour, maturity stage and taste were identified as the most critical characteristics, with impact on quality of processed food products. There were significant differences between states regarding the importance of plantain food products, but little interstate and gender differences for fresh fruit and food product quality characteristics. ispartof: International Journal Of Food Science And Technology vol:56 issue:3 status: Published online

High quality characteristics of cassava roots, gari and eba (coloured boxes indicate high quality characteristics for each product), Summary 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 characterised by its textural properties: smoothness, firmness, stickiness, elasticity and 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.

Considering gender in research on pests and diseases is increasingly important as it facilitates development of more efficient approaches to increasing the adoption of crop protection technologies and practices by women and men farmers according to their roles, knowledge and capacities. However, this task is often assigned to social scientists in isolation from agronomists. Meanwhile, agronomists often struggle to understand how taking a gender perspective could enrich their research. Drawing on a number of different cases from both published and unpublished field research in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, this perspective article illustrates how a gender perspective can broaden the aspects of agronomy research and thereby contribute to improving crop production and scaling up of existing technologies and practices. Its targeted audience are agronomists and development practitioners, in particular, young researchers who are central to transdisciplinary agricultural research in the future.

Two metrics widely used to measure the overall impact of breeding programs are: (i) adoption of modern varieties as a percentage of the total area under the crop, and (ii) the area‐weighted varietal age of a crop in a particular country or region, estimated as the average time since the release of varieties, weighted by the area across which they are adopted. The graph compares this data for roots tubers and bananas with other crops based on information gathered in 2010 (Walker & Alwang, 2015). The paper provides an update through case studies of varietal change in banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato and yam., Summary This review of the literature on varietal change in sub‐Saharan Africa looks in detail at adoption of new varieties of bananas in Uganda, cassava in Nigeria, potato in Kenya, sweetpotato in Uganda and yams in Côte d’Ivoire. The review explored three hypotheses about drivers of varietal change. There was a strong confirmation for the hypothesis that insufficient priority given to consumer‐preferred traits by breeding programmes contributes to the limited uptake of modern varieties (MVs) and low varietal turnover. Lack of evidence meant the second hypothesis of insufficient attention to understanding and responding to gender differences in consumer preferences for quality and post‐harvest traits was unresolved. The evidence on the third hypothesis about the informal seed system contributing to slow uptake of MVs was mixed. In some cases, the informal system has contributed to rapid uptake of MVs, but often it appears to be a barrier with inconsistent varietal naming a major challenge.

Nigeria is the world's largest cassava producer, hosting a diverse array of cassava farmers and processors. Cassava breeding programs prioritize "common denominator" traits in setting breeding agendas, to impact the largest possible number of people through improved varieties. This approach has been successful, but cassava adoption rates are less than expected, with room for improvement by integrating traits in demand by farmers and processors. This paper aims to inform breeding priority setting, by examining trait and varietal preferences of men and women cassava farmer/processors. Men and women in eight communities in Southwest and Southeast Nigeria were consulted using mixed methods. Women and men had significantly different patterns of cassava use in the Southwest. Fifty-five variety names were recorded from the communities demonstrating high genetic diversity maintained by growers, especially in the Southeast. High yield, early maturity, and root size were most important traits across both regions, while traits women and men preferred followed gender roles: women prioritized product quality/cooking traits, while men placed higher priority on agronomic traits. Trait preference patterns differed significantly between the Southeast and Southwest, and showed differentiation based on gender. Patterns of access to stem sources were determined more by region and religion than gender.

This study identified gender-based constraints affecting the production, processing and marketing of biofortified cassava in two states in Nigeria, using a mixed methods approach. The study identified major differences between the two study sites (Benue and Oyo). The scale of production of biofortified cassava is higher in Oyo state among adult men because of their active involvement and collaboration with research institutes within the state and the ease of transporting products to Lagos State for designated diverse markets. However, in Benue state more adult and young women are engaged in cultivation, processing and marketing business to meet up with the increased demand due to higher consumer acceptance in this region. Gender analysis revealed that lack of access to hired-labour restricted the scale of production among women in especially Oyo state. Low product price and high price of processing equipment, poor market infrastructure and middle men exploitation were constraints significantly more mentioned by women in general. Majorly, the men identified limited processing facilities/equipment as the most important constraint affecting the demand of biofortified cassava roots, while generally women were more constrained by the shortage of basic amenities and trainings that hindered their processing efficiency. The study proposes integration of gender-responsive strategies to further enhance the delivery of biofortified cassava products in Nigeria.

We assessed the interplay of artificial and natural selection in rice adaptation in low-input farming systems in West Africa. Using 20 morphological traits and 176 molecular markers, 182 farmer varieties of rice (Oryza spp.) from 6 West African countries were characterized. Principal component analysis showed that the four botanical groups (Oryza sativa ssp. indica, O. sativa ssp. japonica, O. glaberrima, and interspecific farmer hybrids) exhibited different patterns of morphological diversity. Regarding O. glaberrima, morphological and molecular data were in greater conformity than for the other botanical groups. A clear difference in morphological features was observed between O. glaberrima rices from the Togo hills and those from the Upper Guinea Coast, and among O. glaberrima rices from the Upper Guinea Coast. For the other three groups such clear patterns were not observed. We argue that this is because genetic diversity is shaped by different environmental and socio-cultural selection pressures. For O. glaberrima, recent socio-cultural selection pressures seemed to restrict genetic diversity while this was not observed for the other botanical groups. We also show that O. glaberrima still plays an important role in the selection practices of farmers and resulting variety development pathways. This is particularly apparent in the case of interspecific farmer hybrids where a relationship was found between pericarp colour, panicle attitude and genetic diversity. Farmer varieties are the product of long and complex trajectories of selection governed by local human agency. In effect, rice varieties have emerged that are adapted to West African farming conditions through genotype × environment × society interactions. The diversity farmers maintain in their rice varieties is understood to be part of a risk-spreading strategy that also facilitates successful and often serendipitous variety innovations. We advocate, therefore, that farmers and farmer varieties should be more effectively involved in crop development.

This chapter describes how rice farmers in Africa innovate, select and match technologies to local environmental conditions, considering optimum interactions of technologies with agroecological, socio-economic and cultural factors.

Rice breeding and crop research predominantly emphasize adaptation to ecological conditions. Based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted between 2000 and 2012 we show how ecological factors, combined with socioeconomic variables, cultural norms and values, shape the use and development of local technologies related to the cultivation of African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) in seven West African countries (Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo). In this region the role of African rice is diverse across ethnic groups. Findings suggest that farmers, through various pathways, are active in the development of promising new varieties based on genetic resources of Asian rice, African rice, or both, as well as in the adoption of modern varieties. These findings require further research into interactions among ecological, genetic, socioeconomic and cultural factors within farmers’ innovation systems and recognition of emergent knowledge and technologies resulting from such interactions.

In West Africa two rice species (Oryza glaberrima Steud. and Oryza sativa L.) co-exist. Although originally it was thought that interspecific hybridization is impossible without biotechnological methods, progenies of hybridization appear to occur in farmer fields. AFLP analysis was used to assess genetic diversity in West Africa (including the countries The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Togo) using 315 rice samples morphologically classified prior to analysis. We show evidence for farmer interspecific hybrids of African and Asian rice, resulting in a group of novel genotypes, and identify possible mechanisms for in-field hybridization. Spontaneous back-crossing events play a crucial role, resulting in different groups of genetic diversity in different regions developed by natural and cultural selection, often under adverse conditions. These new groups of genotypes may have potential relevance for exploitation by plant breeders. Future advances in crop development could be achieved through co-operation between scientists and marginalized farmer groups in order to address challenges of rapid adaptation in a world of increasing socio-political and climatic uncertainty.