New nutritious vitamin-A cassava varieties released in Nigeria

Nigerian farmers and households can now grow and eat more nutritious cassava following the release o…

Nigerian farmers and households can now grow and eat more nutritious cassava following the release of three new varieties that are richer in vitamin A than similarly bio-fortified varieties introduced three years ago. The new varieties contain higher amounts of beta-carotene, the substance that the body converts to vitamin A, and are at least six times more nutritious than the common white-fleshed cassava.

They were developed by scientists from the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). HarvestPlus and the Cassava Transformation Agenda of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provided financial support.

“We are excited about these new cassava varieties and their potential to contribute to improved nutritional status among Nigerians, particularly among children and women,” says Paul Ilona, Nigeria Country Manager, HarvestPlus. “We applaud the breakthrough worked by NRCRI and IITA, and remain committed to our partnership to develop and disseminate nutritious cassava varieties to reach more and more Nigerians in the coming years.”

Nearly one in three Nigerian children under five and one-quarter of all pregnant women in the country are vitamin- A deficient. The newly released vitamin-A cassava varieties can provide up to 40 per cent of the vitamin A recommended daily allowance for children under five.

They are 25 per cent richer in beta-carotene than the first set of vitamin-A cassava varieties released in 2011, which are being grown by over 250,000 Nigerian farmers. The newer improved varieties are expected to gradually replace the earlier ones. In addition to their higher beta-carotene content, the vitamin-A cassava varieties boast of improved pest- and disease-resistant traits and are high yielding.

They were all developed through conventional breeding in a novel process called bio-fortification.

HarvestPlus and partners expect to reach more than 350,000 Nigerian households with vitamin-A cassava in 2014 alone through an innovative e-market system.