Tropentag 2021, September 15 - 17, hybrid conference, Germany "Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future"

Enhancing the Participation of Women Groups in Agriculture While Improving their Livelihood through the Promotion of High Quality Cassava Peels (HQCP) in Nigeria

APIN Public Health Initiative, Nigeria

Abstract

Cassava is one of the most important perennial agricultural food crops in West Africa with Nigeria being the largest producer in the world harvesting over 59Million tonnes and generating 14million a tonne peels annually. About 90% of the total production is used for human consumption. Women are the key players in the processing and marketing of cassava. In Nigeria, cassava peels tend to end up on dumping sites thereby leading to considerable environmental pollution and most of these cassava processors and women groups lack the technical know-how on how to add value to cassava peels which would have in turn be an additional stream of incomes for them. There is however an opportunity to close the nutrient gap through conversion of waste peels into usable livestock feed which will in turn help to mitigate environmental damage as well as also providing additional source of income to women groups in agriculture if the waste are put into good use. High Quality Cassava Peels is the process of turning Waste(Cassava Peels) into the business of Livestock and Animal's Feed, as a replacement for Corn / Wheat /Grain in Feed Mill productions as well as minimising the hazard caused by environmental pollution through the heap of cassava peels / waste visible all around our cassava value chain industries. However, as a result of the value that has been added to it, when this waste product is processed, the value addition increases the price per pack thereby resulting to enormous financial gain for the people and of course, a ripple effect on the economy. The HQCP if fully harnessed will however hugely subsidise the dependent on maize for animal feeds and thus reduce the competition between livestock and human. This initiative will go a long way in helping women groups have sustainable additional streams of income as well as reducing environmental pollution caused by accumulated cassava peels at dump sites.

Keywords: Cassava peels, Nigeria, women groups

Contact Address: Taiwo Oluwaseun Ayinde, APIN Public Health Initiative, Abeokuta, Nigeria, e-mail: taiwodisu2gmail.com