Plans are under way by the African Development Bank (AFDB) to invest a substantial amount into the production of a number of agricultural products in the country.

The Director for Agriculture at AFDB, Dr Martin Fregene, announced plans by the African Development Bank (AFDB) to invest $120 million in the next 2-3 years as part of efforts to boost the productivity of cassava and other eight commodities on the continent.

Speaking at the fourth International conference on cassava, organized by the Global Cassava Partnerships for the 21st Century, GCP21, in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.

He stated: “Transforming cassava on the African continent would help African nations to cut imports and redirect about $1.2bn into African domestic economies,” .

The nine commodities include: cassava, rice, maize, sorghum/millet, wheat, livestock, aquaculture, high iron beans and orange fleshed sweet potatoes.

The cassava conference was attended by more than 450 local and international partners in the cassava sector, coming from research and development organizations, government, farming community, and the private sector.

The bank’s investment in cassava comes at a time when African governments are scaling up efforts to end food imports with a view to creating wealth in their individual countries.

Dr Fregene said cassava was a strategic crop for Africa’s food security and wealth creation for youth, and women, adding that “another dimension to the importance of cassava is in nutrition where cassava can enhance the nutrition of children directly or as feed for poultry and other livestock” , with the largest volume of cassava coming from Africa, cassava supports more than 350 million people in Africa.

The Minister of Agriculture for the Republic of Benin, Dr Gaston Dossouhoui said cassava remained the cheapest staple consumed by Africans, adding that “addressing the constraints of cassava production in Africa will have a positive impact on African farmers.”

He lauded the President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akin Adesina for his commitment to investing in agriculture and cassava, in particular.

The minister also commended the GCP21 for organizing the Fourth International Conference on cassava, emphasizing that it would contribute to knowledge sharing that would help in removing the bottlenecks in the cassava sector.

Dr Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General for Partnerships for Delivery at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), said unlocking the potential of cassava required partnerships and close collaboration of partners to address the constraints facing cassava.

Dr Dashiell commended GCP21 for filling the gaps in cassava R&D by organizing a series of conferences with experts sharing knowledge of innovations in cassava.