The Cassava Mechanisation and Agro-Processing Project (CAMAP) is intensifying efforts to improve the livelihood of about 3.5 million cassava farmers in sub-Saharan Africa through provision of production technologies and other supports that make farming attractive and profitable.
Disclosing this to newsmen in an interview in Abuja, the Nigeria Country Coordinator of CAMAP, Mr Abu Umaru, said the project which targets eight countries has since taken off in Nigeria, Zambia and Uganda and will also be implemented in Angola, Ghana and Liberia, among others.
“CAMAP is a Public-Private Partnership coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and its activities are supported with funding from UK aid from the UK government. In Nigeria, it is being implemented in four states; Osun, Ogun, Kogi and Kwara and now moving to Oyo state,” the Coordinator stated.
According to him, a total of 553 cassava farmers have benefited in the four states, while 322 beneficiaries have already been identified in Oyo state where about 1,000 hectares have been earmarked for cultivation.
“A total of about 3,000 hectares have been cultivated between 2013 and 2015 with average yield of 28 to 30 tons per hectare as against the previous low yield of about 10 tons per hectare.
“We bring the farmers together on the same farm for easy mechanisation and support each farmer in the initial year with four bags of fertilizer per hectare, 50 bundles of cassava stems per hectare and six litres of pre and post emergence herbicides,” he disclosed.
He added that the project acquired mechanised cassava planter, which also applies fertilizer while planting, and mechanised cassava harvester among other equipment to assist the farmers, saying that the mechanised system will attract youths into farming.
“In 2014, a ton of cassava was bought from the farmers at ₦16, 000, while in 2015, it was sold at ₦13,000 and the farmers made reasonable profits. We arrange transportation for them through partnership with transport owners among others,” he noted.
One of the beneficiaries from Osun state, Chief Solomon Oyerinde, told Daily Trust in an interview that the project has greatly assisted them and provided solution to cassava glut as farmers participating in the project sell all their produce to the processors for industrial use.
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