CGIAR Gender News

IITA Zero Hunger Project empowers women and youth in nutrition and agripreneurship in Ogun State

Guinea - Rural Women's Cooperative Generates Income and Improves Community Life

Photo: UN Women/Joe Saade.

Fifteen extension Agents, food processors, and food entrepreneurs in Ogun State have been trained as trainers on nutrition and agripreneurship, with particular emphasis on the vitamin A cassava variety.

IITA’s Zero Hunger Initiative (IITA-ZHI) project conducted the 5-day intensive training in partnership with the Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB)) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development Value Chain Development Programme (IFAD-VCDP) from 5 to 9 December at the FUNAAB Cassava Processing Centre in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Resource persons for the training included IITA-ZHI Project Training Manager Bolanle Olorode, IITA Food and Nutrition Research Associate Greg Nwaoliwe, and four staff of FUNAAB’s Department of Food Science and Technology. The cassava value-addition course included:

  • An overview of cassava as a multipurpose crop
  • The role of value addition in diversifying products from cassava
  • Production techniques for making high-quality cassava flour (HQCF), yellow cassava garri, yellow cassava fufu, Casstard™, moi-moi, puff-puff, Combo bits, and peanut burger

IITA-ZHI Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager, Oyewale Abioye, facilitated an Agripreneurship session in which he emphasized :

  • Understanding leadership
  • Gender balancing in leadership
  • Required skills in leadership
  • Organizational and community leadership
  • Mentorship