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