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

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