WAAPP, FUNAAB discover yellow-fleshed cassava to fight Vitamin A deficiency in Nigeria

In an effort to fight Vitamin A deficiency in developing countries like Nigeria, a World Bank-supported West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) have discovered uncommon yellow-fleshed cassava, rich in beta-carotene that will provide Vitamin A abundantly, in Nigerians’ diets.

The discovery of beta-carotene cassava tubers was achieved through a N10 million Cassava Multiplication Project funded by West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) for which Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (WAAPP) provided technical supports and field supervision, thereby making it possible for farmers to access the cassava cuttings.

According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the deficiency of Vitamin A, which is important for growth and maintenance of the immune system and good vision, claims lives of 670,000 children under five annually in the whole world and is responsible for childhood and adulthood blindless in developing countries of the world.

It states further that the deficiency of Vitamin A, which causes diarrhea, cholera, malaria, mostly for children and creates eye disorders, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD, glaucoma and cataracts for adults, is responsible for approximately 250,000 – 500,000 children who become blind each year in developing countries.

Consequently, Akin Omotayo, professor and co-ordinator of the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme for the Cassava Multiplication Project at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, said that WAAPP and FUNAAB had discovered beta-carotene cassava to cater for adequate supply of Vitamin A in the diets of Nigerians and West Africans.

He said, “Yellow-fleshed cassava contains Vitamin A. It has been found nationwide that, there this is a huge deficiency of Vitamin A in the diets of many people, particularly, in the rural area.

“Yellow-fleshed cassava provides a large quantity of Vitamin A and since cassava and cassava products remain very important staples among households everywhere in Nigeria. So, one of the ways to fight Vitamin A deficiency is to introduce this cassava into the staple foods of Nigerians and that is what has been done with the introduction of beta-carotene cassava.”

He also added that the yellow-fleshed cassava would attract a premium price from the people of the South-eastern part of Nigeria, who place high priority on coloured garri (cassava flour) in addition to the primary function that bases on the supply of Vitamin A.

He said, “Besides, a lot of people, particularly in the South-eastern part of the country like yellow garri, they use palm oil to colour it and you find out in the market that yellow garri attracts a premium price. But, this one is naturally yellow, it comes like that and because of the fortification with Vitamin A, it’s superior to the varieties that we are familiar with locally.”

Meanwhile, Abiodun Adeola, a doctoral degree holder and researcher at the Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR), an agency in FUNAAB has won a grant of N10.2 million from WAAPP on a research, he undertook on the fortification of children’s diets with yellow-fleshed cassava to supply Vitamin A.

Adeola won the grant on a a beta-carotene improved nutrition research project he carried out recently which was entitled “Improving Child Nutrition in Nigeria Using Yellow-fleshed Cassava/Sorghum-based Complementary Food.”

RAZAQ AYINLA