Daily Triumph - Kano,Nigeria-Nigeria Jan. 21, 2009
(Cassava News) Nigeria and China have signed a multi-billion naira technical cooperation agreement on the development of cassava in Nigeria, Mr James Awoniyi, an agronomist, has announced. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that the agreement, tagged: ``Nigerian/Chinese Centre (NC3)'' was aimed at assisting Nigeria develop its cassava value chain.
Awoniyi said the five-year agreement, under the Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) initiative, was also targeted at the development of cassava plantations and creating employment opportunities for Nigerians.``It is estimated that more than 80 per cent of cassava in Nigeria is wasted in production and post-harvest activities. ``To save the future of the crop, there is need for improvement in its value chain through increased yield, processing and marketing,’’ he said.
Awoniyi said that under the agreement, cassava resource institutes would be established in all the cassava producing areas of the country, where problems militating against the development of the crop would be attended to.
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