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SLE study results presented at 4th International Cassava Conference in Cotonou, Benin

Last week the 4th International Cassava Conference of the Global Cassava Partnership of the 21st century (GCP21) took place in Cotonou, Benin. Supported by the SLE Freunde und Förderverein e.V., former SLE participant Peggy Günther, presented parts of the results from the overseas project on cassava value chains in Malawi.

The International Cassava Conference is held every 3 years and represents a unique opportunity for exchange of scientific, technical, agricultural and industrial information about the fourth most important crop worldwide - cassava. This years' topic "Cassava transformation in Africa", emphasizes its importance as a staple food of the African continent. Cassava is being produced on roughly 24 million hectares in 105 countries worldwide, and over the past 20 years was the crop increasing the most, in relative production. For 5 days more than 450 participants met to exchange the latest news on cassava research and development. The conference programme covered all major topics - from Seed Systems across Gene Discovery Platforms & Biotechnology, Nutrition & Food Safety, Value Addition for Feed, Food and Industry to Acceptance, Markets, Economics & Policy. Besides plenary, poster and concurrent sessions, an attractive side programme including a photo exhibition of cassava around the world, tasting of several regional dishes made from the starchy root and its nutritious leaves as well as music and dances was on offer. In addition, a field trip to cassava fields and gari markets was organized.

SLE alumni Peggy Günther orally presented "Cassava in Malawi - traditional staple food or new cash crop? Exploring the impact of gender on decision-making of smallholders" within the session on Gender & Youth. Her presentation git the award best presentation of the session.

The conceptual approach and innovative method chosen to explore the decision-making were very well received by a full audience. While the overall SLE study dealt with agricultural innovations in cassava value chains, the presentation focussed on the gender dimension of cassava farming in Malawi. Last year, the overseas project was carried out on behalf of GIZ-BEAF in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical agriculture (IITA Malawi), which is the leading agricultural research institute for cassava breeding as well as the GIZ Green Innovation Centre Malawi. GIZ especially supports smallholders in their efforts to cultivate new cassava varieties which can be utilized in many ways - for home consumption as well as for commercial purpose. As cassava can be both a food and a cash crop, traditional gender roles are attached to it. Generally speaking, male farmers are associated with cash crops, due to their responsibility to generate income, while female farmers are associated with subsistence crops of low economic value, tasked to utilize them for home consumption. Even though the study confirms that traditional gender roles persist in Malawian farm households, their aspirations regarding value chain participation were found to be similar. Both female and male smallholder farmers expressed great willingness to commercialize their cassava production. However, they face substantial challenges mainly due to their limited asset endowment and the absence of a supporting environment. Recommendations on how to overcome these challenges can be found in the full SLE study.