Integrating agribusiness along the value chains could facilitate the adoption of innovations among small-scale farmers and in turn help improve their livelihoods, says Dr Gbassey Tarawali, Representative of the Director General & Deputy Director General (Partnerships & Capacity Development) in Abuja.While giving his contract review on “Exploring Agribusiness Opportunities in the Cassava Value Chain through Public-Private-Partnerships for Food Security and Improved Livelihoods,” Dr Tarawali argued that only the inclusion of business elements in agriculture could guarantee sustainability.
“Agribusiness,” he said, “offers realistic opportunities for food security, job and wealth creation for young people.”
He noted that interventions to resource-poor farmers should go beyond lifting them out of subsistence farming to building their capacities to generate wealth and create jobs.
Dr Tarawali also underscored the need for greater cooperation between IITA and the players in the public and private sectors, stressing that the challenge to food security could not be addressed by one organization.
He also reviewed his accomplishments, challenges and future plans, while serving IITA as the Head of Onne/Abuja stations, Representative of the Director General & Deputy Director General in Abuja; a member of the of the IITA Youth Agripreneurs project and also Project Coordinator of the Cassava Value Chain project.
He highlighted the successes recorded by the projects: IITA-WASCO and IITA-Nestlé (both projects under his management), the challenges and lessons learnt for the future dissemination of IITA’s technologies, especially in cassava.
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