About BASICS
Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System
Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System
Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System in Nigeria (BASICS) is a 4-year multi-partner project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with Roots Tuber Banana (RTB) of International Potato Centre (CIP) as principal recipient. The project commenced on 5th November 2015 and ended in May 2020.
The project had five components: breeder seed, village seed entrepreneur model, processor associated model, quality seed component, and project coordination and M&E. The partners in the project include, Root, Tuber and Banana (RTB), International institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Context Network (US), Fera (UK) and CRS which implemented the Village Seed Entrepreneur Model .
Our Mission
To have a crop of vibrant entrepreneurs sustainably managing profitable cassava seed businesses and satisfying the demand of farmers for quality seeds of market driven cassava varieties.
Our Vision
To sensitize and mobilize 80-120 VSEs in 18 LGAs in Benue state, with a minimum of 60 of them becoming vibrant and economically sustainable enterprises by 2019.
Our Projects
BASICS project is being implemented by a consortium of Nigerian and international partners led by the Roots Tuber Banana (RTB) of International Potato Centre (CIP)
We envision the cassava farming population becoming more and more aware of the importance of planting high quality cassava planting materials, thus leading to an increased demand for certified planting materials of improved varieties.