Call for paper – Innovative treatment and presentation of cassava stems for increasing sales

The Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Seed System for Cassava in Nigeria (BASICS) project is calling for submission of inventive proposals on “Innovative treatment and presentation of cassava stems for increasing sales”.

BASICS is a new project that aims to develop a sustainable cassava seed value chain in Nigeria, characterized by the commercial production and dissemination of improved planting material. This seed value chain will serve as a vehicle to deliver better quality and more productive varieties, and enable more efficient dissemination and adoption of new varieties to improve the overall productivity and food security, increase incomes of cassava growers, processors, and village seed entrepreneurs, and enhance gender equity. The project envisages benefits to farmers and industry through higher returns from the use of clean planting material of superior stem quality that are made accessible to farmers at the right time and at an appropriate price.

This competition invites innovative ideas to ensure that “products” get the attention of the market. Participants are invited to submit their proposal (maximum 3 pages) on how to make a bundle of improved/certified stem of cassava more saleable to the farmers on a large scale. The proposal needs to have the following segments:

• Contact details and a brief profile
• Cassava stem bundle treatment, packaging, labeling, and handling proposal
• Overall additional cost per bundle of 50 one-meter stem cuttings
• What attributes will entice the farmers to pay a higher price and come back as a repeat buyer or become an advocate for it?

Any individual or a group of individuals or an institute who has the ability to demonstrate the proposal in Nigeria is eligible to participate.

The prize includes a $1,000 cash prize for the best proposal, a Certificate of Appreciation for the top three proposals; and $5,000 for implementing a pilot project as a part of the BASICS project.

The entries will be judged based on attractiveness of the proposed presentation of the stems, practicality of the proposal, ease of availability of additional inputs being suggested, ease of handling of the bundle, tamper proof certification tagging of the bundle, overall cost and value for money considerations, etc.

The entries should not be more than three pages long. The committee may seek more information at an appropriate time, if required.

All entries and enquiries should be emailed to h.nitturkar@cgiar.org by 25 July 2016.