Breeding for impact: perspectives on gender-responsive cassava breeding in Nigeria

Crop breeding for improved varieties, able to withstand climatic variability, pests and diseases, as well as to meet food and market demands, has the potential to greatly improve the livelihoods of rural smallholders. However, the development of new varieties alone is not enough; they must also be demanded and cultivated by smallholder farmers. Increasingly participatory methods have allowed farmers to play a greater role in the decision-making process shaping the crop breeding agenda. Nevertheless, gender-specific preferences for traits, including cooking and processing characteristics, are often not determined until the final stages of variety evaluation or release, and even then, seldom prioritized - impacting adoption rates. Using the case study of cassava in Nigeria, this research aimed to analyze researchers' perspectives on gender-responsive breeding, as well as the extent to which integrating women's needs into the dissemination and marketing process can have a positive impact on empowerment pathways. The literature review and key informant interviews suggest that engaging both women and men regarding new cassava variety traits, and accounting for their differentiated needs and preferences in "product profiles", has the potential to better meet farmers' demands and thus, increase adoption rates of released varieties. Further research and collaboration are required to systematically develop product profiles that are gender-specific to enable inclusive agricultural transformation.