CassQual: Cassava Seed Quality Management system

Enhancing cassava productivity through healthy planting material

This technology leverages regulatory oversight, digital innovation, and community empowerment to ensure cassava seed quality. National certification bodies conduct inspections at higher levels, while local producers engage in quality-declared seed production. The system includes phytosanitary practices, roguing, and use of tools like PlantVillage Nuru for pest and disease diagnosis. Seed Tracker supports registration and tracking, and labeling improves transparency.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•9

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 9/9

The poor: Positive high

The technology is strongly beneficial for the poor, for whom cassava is a key source of food and income

Women: No impact

The technology is gender neutral

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Cassava is known to be one of the most climate resilient crops

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Boosting cassava productivity is an excellent way to adapt to potential climate change impacts and cassava is less likely to be negatively impacted than other crops

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Greater land productivity can enhance land use efficiency which prevents increases in carbon emissions

Biodiversity: Not verified

Not verified

Environmental health: Not verified

Not verified

Soil quality: Not yet estimated

Not yet estimated

Problem

Low productivity due to poor-quality seed: Farmers using infected or recycled seed experience significantly reduced harvests.
Scalability challenges in seed systems: Cassava lacks the kind of widespread, affordable certification systems available to cereals.
Inadequate access to clean planting material: Remote and underserved areas often rely on informal seed channels.
Limited income generation for rural actors: Without access to certification, rural seed entrepreneurs miss out on profitable markets.
Gender and youth exclusion: Women and youth are often left out of formal seed systems due to high entry barriers and lack of support.

Solution

National seed systems that promote clean seed access: Improve food security by supporting widespread access to certified, high-yielding varieties.
Scalable QDS approaches for inclusivity: Empower rural communities, including women and youth, to participate in seed production.
Use of mobile and digital platforms: Tools help identify diseased plants, record certification data, and support extension services.
Creation of rural employment opportunities: Seed enterprises generate income and create jobs at multiple value chain levels.
Strengthening cassava value chains: High-quality, traceable seed enhances farmer productivity and resilience to climate shocks and disease outbreaks.

Key points to design your program

Of course, Béata. Here’s a version of the text tailored for development institutions, with a focus on impact, scalability, inclusion, and alignment with development goals:

The Cassava Seed Quality Management System is a proven, scalable solution that development institutions can integrate into agricultural programs to boost food security, climate resilience, and rural livelihoods. By ensuring access to certified, disease-free planting material, the system enhances productivity and reduces yield losses, particularly for smallholder farmers. It directly contributes to SDGs 1 and 2, while reinforcing national agricultural strategies.

To incorporate this technology into development programs, institutions should:

Understand the framework—including seed classes, certification protocols, and institutional roles—to align project design with national systems.
Support policy alignment by facilitating the integration of cassava into formal seed certification frameworks at national and sub-national levels.
Invest in guideline development and capacity building, using tested models (e.g., from Nigeria or Tanzania) and training programs for regulatory and field-level actors.
Convene stakeholders through participatory workshops to ensure local relevance, ownership, and gender-responsive approaches.
Promote inclusive training for seed inspectors and QDS producers, including women and youth, to strengthen local seed systems.
Establish learning sites and demonstration plots to create visibility and uptake of certified cassava seed.
Deploy digital tools such as Seed Tracker™ and PlantVillage Nuru to ensure traceability, diagnostics, and data-driven decision-making.
Set up robust monitoring frameworks to track progress, outcomes, and impact, using both quantitative and feedback-based indicators.

Adopting this system can help development programs scale their impact efficiently, while building resilient, inclusive, and market-responsive seed systems across Africa.

251,400 USD

To set up the system

916 %

ROI calculated for a scenario involving 300 seed producers

60,000 USD

Annual monitoring cost

25,000 USD

Annual certification costs

135 %

Yield increased

IP

Open source / open access

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid	–	–	–	–
Semiarid	–	–	–	–
Subhumid		–
Humid		–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

Its contributes to poverty reduction

Goal 2: zero hunger

Its contributes to reducing hunger

1. Baseline Assessment: Evaluate the current cassava seed system to determine:

- Availability of registered, market-preferred, and disease-resistant varieties.
- Capacity of the regulatory agency.
- Existence of cassava certification guidelines.
- Prevalence and impact of CMD and CBSD.
- Adaptability of existing e-certification systems for cassava.

2. Design/Modification of Certification Guidelines: Develop or adapt certification guidelines using successful models:

- In West Africa (where CBSD is absent), Nigeria's guidelines serve as a suitable model.
- In East, Central, and Southern Africa (where CBSD is present), Tanzania's guidelines are effective.

3. Update National Seed Policy: If cassava certification is new, collaborate with stakeholders to validate guidelines and incorporate them into national seed regulations.

4. Train Seed Inspection Officers: Provide training on cassava field certification procedures, including disease recognition (CMD and CBSD), and develop strategies to train community-level or QDS producers in self-certification.

5. Certification Labelling: Design electronic labels for each cassava seed category and distribute them to seed producers post successful certification inspections.

6. Digital Monitoring: Implement or adapt digital systems (e.g., Seed Tracker™) for managing cassava seed field registration and certification.

7. Roll Out: Launch the certification system, starting with higher seed classes. Gather user feedback and invest in the system through strategic support, similar to other major staples like maize.