Résumé
Women provide the labour required to process cassava for household consumption and market sales. Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in Africa, with about 90% of cassava produced being consumed locally after processing into different food products. The study focuses on farmers' and processors' evaluations of cassava productivity, workload, and associated drudgery in processing jobs performed by women processors to elicit qualities that promote processor acceptability and usage of cassava. Participatory processing was carried out with nine experienced cassava processors chosen from communities well known for cassava farming and value addition in Cameroon and Nigeria. The processors utilized pairwise ranking to evaluate harvested roots of promising cassava genotypes at the last stage of breeding, in collaboration with farmers who cultivate cassava in the study area. The drudgery of each processing stage was determined by calculating the workload and time required to execute each operation. Cassava root shape, root size, peeling ease, and dry matter content all have an impact on the processor's workload and productivity. Root peeling, fermentation, and toasting were found as weight-reducing processing activities, but root peeling and pulp toasting were recognized as time-demanding activities. Root dry matter content, environmental factors, and soil conditions affect weight loss and processing time. Processors' expressed a preference for cassava genotypes with high productivity and higher food product quality. This influences acceptability of new cassava genotypes, its uptake and use. Smallholder processors make major contributions to cassava product evaluation and food security. Reduced identified time-related drudgery activities can boost cassava value addition and utilization potentials and complement breeding efforts to be more inclusive and gender-responsive. Breeding genotypes with minimal labour, higher productivity and excellent food quality is important for market-led breeding.