Scaling Out Cassava-based Production Systems in West and East Africa

2016

English

Cassava is the second most important crop after maize in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). According to FAO (2013), 172 million MT of cassava was produced worldwide in 2000, and SSA accounted for 54%. Cassava is mainly a subsistence crop grown for food by smallholder farmers and it is regarded as the cheapest staple food (Roothaert & Magado, 2011). Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Nigeria are the largest consumers of cassava, but per capita consumption in Africa is about 80 kg of cassava per year, though intake varies from one country to another. For example, the per capita intake of cassava in Ghana stands at 151.4 kg/yr and in Tanzania it is about 157 kg/yr (Chauvin, Mulangu & Porto, 2012). However, with increasing urbanization and improved production and processing technologies, cassava is emerging as a cash crop, now used industrially for the production of “gari” (cassava flake), starch, beer, high-quality cassava flour (HQCF), and bio-ethanol among other products.

Yeboah, E.; Baijukya, F. P.; Fening, J. O.; Zida, Z.; Gaisie, E.; Merumba, S.; Sileshi, G. W.