Cassava has a reputation as a poor person’s crop, a crop of last resort. It is produced mostly by smallholders on marginal and sub-marginal lands in the humid and semi-humid tropics.
In Africa, an estimated 70 million people are dependent on cassava as a primary source of food, contributing over 500 kcal per day per person. In the 15 countries targeted in central, eastern and southern Africa, over 4 million people live in areas of high cassava production. Often these are among the most remote and poorest areas.
However, when compared to other cassava producing regions such as West Africa or Latin America, yields in central, eastern and southern Africa tend to be lower. Of the countries in the region producing over 500,000 tonnes per year, Central African Republic (3.0 T/hectare), Zambia (5.4 T/hectare), Rwanda (6.5 T/hectare), Mozambique (7.4 T/hectare) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (8.1 T/hectare) stand out as below the regional average of 8.8 tonnes/hectare. At least some of this yield loss can be attributed to the spread of cassava diseases in the region. More on cassava-related diseases
Also, the full range of potential uses of cassava is under-exploited in central, eastern and southern regions of Africa. In some countries (notably Malawi and Zambia) there are programmes to promote further development of the cassava production sector, as an alternative to maize in increasingly drought-prone conditions, with investments in post harvest treatment facilities, and marketing, but these are in their initial stages.