NSP - Importance-cassava
 

Importance of cassava

Villagers peeling cassava. Each person in Africa eats around 80 kg of cassava per year. Credit: FAO/G. Napolitano

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.

Cassava and vulnerability

Cassava roots can be harvested whenever there is a need, or left in the ground when farmers are driven from their land. Credit: FAO/C. Ferrand

Despite sustained humanitarian efforts, the food security situation in central, eastern and southern remains alarming. Among the most vulnerable populations are internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. There are currently over 5.5 million IDPs and 1.5 million refugees across the 15 countries targeted by the CaCESA. Precarious livelihoods and a succession of crises (both natural and human-induced) have eroded coping capacities and affect the resilience of communities.

Cassava can play an important role in ensuring the food security of vulnerable groups. It is tolerant to drought and can generate acceptable yields even on marginal lands. In the event of civil strife, cassava can remain in the soil and untended, and normally be harvested later without major qualitative deterioration. Cassava is not usually easy to loot or steal in large quantities because of the labour for harvesting and the need to carry heavy roots from the field coupled with the processing requirements, and so will continue to be available even after temporary displacement of the household. Also, the crop does not require the use of expensive inputs such as fertiliser or purchased seed (it is vegetatively propagated, usually by the farmer taking their own cuttings)

In this situation, vulnerable people who use cassava as a major crop can be helped to recover from displacement and/or shocks in a sustainable manner only if they can access good quality and disease-free planting material. This requires solid services for breeding and releasing new varieties, capable arrangements for clean stem multiplication and the capacity for local disease control under an improved field production system. More on what FAO is doing to help strengthen the resilience of vulnerable cassava smallholders in the region

Facts and figures

Cassava productivity and production in 2007.

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