April 5, 2011
The Cassava Industries in Mozambique and Tanzania: Production, Processing, Distribution and Consumption of Cassava and its Related Policy Challenges
Cassava is one of the most important crops in Africa, with total production second only to wheat and maize; the continent produces over 50% of the world’s cassava. Despite this, international research on cassava is lagging and cassava has at times been called a “forgotten” crop. In recent years, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partner organizations have begun doing work on cassava in West African nations such as Nigeria and Ghana, but East African cassava research and support is still insufficient.
Therefore, for this study, Promar and its research partners concentrated on the cassava industries in the East African nations of Tanzania and Mozambique. This final report gives a thorough picture of the cassava value chain, from production to processing to retail marketing in the two countries and sheds light on questions such as: Will cassava remain a subsistence crop for rural villagers or will it gain a more formal role in the food security policies of these countries? Is there a potential urban market for value-added cassava products such as flour or animal feed? And what kind of support does the cassava industry need to in order to play a greater role in poverty alleviation or income generation?
Please click on this link to view the whole report in English.