Scientific experts meeting in Arusha, Tanzania want cassava production given enough support by African governments to improve food security in the continent.
The crop, which can resist semi-arid conditions, not only provides high quality meals but also starch, glucose and can be used to produce ethanol.
“The future of cassava in Africa is very bright,” the director general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, told reporters here on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting of agricultural experts.
He said the time was ripe for African countries to diversify agriculture by commercialising cassava production and reducing dependence on maize which is vulnerable to unfavourable weather.
Observations made recently indicated that cassava has replaced 20 per cent of wheat flour used for making bread.
Nigeria has made large investments on the crop compared to other countries in the world.
Other countries where cassava has been given enough push include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.
According to Dr .Sanginga, global investments to the tune of $2 billion have been made in the production of cassava. In Nigeria alone 80 per cent of stiff porridge (ugali) is made from cassava flour.
Other experts attending an international symposium on agricultural plant diseases said cassava, scientifically known as Manihot esculenta, was also preferred due to its calorie content and low production costs.
Estimates suggest that as many as 500 million to one billion people consume cassava, making it the third most important crop in the Tropics after rice and maize.
Among issues that will be tackled by a five-day symposium at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge outside Arusha is the impact of climate change on plant viral diseases.
Over 200 crop scientists from 40 countries are attending the meeting co-organised by the Nigerian-based IITA, Mikocheni Agricultural Training Institute and the National Agricultural Research Organization (Namo) of Uganda.
Thecitizen
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