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Cassava Facts: Did you know that...

The Role of Cassava

The role of cassava varies across regions. It has a minor role in areas where maize, rice, or potato are the main source of carbohydrates. But it is the main staple food of large sectors of the rural population in the humid lowlands. The role of cassava is best reflected by percapita consumption patterns. The fact that annually 14 countries in Africa consume more than 100 kg/person and five countries (Central African Republic, Congo, Mozambique, and Zaire) consume more than 200 kg/person, dramatically underlines the role of cassava in Africa.
In India, cassava has a pivotal role in mitigating poverty by serving as a primary or secondary staple food particularly during rice shortage In the Philippines, cassava is the main staple food for millions of peasants in the western and southern regions while elsewhere, is the raw material for starch production. In Uganda, cassava is only second to plantain in production and third in cultivated area while in Sri Lanka, rice is the most important food crop and cassava remains as the alternative staple during food shortage. Likewise in Sierra Leone, it is the second most important food crop after rice as roots and leaves are essential components of the daily diet. In Togo, cassava is the 10th most important food while in Malaysia, cassava roots are not eaten extensively although leaves of sweet cultivars are consumed as vegetables. In Kenya, cassava plays a relatively unimportant role, except in the coast and western parts of the country, as the crop is often regarded as a famine food. In Nepal, cassava is virtually unknown and plays no role in the local economy.
The role of cassava as a staple food is strongly modified by economic status. In East Java, for example, where rice, maize, and cassava are the main crops, the more affluent people eat rice, the less affluent eat rice in combination with maize and some cassava while the poorest heavily depend upon cassava for their energy requirements. In the Polynesian islands, cassava is regarded as an emergency food particularly in the aftermath of irregular cyclones, but generally has a low status in the local food spectrum. In general, although cassava is still traditionally used as staple food throughout the tropics, this role is slowly evolving to an industrial commodity with multiple uses and purposes, i.e., pellets for animal feed and raw materials for starch, fluor, and alcohol production.
Uses
Cassava is primarily grown for its roots. Roots are quite high in carbohydrates, about 12 to 40% for Brazilian cultivars, 64 to 80% for Indonesian cultivars, and on average about 39%. But cassava roots are low and quite variable in protein content, 1.4 to 4.7% for Brazilian cultivars, 0.7 to 2.5 for Indonesian cultivars, and on average from 1 to 3%.
Due to the bulk and short shelf life of roots, 46% of the production in the tropics is consumed fresh. Of this amount, approximately one half is consumed after boiling, steaming, or baking while the rest is processed. Other uses include animal feed (4%) and industrial (12%) including starch, latex, and alcohol production.

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