Cassava: a largely ignored crop with huge potential in South Africa

Light Ngobeni and Zinhle Nkosi, agricultural economists and master's students at the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo respectively, write about the importance of cassava production for farmers and consumers in South Africa, and how to develop the value chain.

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Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also known in some African countries as tapioca, mandioca, yuca or umdumbulu, was domesticated mainly on the south-western rim of the Amazon in South America. In the 16th century, when trade between Brazil and Africa began, Portuguese traders brought the crop to the Congo Basin. Two centuries later, it was introduced independently to East Africa and Madagascar.

Cassava is a root tuber similar to the sweet potato. It is drought-tolerant, grows in poor soil conditions, and requires little to no fertiliser. Cassava has been transformed from a 'poor man's crop' into a lucrative industrial crop, and is now processed into products such as starch, flour and glucose.

For processors, its key attributes are that it contains 70% starch by dry weight and is high in carbohydrates, making it an excellent crop for ethanol for industrial use and feeds for livestock. It is also used in medicine, adhesives and the paper industry.

Smallholder farmers in Africa cultivate and prepare cassava using conventional techniques such as planting cuttings vertically, planting freshly cut cuttings, and using intercropping during the crop's early growth stages with maize, beans and spinach.

The crop is grown and sold largely by resource-constrained farmers in their communities, where it provides much-needed income and employment.

Nigeria is the world's largest cassava producer (see table). While African countries are reported to have contributed 61% of global cassava production in 2018, South Africa is a major importer of cassava starch.