Cassava

Introduction

Find the “Production Guidelines: Cassava” document at www.dalrrd.gov.za.
 
  • Cassava is a woody shrub with an edible root, which grows all year round. It is found in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
  • Compared with grains, cassava tolerates poor soils and is more resistant to drought, pests and diseases. It has limited labour requirements. It stores well in the soil after maturity.
  • Cassava is usually intercropped with vegetables, plantation crops (such as coconut, oil palm, and coffee), sweet potato, melon, maize, rice, groundnut, or other legumes.
  • Roots can be harvested between 6 months and 3 years after planting.
  • The root (or “tuber”) is used as a food (a substitute for rice or maize meal). It can also be dried, chopped and fed to animals. The leaves and tender shoots can be cooked as a vegetable or used in sauces.
  • Cassava can be used as a substitute for wheat flour in many applications and cassava starch as seasoning in cubes, sauces and soups.
  • Cassava is the cheapest known form of starch, and can be used in more than 300 industrial products including the manufacture of tyres, adhesives, ethanol, Pharmaceuticals, livestock feeds, biofuels and alcohol. Its many industrial uses identify it as potentially a great export crop for Africa. It has huge grower potential too.
  • At present, average cassava yields are barely 20% of those obtained under optimum conditions.
  • Cassava is identified as a crop of much potential and value in South Africa (see “Cassava and South Africa” heading).

International business environment

  • Africa, Asia and Latin America are the major producers of cassava.
  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest consumer of cassava in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Nigeria.
  • Nigeria is the biggest producer of cassava while Thailand is the foremost exporter.
  • It is the developing world’s fourth most important crop.
  • It is the staple food of nearly a billion people in 105 countries where the root provides as much as a third of daily calories.
  • Small-scale farmers grow it as a subsistence crop and sell the surplus.
  • The crop is championed by NEPAD’s Pan-Africa Cassava Initiative (NPACI) and African agricultural research institutes as a powerful poverty fighter.
  • Since it grows and can be stored underground, it is a useful source of food security where there is frequent conflict (the invader cannot easily destroy or remove the crop).
Visit the following websites:
  • International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – www.ciat.cgiar.org
  • International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) – www.iita.org
  • The Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company (Dadtco) developed a mobile processing unit (AMPU) which processes the root where it was grown. Dadtco has also successfully run cassava bread flour trials. Visit www.dadtco.nl.
South Africa: imports and exports

In 2022, South Africa exported $10.9M in Cassava. The main destination of Cassava exports from South Africa are: United Kingdom ($4.94M), Netherlands ($3.71M), United Arab Emirates ($834k), Botswana ($328k), and Namibia ($281k) (OEC, 2024).

In 2022, South Africa imported $105k in Cassava. South Africa imports Cassava primarily from: Malawi ($48.4k), Cote d’Ivoire ($12.7k), Zambia ($11.8k), Mozambique ($8.5k), and Ghana ($6.99k) (OEC, 2024).

Cassava and South Africa

  • While cassava has had a long history in the rest of Africa, it is not a well-known crop in South Africa and its agricultural potential in South Africa needs to be fully exploited.
  • It is mainly produced in Limpopo, and for industrial purposes. It is also grown in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
  • It is sold within South Africa or to traders from Swaziland and Mozambique.
  • Currently some 20 000 tonnes of cassava starch is produced commercially.

If cassava could be introduced successfully in South Africa, it could become the preferred source for raw material as a result of its higher yield per unit area. At present, most glucose is produced from maize starch.

In South Africa the most suitable areas are north of Stanger in KwaZulu-Natal below the 800 m elevation. This area includes the hotter northern and eastern regions of KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern parts of the Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga respectively. These areas together have two million hectares of arable land below the 800 m elevation and an annual rainfall of 500 mm that offers potential for cassava production. Of these, 600 000 hectares are already planted to other crops such as sugar cane, timber, subtropical fruits and cotton. Allowing a loss of a further 400 000 hectares to grazing lands and densely populated settlements in tribal areas, there remain one million hectares which could be planted to cassava.
Source: ARC-IC

National strategy and government contact

Cassava features in the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)’s Bio-economy Strategy.

A partnership between the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA); the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic); and others will see farmers in the cassava production regions in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal producing cassava for industrial purposes like making paper (TIA, 2022).

It has also been one of the country’s eight Key Action Programmes, spelt out under the then Department of Trade & Industry’s Industrial Policy and Action Plans (IPAPs). The IPAP 2015/16 – 2017/18 pointed out that the processing of cassava into starch was an example of how the agro-processing sector could “answer some of the macroeconomic questions such as balance of payments (BOP) generated by the current import/export gap”. South Africa sources its supplies of cassava from South East Asia but “with appropriate investment, planning and support, this situation can potentially be reversed”. Starch from cassava was identified as having “a myriad of applications in confectionery, sweeteners, textiles, paper, animal feed and alcohol production”.

Role players

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Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) – www.idc.co.za
Philafrica Foods – www.philafricafoods.com An investment company involved in food processing throughout the African continent
Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) – www.ecdc.co.za
ABInBev Cervejas de Mocambique (Mozambique) Accra Brewery Limited (Ghana) – www.ab-inbev.com The Impala (Mozambique) and Eagle (Ghana) brands are based 60% to 70% on cassava.
African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) – www.acci.org.za
National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) Marketing and Economic Research Centre (MERC) – www.namc.co.za Dr Moses Lubinga has explored cassava and its related products. Find the document on the NAMC website. The NAMC has been doing field work regarding this crop amongst communities in the country.
Cape Peninsula University of Technology Biotechnology and Consumer Sciences – www.cput.ac.za Professor Vincent Okudoh is a proponent of using cassava for bioenergy
Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) – www.ecdc.co.za

Afrinest Farm Projects – https://afrinestfarm.co.za An initiative under the name of MORCASSAH (Moringa, Cassava and Honey) in the Tzaneen, Mopani district area, is run with over 20 emerging farmers and some 350 000 trees.

Websites and publications

Refer to websites listed earlier on this page.

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