ABSTRACT
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a root crop, cultivated and consumed as a staple food in many regions of the developing world. The importance of cassava to the livelihoods of many millions of poor people has made the crop a significant target for research and development (R&D) interventions. The African Union New Partnership for Africa’s Development Agency (NEPAD) adopted the slogan ‘Cassava: A Powerful Poverty Fighter in Africa’ for its Pan African Cassava Initiative. Presidential Initiative on Cassava (PIC) has been implemented in Ghana and Nigeria. These initiatives seek to explore the potential of the crop as a cheap source of food calories and are a means of bringing benefits to poor producers and consumers. The per capita consumption of cassava in the leading consuming countries is 120-255 kg/capita (Nweke, 2004). Cassava also plays multiple roles as a famine reserve, food and cash crop, industrial raw material and livestock feed. In the last decade, the crop has become more important in areas with higher densities of population and which are closer to market centres.
