Biotech Updates

Grant to Promote Cassava Production in Africa

January 5, 2007

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) recently received a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to promote NEPAD Pan Africa Cassava Initiative (NPACI) for sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in Africa. The program was started by IITA to promote the production of cassava, a drought tolerant crop, to reduce the risk associated with the dependency on maize as major food crop.

Working through the Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network (SARRNET), and in collaboration with the national program in Malawi, IITA initiated the Masinda Cassava Club in Katimba, Malawi as a pilot processing center to turn cassava into industrial starch. With the establishment of the factory, farmers now make over US$800 for every hectare of fresh cassava.

The grant will help the New Partnership for African Development NEPAD/IITA Facilitation Unit that is being established by NPACI/SARRNET at Chitedze Research Station. Read the news article at http://www.iita.org/cms/details/news_details.aspx?articleid=596&zoneid=81.