The UN-FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) website reports that cassava scientists at a global forum have called for “a significant increase in investment in research and development needed to boost farmers’ yields and explore promising industrial uses of cassava, including production of biofuels”. Cassava is an important staple crop in many developing countries, and is widely cultivated in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is also known as one of the cheapest sources of starch which can be processed into biofuels. Despite its being the fourth most important global crop, it remains largely an “orphan crop”; it is grown in marginal areas (no access to improved varieties, fertilizers, etc). Small farmers are “often cut off from marketing channels and agro-processing industries”, and governments have little investments in R and D to add value to cassava for global competitiveness. At the first global scientific conference of the Global Cassava Partnership in Ghent, Belgium, the scientists reviewed the current state and future prospects of cassava production, and “agreed on a number of new projects, which will be offered immediately to the donor community, and a set of investments needed if cassava is to realize its full potential in addressing the global food and energy crisis”. The projects include the establishment of a “cassava chain delivery system”, improvements in the basic scientific knowledge about cassava (including genomics), and training of cassava researchers in developing countries..