Cassava could help poor countries overcome food, energy crises

Scientists call for increased funding for research and development to boost yields
and develop industrial applications, including biofuel

25 July 2008, Ghent, Belgium -- More than 300 leading scientists from around the world are calling for a significant increase in investment in research and development on the tropical root crop cassava to help protect the food and energy security of poor countries now threatened by soaring food and oil prices. At a global conference held in Ghent, Belgium, the scientists said the investment is needed to boost farmers’ yields and develop promising industrial uses of cassava including production of biofuel but with the priority of producing food for populations.

The scientists, who have formed a 1,500-member international network called the Global Cassava Partnership, said the world community could not continue to ignore the plight of low-income tropical countries that have been hardest hit by rising oil prices and galloping food price inflation.

Widely grown in tropical Africa, Asia and Latin America, cassava is already the developing world’s fourth most important crop and the staple food of nearly a billion people in 105 countries, where the root provides as much as a third of daily calories.  And it has enormous potential – at present, average cassava yields are barely 20 percent of those obtained under optimum conditions.

Cassava is also the cheapest known source of starch, and used to make more than 300 industrial products, including ethanol as a possible source for biofuel.

However, despite growing demand and its production potential, cassava remains an “orphan crop.”  It is grown mainly in areas that have little or no access to genetically improved varieties, fertilizer and other production inputs, by small scale farmers often cut off from marketing channels and agro-processing industries.  Governments have not yet made the needed investments in value-added research that would make cassava starch products competitive on an international scale.

The Ghent meeting was the first global scientific conference of the Global Cassava Partnership, a consortium formed under the auspices of the Global Cassava Development Strategy by

• FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization),
• IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development),
• NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development),
• CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical),
• IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture),
• Donald Danforth Plant Science Center-ILTAB (International Laboratory for Tropical Biotechnology),
• ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) North-South Centre,
• Ghent University-IPBO (Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries),
• AATF (African Agricultural Technology Foundation),
• AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa),
• CATAS (Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences),
• CTCRI (Central Tuber Crops Research Institute),
• EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária-Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation),
• IAEA/FAO (International Atomic Energy Agency),
• NARO (National Agricultural Research Organization),
• NRI (Natural Resources Institute),
• NARS (National Agricultural Research Systems),
• NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations),
• CRS (Catholic Relief Services),
• ASARECA (Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa), and
• CORAF (Western and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development).

 
In addition to the key contributions of the above institutions, financial support and active participation was also provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation, the Kirkhouse Trust, the Eiselen Foundation, the European Union (CTA), the Flemish Government (VLIR), the Belgian Development Cooperation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and several private partners including the Monsanto Company, National Starch, and Cargill Company.

Participants reviewed the current state of cassava production worldwide and future prospects.  They 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.

They included establishment of a cassava chain delivery system to channel technical advances to poor farmers (“from seed to field to market”), improvements in soil fertility through better management and increased use of inputs, improvements in basic scientific knowledge of cassava, including genomics, expansion of cassava’s market share through development of post-harvest products and strengthening market access, and training for the next generation of cassava researchers in developing countries.

In the coming months, members of the Global Cassava Partnership will disseminate their findings and initiatives, collect responses from cassava stakeholders, and work to turn ideas into actions.


Links
•    Partnership formed to improve cassava, staple food of 600 million people
    http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/10541-en.html
•    Global Cassava Development Strategy
    http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/gcds/gcs.htm
•    Global Cassava Partnership
    http://danforthcenter.org/gcp21
•    New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
    http://www.nepad.org
•    Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia
    http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/
•    International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria
    http://www.iita.org/
•    Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (DDPSC)-ILTAB, St. Louis, MO, USA
    http://danforthcenter.org/iltab
•    Ghent University - Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries (IPBO), Ghent, Belgium
    http://www.ipbo.ugent.be/
•    Cassava Research and Development (ETH-Zurich)
    http://www.northsouth.ethz.ch/ and http://www.pb.ethz.ch/
•    African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), Nairobi, Kenya
    http://www.aatf-africa.org/
•    Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Nairobi, Kenya
    http://www.agra-alliance.org/
•    Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Haikou, China
    http://www.scuta.edu.cn/intr/en_v/index.htm
•    Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, India
    http://www.ctcri.org/
•    Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) (EMBRAPA), Brasilia, Brazil
http://www.embrapa.br/
•    International Atomic Energy Agency / FAO (IAEA/FAO), Vienna, Austria
    http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/index.html
•    International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome, Italy
    http://www.ifad.org/
•    National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) National Cassava Programme, Uganda
    http://www.naro.go.ug/Institute/Namulonge/Cassava.html
•    NRI (Natural Resources Institute), University of Greenwich, UK
    http://www.nri.org
•    National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria
    http://www.nrcri.org
•    Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
http://www.crs.org
•    ASARECA (Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa)
    http://www.asareca.org
•    CORAF (Western and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development)
    http://www.coraf.infosysplus.org
•    Rockefeller Foundation
    http://www.rockfound.org/
•    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
http://www.gatesfoundation.org

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About the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programmes develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain ­from seeds, soil health and water to markets and agricultural education.

AGRA's Board of Directors is chaired by Kofi A Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, is AGRA's president. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development and other donors, AGRA works across sub-Saharan Africa and maintains offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana.