From: barnhart@netcom.com (Aaron Barnhart)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:SOUTHERN AFRICA: CASSAVA COULD REDU
Date: 15 Aug 92 01:28:00 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Latin America
Reference: Agriculture; Latin America
Title: SOUTHERN AFRICA: CASSAVA COULD REDUCE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT


an inter press service feature

by basilio langa

maputo, aug 10 (ips) -- with drought and hunger threatening
millions of people in southern africa, brazil has brought to the
region its cassava cultivating experience, which has been well
received by several of the drought-stricken countries.

about 18 million people are affected by drought in angola,
botswana, lesotho, mozambique, namibia, swaziland, tanzania,
zambia and zimbabwe. the brazilian idea is to introduce
drought-resistant cassava varieties that could lessen the
effects of such a disaster in the future.

brazilian agronomists and businesspeople who took part in an
afro-brazilian seminar on cassava here recently, say brazil has
great experience and knowledge of technologies for plant health
control, mechanised cultivation, industrial processing and
conservation of cassava.

the seminar was promoted and financed by the u.n. development
programme (undp), as an incentive to south-south cooperation.
invitations were sent to various african countries, but, apart from
the host country, the only ones to respond were angola, cape verde,
ghana, guinea-bissau, sao tome and principe, zambia and zimbabwe.

marcio porto of the international institute for agricultural
technology (iita) says cooperation between brazil and southern
african countries in cassava cultivation should give priority to the
transfer of technology to help increase the production of this root
crop for human consumption.

porto points out that southern brazil also contains areas
prone to drought. ''the transfer to this part of the world of
brazil's experience in cassava production could help minimise the
shortage of foodstuffs at times of drought'', the physiologist told
ips.

iita statistics show that at the end of the 1980s, 43 percent of
the world's cassava production was in africa. about 300 million
people depended on the crop, mainly in equatorial regions.

brazil's decision to cooperate with african countries in cassava
production is due to the climatic similarities between the
southern states of brazil, where there is a long tradition of
cassava cultivation, and arid african areas south of the sahel.

''right now, because of the drought that is also gripping
zimbabwe, we expect interest in cassava to increase in our country'',
says i.m. mharapara of zimbabwe's lowveld research station in a paper
he presented to the seminar. (more/ips)


southern africa: cassava (2)

mharapara says although maize meal is the basic diet of zimbabweans,
mozambican refugees have introduced cassava to their neighbours. more
than 200,000 mozambicans live in zimbabwe after fleeing the 17-year
civil-war in their country.

porto believes there is great potential in zimbabwe for cassava
cultivation, although this ''does not mean that cassava will replace
maize in people's diet''. instead it could be used as animal feed,
since livestock are competing in the consumption of maize.

anne mtamboh, an economist in the zambian ministry of trade and
industry, says her country ''is seriously considering the possibility
of promoting cassava production as an alternative form of food
security when faced with drought''.

unlike in zimbabwe, cassava is already a staple in the diet of the
rural people, particularly in the northern and western parts of the
country.

''the prevailing drought situation that confronts zambia means
there is increased concern in finding alternatives to maize for
food security'', mtamboh told the seminar.

in mozambique cassava is the basis for the staple of more that 50
percent of the country's 15 million people.

but mozambican participants at the seminar argued that some of the
cassava varieties cultivated in the country have led to cases of
poisoning due to the cyanide contained in the root when not
properly processed.

in the central province of manica, for instance, on the border
with zimbabwe, the authorities have banned the sale of cassava.

but according to porto, ''it's impossible to eat the quantity of
cassva that could lead to death'', he says.

however, a document from the mozambican delegation says ''hundreds
of thousands of people have suffered acute food poisoning due to the
consumption of cassava containing a high level of cyanide''.

other countries, such as cape verde, also referred to this
problem, and were reluctant to accept bitter varieties of cassava
from latin america, which the iita regards as most resistant to
drought.

however, porto says the iita also possesses sweet varieties that
can resist drought for up to eight months without losing their
flavour. these varieties are also grown for human consumption in
latin america. (end/ips/bl/apc/oa/92)



-- 
Aaron (Barnhart@netcom.com)    |     "It is probable that, after economic
Evanston, Illinois             |    stability, the greatest single desire
                               |    in this country is for a reduction in
Jeremiah 6:14                  |    paranoia."          -- Stanley Crouch