Cassava News 100

CASSAVANEWS to follow 234Next.com By the middle of 2014, more than 150,000 households in Nigeria are expected to be eating vitamin A fortified yellow cassava, an international agricultural organisation, HarvestPlus, said

HarvestPlus is an international partner of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) leading a global effort to breed and disseminate micro-nutrient-rich staple food crops to reduce hunger in malnourished populations.
In a release in Ibadan on Thursday, IITA quoted HarvestPlus as saying that yellow cassava varieties could provide more vitamin A in the diets of more than 70 million Nigerians, who ate cassava everyday.
The release, signed by Godwin Atser, the spokesman for IITA, stated that yellow cassava varieties were already being multiplied through stem cuttings.
It said that by 2013 when sufficient certified stems would be available for HarvestPlus and its partners to distribute to about 25,000 farming households initially.
The release said farmers would be able to grow the new vitamin A varieties and feed their families on them and in addition, multiply and share cuttings with others in the community, thus amplifying the nutritional benefits.
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is widely prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, afflicting almost 20 per cent of pregnant women and about 30 per cent of children under the age of five in Nigeria, the release stated.
It added that VAD could lower immunity and impair vision, leading to blindness and even death.
The release stated that children and women would be the main beneficiaries of these new yellow varieties, which could provide up to 25 per cent of daily vitamin A needs.
It said that varieties with enough vitamin A to provide up to half of daily needs were already in the breeding pipeline and should be ready for release in a few years.
The release said new yellow varieties bred using traditional (non-transgenic) methods by IITA and National Root Crops Research Institute were liked by farmers during field trials.
"Demand for these varieties has already started but it will take some time before we have enough quantities to give out," said Paul Ilona, the HarvestPlus Manager for Nigeria .
Although the cassava initiative is being funded by HarvestPlus, other partners include the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and Nigerian government agencies, the release explained.
Cassava, an extremely adaptable crop, is drought tolerant, requires limited land preparation and grows well in poor soils
As part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Programme on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health, the global initiative is coordinated by CIAT and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Cassava News 99

Nigeria releases Vitamin A cassava to improve public health

CASSAVANEWS to folow Joy Online from Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv Fm/Ghana, Last Updated: December 9, 2011. The Nigerian Government has announced the release of three new vitamin A-rich ‘yellow’ cassava varieties that could provide more vitamin A in the diets of more than 70 million Nigerians who eat cassava every day.

The yellow color (cassava is generally white) is due to the higher vitamin A content.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is widely prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. It afflicts almost 20% of pregnant women and about 30% of children under-five in Nigeria. VAD can lower immunity and impair vision, which can lead to blindness and even death.

Children and women will be the main beneficiaries of these new yellow varieties, which could provide up to 25% of their daily vitamin A needs. Varieties with enough vitamin A to provide up to half of daily needs are already in the breeding pipeline and should be ready for release in a few years.

These new yellow varieties were bred using traditional (non-transgenic) methods by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Nigerian National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) and were liked by farmers during field trials.

Cassava is an extremely adaptable crop; it is drought tolerant, requires limited land preparation, and grows well in poor soils. The new yellow varieties are also high yielding and resistant to major diseases and pests.

“Demand for these varieties has already started, but it will take some time before we have enough quantities to give out,” said Paul Ilona, the HarvestPlus Manager for Nigeria.

The yellow cassava is already being multiplied through stem cuttings. In 2013, when sufficient certified stems are available, HarvestPlus and its partners will then distribute these to about 25,000 farming households initially.

Farmers will be able to grow these new vitamin A varieties and feed them to their families. They can also multiply and share cuttings with others in their community, amplifying the nutritional benefits. After the Mid-2014 harvest, more than 150,000 household members are expected to be eating vitamin A cassava.

This work is funded by HarvestPlus. Other partners include the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), and Nigerian Government agencies.

HarvestPlus leads a global effort to breed and disseminate micronutrient-rich staple food crops to reduce hidden hunger in malnourished populations. It is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health. It is coordinated by CIAT and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Cassava News 98

Invoke Sun, Wind gods for satisfying energy needs

CASSAVA NEWS to follow The Economic Times .Recently, ET organised a workshop, Energy India 2011: Energy security, climate change and economic development , where it was stressed, inter-alia , that our government is facing tough challenges in meeting energy requirements in an environmentally-sustainable manner. This is true - there is a dire need for exploring sources of energy that are not fossil fuel-based since the latter cause climate change. Because of this concern, we are resorting to producing clean energy such as biofuel, nuclear, wind, solar and hydro power. It may be mentioned, considering world averages, that today , about 70% energy comes from fossil fuel, about 20% from hydro power, and of the remaining 10%, most either comes from nuclear plants and biofuel and an insignificant 0.5% from the sun or wind.

However, these percentages vary from country to country. For example , countries such as Japan, US, Canada, France and Germany produce a large percentage of nuclear power in their energy mix, while India produces a mere 2.5% nuclear energy of its total power production. In the context of choosing a clean energy policy, let us first examine the pros and cone of two forms of clean energies , viz nuclear and biofuel, which are accepted as clean energies. First, consider nuclear energy.

The recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan has again brought to the fore the harmful aspects of producing nuclear energy on living beings, business and industry , which belies all the talk of sustainable development. Ironically, it has happened in a technically-advanced country while making peaceful use of atomic energy that may prove worse than the havoc of destructive use of atomic energy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. We had much higher nuclear catastrophe in Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986 but never learnt the lesson on safety standards of nuclear plants.

Such big tragedies send shock waves in the corridors of power the world over. There is a catalogue of day-to-day leaks of radioactive steam from nuclear plants in all parts of the world that go unreported but are causing slow murder of millions of workers employed there as well as other citizens including people living in neighbouring countries. In India too, we had a small mishap at Narora nuclear plant in 1993, which might have been forgotten by many. Second, let us talk about production of biofuel as many developed countries have passed laws mandating greater use of non-fossil fuel. As a result, crops such as cassava, corn, palm oil and sugar are being diverted in great proportion for biofuel production. China and the US are cases in point.

While China imports 98% of cassava production from Thailand to produce biofuel, the US uses 16% of the world's corn supply - enough to feed 350 million people - to produce ethanol only to be burned in its SUVs. Al Gore , who once supported the policy of ethanol production, now calls it a mistake because the rush for biofuel is driving the food prices . The Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO )) has asserted that food prices have gone up by 15% during October 2010-January 2011 alone, bringing additional 45 million people below poverty line. The soaring food prices are the cause of political turmoil in Algeria, Egypt and Bangladesh. My intention is not to make a case against production of nukes and biofuel .

However, in view of the above facts, it seems that we should focus more on producing clean energy from wind and sun, which are God's gift to us, and they are renewable sources of energy too. It is true that the cost of production of these energies is high because we do not have efficient technology to produce them on a large scale. To achieve this, we require large investment in R&D of these energies to which, unfortunately, we have not paid sufficient attention. According to scientists and researchers, we would probably need to invest about $100 billion annually for a few decades.

This is about 0.2% of the world's total GDP and is well within the capability of G20 nations that account for about 90% of world's GDP. If rich nations are really serious in saving the planet, some sacrifice needs to be made by them. This is the only way to reduce our dependence on fossil-based energy. The last four Conference of Parties - Bali (2007), Poznan (2008), Copenhagen (2009) and the latest at Cancun (2010) - have not achieved anything worthwhile . Whatever voluntary or legallybinding emission cuts are agreed to, these would be insufficient to keep the rise in global temperature below the threshold limit of 2° C set by the G20.

To sum up, clean and renewable solar and wind energy should constitute a major portion of total energy mix in future. Since, it is not going to happen soon, we should (a) take all safety measures in production of nuclear power by strengthening our laws, (b) take steps that ensure biofuel production does not create food shortage, and (c) enhance hydel power generation by resolving all social, cultural, territorial , livelihood and displacement issues that arise during implementation of projects. All this is relevant in India's context so that our economic growth is not disrupted. The ET seminar did address all these issues and I hope it would infuse innovative thinking for devising suitable clean energy policy by our government.


P P SANGAL
(The author is former director of the CSO and UN consultant on Environment and Poverty Alleviation)

Cassava News 97

Vietnam urged to rethink the plan to develop cassava plants

VietNamNet Bridge – Cassava products have been selling like hot cakes. Meanwhile, the consumption is expected to increase further in the next years. However, development programmers still have been called to reconsider the plan to develop cassava plants

The rise of the cassava plants

It is now the second time that Vietnam has witnessed the boom of cassava plant since 1975. The first time occurred during the first years after the country’s union, when the rice and maize output was low. Just within three years, since 1979, the cassava growing area increased by two folds, to the record high of 461,400 hectares, while the output also climbed to the record high of 3.422 million tons.

Later, when Vietnam became a rice export power, cassava plants became less attractive in the eyes of farmers, who preferred to grow rice to earn money.

However, cassava plants, once again, have become “favored” by farmers, which have hindered the development of many other kinds of plants. The cassava growing area has increased by 7.6 percent to 496,200 hectares, while the output has increased by 15.7 percent to 8.522 million tons.

Vietnamese farmers have been rushing to grow cassava because they can see the high demand from the Chinese market.

In 2010, Vietnam exported 1.7 million tons of cassava products in total, of which, China alone consumed 92.4 percent. The percentage was 94.1 percent in the first two months of the year. Fresh cassava has also been carried out continuously to China across the border gates.

Why cassava?

While Vietnamese farmers feel happy with the money they earn from exporting cassava to China, experts have called on to reconsider the plan on developing cassava plants.
Nguyen Dinh Bich, a well known trade expert from the Trade Research Institute, said on Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon, that Vietnam is not the country which has advantages in developing cassava plants for export. In the world, only the countries with large area and thin population density can reserve many areas for growing cassava. This explains why in the world, only four countries have the cassava growing areas of more than one million hectares, namely Nigeria (3.8 million hectares), Brazil (1.8-1.9 million), Thailand (1.3 million) and Indonesia (1.2 million).

Besides Ghana, there are only three other poor countries in the world which have the cassava growing areas exceeding Vietnam’s, including Angola, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Regarding the yield; though Vietnam’s cassava output in 2009 was high at 16.8 tons per hectare, which was much higher than the average yield in the world, the figure is still lower than the average level of 20.2 tons per hectare in Asia and 22.7 tons per hectares in Thailand.

The demand for cassava is believed to increase sharply in the time to come, as enterprises need cassava to make many kinds of products. Cassava is being used in making seasoning powder, used in food industry. Especially, the demand for animal breeding alone is at 1.5 million tons per annum. Besides, Vietnam also has five ethanol factories and tens of other factories making alcohol of different kinds, which also need cassava.

However, Bich has pointed out that Vietnam cannot compete with China, even though the cassava yield has been increasing considerably in recent years. Since the cassava prices have been increasing too sharply, many enterprises have to shift to use other kinds of materials, which explain why the imports of maize and wheat have been increasing rapidly.

The third problem that experts have pointed out to persuade development programmers to put a brake on the cassava growing area development, is that while growing cassavas mostly serve the demand from foreign countries, Vietnam would lack land to develop other important farm produce, because the agriculture land fund will not be enlarged.

Statistics show that while cassava plants see “hot development”, the growing areas of many other kinds of plants has been decreasing. The cotton growing area, for example, has reduced by 6.9 percent per annum, while the sugar cane area by 1.3 percent per annum. Especially, the cashew growing area has been decreasing for the third consecutive years by 11 percent in total

Source: Viet Nam Net to follow TBKTSG

Cassava News 96

Cassava research staff receive ‘royalty free’ variety

increasing nutrients in local cassava varieties will make it both accessible and affordable for communities to improve their own nutrition

SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENT Peter Mutai

CASSAVA NEWS to follow Coastweek.com NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s cassava research has received a financial boost in support of phase II of Bio Cassava Plus (BC Plus), an innovative project that aims to reduce malnutrition by increasing the nutritional value of cassava, a staple crop consumed by millions of Kenyans. The funding 8.3 million U.S. dollars that has been advanced by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) through Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is to help develop cassava with enhanced nutrients. 

“The efforts are aimed at bettering nutrition and enable people live better productive lives,” Dr. Simon Gichuki, Kari’s Biotechnology Director and also the projects principal investigator said late Thursday.

He said that millions of Kenyans, especially children lack essential vitamins and minerals thus contributing to childhood deaths, diseases and blindness.

Gichuki said that the Bio cassava plus is aimed at enhancing cassava with carotene, iron and protein and will be available to farmers without any royalty fees.  “Under this project farmers will freely multiply, save and share their planting materials,” Gichuki noted.

Gichuki observed that millions of Kenyans eat cassava two times a day, hence forcing researchers to focus on increasing the levels of pro-vitamin A and iron in this familiar food to provide them with healthier food that will enhance their diet and improve livelihoods.

He revealed that phase I of the project that was done in the country exceeded all targets to date.   “Using the tools of modern biotechnology we were able to develop cassava plants that are 30 times as much beta-carotene, four times as much iron, and four times as much protein as traditional cassava,” he added.

These increased levels reflect what is needed to provide the minimum daily dietary requirements for a child.

According to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation President for Global Development Program Ms. Sylvia Burwell, the health of consumers will improve greatly once farmers adapt to the new technology. 

“The variety is to help make substantial improvement to people’s lives,” she observes.  “Beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A, and iron are contained in various foods today, but those foods are scarce, unavailable, or too expensive for many people in Kenya,” said Dr. Martin Fregene, the project director. 

He said that increasing nutrients in local cassava varieties will make it both accessible and affordable for communities to improve their own nutrition.

According to statistics at Kenya’s Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, approximately 30 percent of Kenyan pre-school children are vitamin A deficient, in addition to suffering from inadequate iron and protein. 

Effects of iron deficiency include anaemia, death for women in childbirth; and inadequate levels of protein causes stunting and wasting in children below the age of five

Cassava roots are consumed freshly boiled, or processed into a wide variety of granules, pastes and flours.

Additionally, tubers can be left in the ground for up to three years, so if drought or disease kills off other crops, farmer’s families can still fend off starvation by eating cassava.

The project will also be carried out in Nigeria, one of the countries where people consume cassava in large numbers.

Cassava a popular crop in western and coastal region of Kenya has in the past faced attacks from viruses that have reduced its production.

.

Financial boost for further cassava research

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- In northern parts of Kenya most children aged two years weigh between five-six kilograms.

This according to medical personnel is an abnormal occurrence that they attribute to lack of iron that causes deficiency in anaemia, death for women in childbirth.

This condition also leads to inadequate levels of protein that causes stunting and wasting in children below the age of five.

In Africa people often eat cassava two or three times a day, but it contains no vitamin A or iron. As a result, many people suffer from disease caused by a lack of vitamins and other important nutrients.

But this bad picture is set to change following an advancement of 8.3 million U.S. dollars research on cassava that is expected to come up with bio-Cassava, a biofortified variety of cassava that have enormous potential to help millions of people live healthy lives in Kenya and Nigeria.

Bio-Cassava is an opportunity to help people, especially in rural areas throughout Kenya. It will give people vitamins they need through a food they already grow and eat.

The funding has been advanced by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) through Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to help develop cassava with enhanced nutrients.

Known as bio-Cassava Plus (BC Plus), an innovative project that aims to reduce malnutrition by increasing the nutritional value of cassava, a staple crop consumed by millions of Kenyans, the project is set to be launched soon.  “The efforts are aimed at bettering nutrition and is a big boost to agricultural research in this country,” said Simon Gichuki, Kari’s Biotechnology Director and also the projects Principal Investigator observes.

Gichuki notes that millions children in Africa, Kenya included lack essential vitamins and minerals thus contributing to early childhood deaths, diseases and blindness.

Gichuki said that BC Plus is aimed at enhancing cassava with carotene, iron and protein and will be available to farmers without paying any royalty fees.  “The project will use a range of crop breeding techniques, including transgenic approaches,” he notes.

According to President for Global Development Programme of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Ms. Sylvia Burwell, the health of consumers will improve greatly once farmers adapt to the new technology.

To date, the foundation’s Agricultural Development initiative has contributed approximately 1.7 billion dollars to provide millions of small farmers in the developing world the tools and opportunities they need to boost their yields, increase their incomes, and build better, healthier lives.

The Project Director Martin Fregene observes that the beta- carotene, the precursor to vitamin A, and iron are contained in various foods today, but those foods are scarce, unavailable, or too expensive for many people in Kenya. 

He says that increasing nutrients in local cassava varieties will make it both accessible and affordable for communities to improve their own nutrition.

According to statistics at Kenya’s Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, approximately 30 percent of Kenyan pre-school children are vitamin A deficient, in addition to suffering from inadequate iron and protein. 

Effects of iron deficiency include anaemia, death for women in childbirth; and inadequate levels of protein causes stunting and wasting in children below the age of five.

Cassava roots are consumed freshly boiled, or processed into a wide variety of granules, pastes and flours.

Additionally, tubers can be left in the ground for up to three years, so if drought or disease kills off other crops, farmer’s families can still fend off starvation by eating cassava.

Cassava a popular crop in western and coastal region of Kenya has in the past faced attacks from viruses that have reduced its production.

But through interventions by Kari and development partners, the problem has since been brought under control.

Biotechnology allows for precise adjustments to be made that result in improved micronutrient levels.

The approach is a sustainable way to eliminate global health crises caused by low nutrition.

While most people in wealthy nations have easy access to a wide variety of nutritious foods, vitamin supplements, and fortified processed foods, many in poorer nations, majority of whom live in rural areas do not.

They either cannot afford or lack access to the foods they need to avoid malnutrition and its devastating impacts on health.

BC Plus is the largest coordinated research development and deployment program funded for cassava to date involving more than 25 research investigators located on five continents.

Cassava, a staple crop consumed by more than 250 million people in Africa, offers limited nutritional value, leaving both children and adults at risk of severe health problems.

Globally, vitamin A deficiency alone accounts for 670,000 childhood deaths each year and causes 350,000 cases of childhood blindness.

Cassava News 95

JP brand set to expand

AGUALTA VALE, St Mary:


CASSAVANEWS to follow Jamaica Gleaner WHEN TROPICAL Storm Gustav devastated the local banana industry in 2008, JP Tropical Foods, the island's largest banana producer, suffered a major setback, to the extent that it suspended exports of the fruit. Three years on, banana cultivation is still the mainstay of the company's operation in Agualta Vale, St Mary; but cassava, sweet potato, and pineapple are gaining ground in terms of the acreage under cultivation.

This is by design, according to Jeffrey Hall, CEO of Jamaica Producers Group Limited, an outgrowth of the lessons learnt from that disaster.

"We decided to reinvent ourselves, and the idea has been to develop very strong brands and diversify our product offering and to strengthen our connection to our community, and we are actually making good progress on all three fronts, which in commercial terms obviously means ensuring our investment in St Mary continues to have value. For us, it's important that the community in St Mary be vibrant, economically grounded," Hall told The Gleaner recently.


He said the group, so far, had three outstanding brands. "We are actually a leader in branded fresh produce because we have branded the banana, and we have taken branded position on fresh fruits, which we see as a commodity item," stated Hall. "The third brand is called JP Simply Fresh, which is adding convenience to the fresh items, and that's where the bammy products fall, and that's just the first in a range of things that we'll be doing in that category," he continued.

Chips galore

Even though banana still occupies most of the land, the presence of pineapple, cassava, and potato has literally altered the landscape of an operation which today provides chips - banana, sweet potato, and cassava - in regular and barbecue offerings, which, with the company's strong marketing thrust, have taken consumers by storm.

"The brands, we are satisfied, are becoming, step by step, entrenched in the Jamaican mindset," said Hall. "The work that you see is taking an agricultural output and making it stand for high quality, excitement, fun, good for your health. That's the brand."

Cassava News 94

Gates Backs GM

Kenya - 20 Apr 11 - John Kariuki

CASSAVANEWS to follow Slowfood . Efforts to expand the use of genetically modified (GM) crops in Asia and Africa were given a major boost last week with the announcement of a significant investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pledged $US18.6 million.  

The grant will fund projects aiming to develop modified varieties of rice and cassava, intending to produce greater quantities of one or more nutrients to tackle malnutrition.

Since its beginnings 30 years ago, GM technology has claimed to be able to feed the world and eradicate malnutrition. However in this time, we have only seen the number of hungry and malnourished grow, along with new problems and ramifications of a technology that we do not yet fully understand. While we can transplant a gene from one species to another for its desired characteristics, we cannot yet know how to predict or contain its results.

In Kenya and many other African countries, more and more people are turning to the traditional knowledge of communities as the key to solving problems of nutrition, and see the spread of GM crops as a new sickness of the land. Traditionally, communities have reduced their vulnerability to the effects of climate change and crop failure by relying on biodiversity in food supply. A dry season might destroy maize one year so instead we survive on cassava. With GM crops, which require large surface areas for planting and an intensive monoculture system, we don't have this safety blanket. Diversity in food choices also ensures that diets are varied enough to contain the required macro and micronutrients for good health, reducing the incidence of malnutrition.

As part of the funding, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support the BioCassava Plus project in Nigeria and Kenya to manipulate an increased production of beta-carotene, iron and protein in cassava which is an important crop in many parts of the world. Several communities in Kenya depend on cassava as a staple food as it survives in adverse conditions. The introduction of BioCassava will interfere with and wipe out farmers’ extensive and tireless efforts to preserve and exchange traditional varieties of cassava that are well adapted to particular local agro-climatic conditions.

Furthermore, by influencing farmers to grow the same variety, the introduction and proliferation of GM crops also pose a problem of freedom, reducing producers’ autonomy by creating economic dependence on seed suppliers. In most cases, GM crops also require high external inputs such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers, which, as well as generating their own threats to human health and the environment, are often out of the financial reach of poor small-scale farmers. This creates a cycle that further impoverishes the farmers and turns them into slaves who are no longer in control of their own destiny, having to turn to the shops at every planting season.

The funding will also have a massive impact on farming autonomy and sustainability in Asia, where it will support the Philippine Rice Research Institute and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute to engineer GM strains of “golden rice” to provide high levels of beta-carotene to decrease vitamin A deficiency in the local population.

To solve the problems of our times, we need to support and build on indigenous food systems, not stamp on them and wipe them out. The answers lie in the traditional agricultural knowledge that is held in the hearts, minds and hands of our small-scale farmers.


John Kariuki is vice-president of Slow Food International and currently works in his homeland of Kenya on Slow Food’s projects for biodiversity and food sovereignty.

Read Carlo Petrini’s 10 Reasons to Say No to GMOs.

CASSAVANEWS to follow Slowfood
<http://www.slowfood.com/international/food-for-thought/focus/94034/gates-backs-gm/q=D57E16?-session=query_session:42F947560a41b19601hTS1F1B0CA>
See all stories on this topic:
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Cassava News 93

CASSAVA NEWS to follow www.slowfood.com The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support the BioCassava Plus project in Nigeria and Kenya to manipulate an increased production of beta-carotene, iron and protein in cassava which is an important crop in many parts of the world. Several communities in Kenya depend on cassava as a staple food as it survives in adverse conditions. The introduction of BioCassava will interfere with and wipe out farmers’ extensive and tireless efforts to preserve and exchange traditional varieties of cassava that are well adapted to particular local agro-climatic conditions.

CASSAVA NEWS from Trinidad & Tobago Express . In two months cassava and sweet potato fries will be served at KFC and Royal Castle, Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said yesterday.  "We have just gotten our foot in the door with KFC and Royal Castle to actually sell cassava chips over their counter," Bharath told the media during the tea break of the Senate sitting.

Gates Backs GM

Kenya - 20 Apr 11 - John Kariuki

Efforts to expand the use of genetically modified (GM) crops in Asia and Africa were given a major boost last week with the announcement of a significant investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pledged $US18.6 million. The grant will fund projects aiming to develop modified varieties of rice and cassava, intending to produce greater quantities of one or more nutrients to tackle malnutrition.

Since its beginnings 30 years ago, GM technology has claimed to be able to feed the world and eradicate malnutrition. However in this time, we have only seen the number of hungry and malnourished grow, along with new problems and ramifications of a technology that we do not yet fully understand. While we can transplant a gene from one species to another for its desired characteristics, we cannot yet know how to predict or contain its results.

In Kenya and many other African countries, more and more people are turning to the traditional knowledge of communities as the key to solving problems of nutrition, and see the spread of GM crops as a new sickness of the land. Traditionally, communities have reduced their vulnerability to the effects of climate change and crop failure by relying on biodiversity in food supply. A dry season might destroy maize one year so instead we survive on cassava. With GM crops, which require large surface areas for planting and an intensive monoculture system, we don't have this safety blanket. Diversity in food choices also ensures that diets are varied enough to contain the required macro and micronutrients for good health, reducing the incidence of malnutrition.

As part of the funding, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support the BioCassava Plus project in Nigeria and Kenya to manipulate an increased production of beta-carotene, iron and protein in cassava which is an important crop in many parts of the world. Several communities in Kenya depend on cassava as a staple food as it survives in adverse conditions. The introduction of BioCassava will interfere with and wipe out farmers’ extensive and tireless efforts to preserve and exchange traditional varieties of cassava that are well adapted to particular local agro-climatic conditions.

Furthermore, by influencing farmers to grow the same variety, the introduction and proliferation of GM crops also pose a problem of freedom, reducing producers’ autonomy by creating economic dependence on seed suppliers. In most cases, GM crops also require high external inputs such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers, which, as well as generating their own threats to human health and the environment, are often out of the financial reach of poor small-scale farmers. This creates a cycle that further impoverishes the farmers and turns them into slaves who are no longer in control of their own destiny, having to turn to the shops at every planting season.

The funding will also have a massive impact on farming autonomy and sustainability in Asia, where it will support the Philippine Rice Research Institute and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute to engineer GM strains of “golden rice” to provide high levels of beta-carotene to decrease vitamin A deficiency in the local population.

To solve the problems of our times, we need to support and build on indigenous food systems, not stamp on them and wipe them out. The answers lie in the traditional agricultural knowledge that is held in the hearts, minds and hands of our small-scale farmers.


John Kariuki is vice-president of Slow Food International and currently works in his homeland of Kenya on Slow Food’s projects for biodiversity and food sovereignty.

Minister: Cassava, sweet potato fries at KFC shortly

By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

In two months cassava and sweet potato fries will be served at KFC and Royal Castle, Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said yesterday. "We have just gotten our foot in the door with KFC and Royal Castle to actually sell cassava chips over their counter," Bharath told the media during the tea break of the Senate sitting.

He said the final rounds of "testing and tasting" are underway, so in two months customers will be able to taste fries made from locally grown staples. His Ministry is working to cut the $4 billion annual food import bill by half in two to three years, he said. Wheat, corn and soya bean, he noted, are the main items imported. He said although we cannot grow wheat and soy beans here, we can substitute them with other foods.

Bharath said plans are also on stream for mega farms to produce rice, tomatoes and sweet corn in Felicity, Edinburgh and Orange Grove respectively. He said ketchup is imported into this country when we can grow our own tomatoes and make our ketchup here. He said this will be a $100 million industry.

In the Tucker Valley mega farm, he added, a pilot project will be initiated to cultivate onions and carrots, which are also imported. He said the Tucker Valley farm was never under the Agriculture Ministry but under the Housing Ministry, and therefore never received the focus it needed. He added that the soil at that farm is the best to grow crops and green houses were established on fertile land.

Questioned on how the consumer would benefit from mega farm crops, Bharath said "Farm Gate" will be put in place as exists in other countries, where consumers can drive to the farm and buy directly. He said produce will also be sold directly to the wholesale market and supermarkets.

"We are looking to produce crops that don't compete with our existing farmers and put them out of business because they have been the backbones of our communities," Bharath said.

Questioned as to why were food prices so high, Bharath pointed out that there was a decrease in basic commodities such as tomatoes and cucumbers.

"The issue is that there has been no infrastructure put in place for 50 years. That's what we are putting in place now, the 300 irrigation ponds, the access roads, the praedial larceny programme," he said.

Bharath said by the next three to four months consumers will see the benefits of these initiatives.

Cassava News 92

GE supplies biogas engines at Chinese ethanol plant



CASSAVA NEWS to follow BioEnergy News. In a bid to encourage the use of biogas across China, Austria's GE Energy is to supply its Jenbacher biogas engine technology to power China's largest ethanol production plant, which is currently under construction in the city of Nan Yang, Henan Province.

Owned and operated by Henan Tianguan Group, the new ethanol plant will produce 500,000m3 of biogas a day, from organic material such as cassava.

A 36MW onsite power plant featuring GE's Jenbacher engines is being built in multiple phases to support the ethanol plant's operations. Both new facilities are being built adjacent to the company's existing ethanol production facility, which uses a biomass digester system to convert cassava in ethanol in China.

For the 11MW first phase of the new onsite power plant, GE is supplying four of its J620 biogas engine units. The gas engines will utilise the ethanol production facility's waste methane biogas to generate renewable electricity, which Henan Tianguan Group plans to sell to the regional grid.

GE's biogas engines will also use methane gas created by the anaerobic digestion of cassava biomass to produce renewable electricity for the site.

With an efficiency rate of 82.8% (electrical efficiency, 42.8%; thermal efficiency, 40%), the new biogas power plant will provide Henan Tianguan Group with important operational and energy savings.

Replacing fossil fuels with biogas is expected to reduce the equivalent of 1.1 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

'Installing GE's Jenbacher biogas engines at our ethanol production facility will offer clear environmental benefits and help us achieve significant energy efficiency gains to help us generate more profits and become more competitive throughout the region,' says Zhang Xiaoyang, chairman of he Henan Tianguan Group.

GE's Jenbacher engines and associated equipment are due to be delivered to the project site starting in April 2011. After engine installation has been completed and the plant commissioned, the biogas power plant is scheduled to begin operating in July 2011.

GE supplies biogas engines at Chinese ethanol plant
BioEnergy News

Owned and operated by Henan Tianguan Group, the new ethanol plant will
produce 500000m3 of biogas a day, from organic material such as cassava. A
36MW onsite power plant featuring GE's Jenbacher engines is being built in
multiple phases to support the ...
<http://www.bioenergy-news.com/index.php?/Industry-News?item_id=3500>
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Biogas engines to power China's largest ethanol plant
Power-Gen Worldwide

Owned by Henan Tianguan Group, the new ethanol production plant will
produce 500 000 m3 of biogas per day, based on organic material from
cassava plants. A 36 MW on-site power plant based on Jenbacher engines is
being built in multiple phases to ...
<http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/3233817675/articles/powergenworldwide/distributed-generation/onsite-power/2011/04/biogas-engines_to.html>
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Cameroon: SOWEDA Offers Planting Material To Farmers
AllAfrica.com
The donated material were improved maize seed, cassava cuttings and
plantain suckers, all aimed at boosting output. The cropping season was
recently launched in the South West Region with the South West Development
Authority, SOWEDA, handing over ...
<http://allafrica.com/stories/201104181784.html>
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Fiji to increase agricultural exports
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd
These are dalo, ginger, yaqona, cassava and papaya. Last year - Fiji
produced 69000 metric tonnes of dalo– out which approximately 10000
metric tonnes were exported - earning Fiji $20 million. Ginger, yaqona,
cassava and papaya exports gathered a total ...
<http://www.radiofiji.com.fj/fullstory.php?id=36143>
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PPP: FG signs MOU on trade and investment directory
Nigeria Daily Independent

The Minister said due to the revival of the cassava flour inclusion policy
by the Presidential Committee on the Review of Fiscal Incentives and
Tariffs, Government has resuscitated the stakeholders meeting for the
implementation of the 10 per cent ...
<http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=32298>
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Feature: The truth about fufu
Myjoyonline.com

Whether done with yam, cassava, cocoyam, plantain or combinations of these,
fufu provides a delicious, full meal for many Ghanaians. It also allows us
to show our zest for life. Just consider this: a sweaty encounter with an
'asanka' of fufu, ...
<http://news.myjoyonline.com/features/201104/64535.asp>
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Cassava News 91

Dung Quat accelerates production of bio-ethanol

CASSAVANEWS to follow VOVNews.vn,  The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) is accelerating the building of the Dung Quat bio-fuel production plant, aiming put it into operation on a trial run by October, 2011.

After 16 months of construction, 75 percent of the project has been completed. This is the biggest bio-fuel production plant in central Vietnam and it will use cassava to produce 100 million liters of bio- ethanol petrol per year. The super clean product will partly replace traditional petrol.

The first phase of the project cost more than VND 2,200 billion.
Source: http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Dung-Quat-accelerates-production-of-bioethanol/20114/125817.vov
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Farm sector reforms essential
Bangkok Post
The country is the world's largest exporter of rice, rubber, cassava,
canned tuna, shrimp and canned pineapple. It is also a major exporter of
sugar, chicken, tropical fruits and vegetables, and animal feed. Increased
farm output is the main driver of ...
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/232380/farm-sector-reforms-essential>
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Welch: She's beginning to look a lot like mother
Times Record News

Sunday morning at church the congregation watched a video clip of a
silver-haired lady telling about a Ugandan woman who made enough money
raising cassava to build and lease primitive wheelbarrows. She used the
wheelbarrow money to establish a canteen ...
<http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2011/apr/18/no-headline---4-18_hanaba_munn_welch/>
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Cassava News 90

• Harnessing biofuels for enhanced smallholder livelihoods

  
  
  CROPS FOR BIPOFUEL to follow ICRISAT Happenings 15 April 2011, No 1462. ICRISAT-CIAT-IFAD final workshop on biofuel project Harnessing biofuels for enhanced smallholder livelihoods “With a looming energy crisis and climate change at the forefront of everyone’s mind, there has never been a better time for alternative energy solutions to shine,” said DG William Dar.
  
  
   

  Cassava for Biofuel in Vietnam

  
  
  CROPS FOR BIOFUEL This paper to supply the final report for three years (2008-2010) research and development of cassava varieties and new techniques at pilot site selection in Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Ninh Thuan and Yen Bai province, a production map of cassava for biofuel in Vietnam: opportunities and challenges, and recommendation for next step, (see more ...)
  
  
• Danforth Center gets $8M from Gates Foundation for cassava work - Bizjournals.com
• Rwanda: New cassava flour plant to give farmers a ready market - How we made it in Africa
• Gates Foundation boosts efforts here to provide life-saving crops for Africa - St. Louis Beacon
• Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears - New York Times
• Stella Maris Students Harvest Large Cassava - The Inquirer

Gates Foundation boosts efforts here to provide life-saving crops for Africa
St. Louis Beacon
By David Baugher, special to the Beacon When Martin Fregene talks to
farmers in his native Nigeria, he always tells them about the benefits of
the new variety of cassava he is working on. "They always tell me that if
what you are saying is true, ...
<http://www.stlbeacon.org/health-science/science/109659-gates-foundation-gives-grant-to-danforth-plant-science-center>
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Stella Maris Students Harvest Large Cassava
The Inquirer
8in. cassava that would make any 'dumboy' lover's mouth water. Dumboy which
is a local Liberian dish can be made with the produce being prepared in a
dough form and cooked, then eaten with any suitable soup. The coordinator
of the school's Agriculture ...
<http://theinquirer.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3953&sub=14>
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The strength of women
Fiji Times
Apart from the plants, the women also loaded their sacks of cassava and
rourou (taro leaves) in preparation for their everyday meals. "We also
packed our stoves and only have to buy our kerosene and we are all set,"
she added. ...
<http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=170870>
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Danforth Center gets $8M from Gates Foundation for cassava work
Bizjournals.com
Funds will be used to support Phase II of BioCassava Plus, a project that
aims to reduce malnutrition by increasing the nutritional value of cassava,
a staple crop consumed by more than 250 million sub-Saharan Africans and
nearly 700 million people ...
<http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2011/04/14/danforth-center-gets-8m-from-gates.html>
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GE's Biogas Engines to Power China's Largest Ethanol Production Plant
MFRTech (press release)
Owned by Henan Tianguan Group, China, the new ethanol production plant will
produce 500000 cubic meters of biogas per day, based on organic material
from cassava[1] plants. A 36-megawatt (MW) onsite power plant featuring
GE's Jenbacher engines is being ...
<http://www.mfrtech.com/articles/12877.html>
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Political support for agricultural development is low - Engineer
Ghana News Agency
Dr Bobobee said lately, the Department has added a tractor-operated cassava
harvesting implement which works best during the dry season and suitable
for large scale industrial cassava processing.
<http://www.ghananewsagency.org/s_science/r_27823/science/political-support-for-agricultural-development-is-low-engineer>
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Danforth Plant Science Center gets $8.3 million grant from Gates Foundation
Greenfield Daily Reporter
The grant announced Thursday will be used to advance work toward increasing
the nutritional value of cassava, a staple crop consumed by a quarter of a
billion people in sub-Saharan Africa. The plant science center says those
who depend on cassava for ...
<http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/22db0aadadf84896a03ee6b0cc6239a6/MO--Plants-Grant/>
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Government to construct over boreholes
Ghana News Agency
The District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Omari, said most of the people in
the area were farmers who produced vegetables, maize, banana and cassava on
large scale. He said the third national best farmer for last year came from
the district and the ...
<http://www.ghananewsagency.org/s_social/r_27778/social/government-to-construct-over-boreholes>
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Iconic 80s Singer Arie Wibowo Dies Day Before 59th Birthday
Jakarta Globe
(Photo Source Youtube) Eighties singer Arie Wibowo — who gained fame with
hits such as 'Madu dan Racun' ('Honey and Poison') and 'Singkong dan Keju'
('Cassava and Cheese') — died from a heart attack on Thursday. He was 58.
News about his death came ...
<http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/iconic-80s-singer-arie-wibowo-dies-day-before-59th-birthday/435572>
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Food or fuel?
City Journal.in
Biofuels are made from crops like corn, sugar, palm oil and cassava root
which are harvested and then shipped to plants to be converted into fuels
like ethanol. While it's likely that biofuels will play a significant role
in powering more efficient ...
<http://www.cityjournal.in/Newspaper/20110415/Environment/Environment_1.html>
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Gates backs GM crops with $17.7m
The Australian
The founder of Microsoft will today announce a huge investment in the
development of improved varieties of rice and cassava. Through the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, he will offer grants worth pound stg. 11.4
million ($17.7m) to projects that ...
<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/gates-backs-gm-crops-with-177m/story-e6frg6so-1226039354140>
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News in a nutshell
Scientist
This week's news includes an update on the situation at the Fukushima
nuclear power plant, a new understanding of antidepressant action, more
money for genetically-enhanced rice and cassava, bizarre breast cell
behavior, and a new benefit of broccoli. ...
<http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/58116/>
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Cassava News 89

For better impact, more women should be in politics – Saidat Oladunjoye Vanguard What we have in abundance in our area is cassava and fish. Hence, I want to ensure we harness them to the extent that we will begin to export them outside. ... See all stories on this topic » You think that life is tough in Nigeria? Come to Liberia – Nancy Obi Nigerian Compass (blog) Those who plant cassava, rice; those are the predominant crops we have in Liberia. So we had this value addition programme where we taught them to go beyond ... See all stories on this topic » Manning's Hill Road closure Jamaica Observer The roadways are Saxthorpe Avenue, Constant Spring Grove and Cassava Piece, roads that connect Constant Spring Road to Manning's Hill Road. ... See all stories on this topic » Mozambique Cassava Crop Infected by Mosaic Virus, Noticias Says Bloomberg By Fred Katerere - Fri Jan 14 08:34:19 GMT 2011 At least 20 percent of cassava plantations in the southern Mozambican district of Panda have been destroyed ... See all stories on this topic » Hailstorm devastates Kanungu district New Vision Tusingwire said the most affected crops were bananas, sweet potatoes, cassava, yams, millet and maize fields. “There are fears that famine will strike the ... See all stories on this topic » Peachy Bingo Play Made Easy Bingo Port This online site has been brought to you by Cassava enterprises who offer exciting gaming, fast payouts and great software. The design of this bingo site ... See all stories on this topic » Wawase R/C JHS is Best Farmer Modern Ghana The school, which has seven acres of maize, cowpea, cassava, plantain and teak plantation, received a television set, a quantity of weedicide, ... See all stories on this topic » DA: Eat root crops as rice alternative Visayan Daily Star DA regional information chief Juvy Gaton said the public should consider eating root crops like camote, cassava, taro, potatoes and yam, aside from banana ... See all stories on this topic » GREEN MED FORUM 2011 LANDS IN TUNISIA Green Med Journal Fresh produce Mediterranean quality, logistics, olive oil and a workshop on cassava will be the topics at the core of the 4th Green Med Forum, taking place ... See all stories on this topic » Mercola.com Offers 50% Discount and Free Shipping on Cocoa Cassava 3-Packs PR.com (press release) Organic raw chia seeds are the latest addition to Dr. Mercola's New Organic Cocoa Cassava Bar, considered a “combination of health-promoting fiber, ... See all stories on this topic » China aggressively adding cassava ethanol Biofuels Digest In China, after setting limitations on the use of cereals in ethanol production, China is aggressively developing a strategy for using cassava as a ... See all stories on this topic » Pasela sustains family Fiji Times Pasela, a popular takeaway lunch option in Labasa Town comprise two pieces of fish, an egg and four pieces of cassava. The 50-year-old who lives at Lajonia ... See all stories on this topic » Sweet cassava! Jamaica Observer Valerie Martin, vice principal and 4H co-ordinator at Port Antonio Primary School, shows of this giant sweet cassava reaped from the 4H garden at the back ... See all stories on this topic »  China plans to import cassava Phnom Penh Post KHAOU Chuly Development Company plans to invest US$7 million to grow cassava on 5000 hectares of land in Mondulkiri province this year, chairman Khaou ... See all stories on this topic » Akure farmer calls for mass production of cassava Nigeria Daily Independent By Yemi Akintomide, Correspondent, Akure A prominent cassava farmer in Akure, the Ondo State capital, Segun Adewumi, has urged the Federal Government to put ... See all stories on this topic » Cassava farming seminar slated Visayan Daily Star Representatives of Ginebra San Miguel Inc. will be in Silay City, Negros Occidental, Thursday for an Orientation Seminar on Cassava Farming Technology ... See all stories on this topic » Xargo to make cassava chips BioEnergy News In Nicaragua, fresh produce exporter Xagro and its multi-faceted business partner Jam are to begin testing the commercial production of cassava chips to be ... See all stories on this topic » Prices of foodstuffs go up in the wake of fuel price hikes Myjoyonline.com Tomato, plantain, cassava, fish and many others cost a little more today than they did a week ago. Joy News' Beatrice Adu visited the Agbogbloshie Market in ... See all stories on this topic » Gossip Bingo Bingo Port Gossip has been brought to you by the wonderful Cassava enterprises. Plus if you join gossips fan page on facebook you will receive another £2 completely ... See all stories on this topic » Fake alcohol erodes rural people's stomach VietNamNet Bridge Accordingly, producers only need to mix industrial alcohol with water and the fragrances of cassava, rice or maize to produce faked cassava, rice or maize ... See all stories on this topic » Nigeria: Govt Unveils Products of Cassava Research AllAfrica.com Four improved cassava varieties, which are products of about ten years conventional breeding research, have been released in Nigeria. ... See all stories on this topic » US Scientists Use Genetic Engineering to Protect Vital Cassava Farming in Africa Invention & Technology News Cassava is a starchy root crop whose tubers are a primary food source for about 800 million people worldwide, including about 250 million people who live in ... See all stories on this topic »  Nigeria gets improved cassava varieties ReliefWeb (press release) The Nigerian government has released four improved cassava varieties that will boost production and keep the country in the lead as the world's largest ... See all stories on this topic » Sierra Leone: US Ambassador visits community projects Patriotic Vanguard With Embassy assistance, the Muwatima United Development Organization, located in Mogibissie Village, Gbo Chiefdom, Bo District, has launched a cassava and ... See all stories on this topic » Online Bingo Excitement at Costa Bingo Pressitt (press release) The online bingo games at Costa Bingo are powered by the bingo software belonging to Brigend Limited which is owned by Cassava Enterprises. ... See all stories on this topic » Slimmer Pickings Wall Street Journal F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal The Goods: Yucca (aka cassava) root is mashed into a paste, then deep fried in sunflower oil. ... See all stories on this topic » Editorial: Cassava the killer Jakarta Post The recent deaths of six siblings from the Central Java town of Jepara from suspect tiwul, a staple food made from dried cassava, was indeed tragic. ... See all stories on this topic » Farmers fear change Fiji Times Dalo farmers on Taveuni have been urged to diversify their farming and move into other kinds of crop farming like cassava and vegetables. ... See all stories on this topic » US Ambassador, Family Visit Community-Based Agriculture and Crafts Projects Sierra Express Media {Photo of Ambassador Owen and Paramount Chief of Gbo cutting ribbon for the newly built cassava processing center also attached} With Embassy assistance, ... See all stories on this topic » Gambia: GTAFIWU Harvests Siffoe Farm AllAfrica.com The Gambia Transport Agriculture Food and Industrial Workers' Union (GTAFIWU), recently harvested crops such as; groundnut, maize, cassava, rice and other ... See all stories on this topic » Dining and Drink: Hot Ticket and Cheap Thrill Press Herald CHANCES ARE you have no idea what umutsima (cassava and corn), isombe (cassava, eggplant and spinach) and mizuzu (fried plantains) are, but you can learn ... See all stories on this topic » Experts call for staple food diversification Jakarta Post “Rice contains complex carbohydrate chains, while tubers like cassava and yam have a shorter carbohydrate chain, oligo sacharida, which is more easily ... See all stories on this topic » Abundant goods but low purchasing power characterised Yuletide in Anyinam GhanaWeb The survey showed that foodstuffs like plantain, cocoyam, cassava and vegetables were abundant but they were not being patronized as customers complained of ... See all stories on this topic » CASSAVA COMBATING RURAL HUNGER Inter Press Service Local scientists have successfully developed four new, early-maturing and high- yielding cassava cultivars in an ambitious research project conducted in the ... See all stories on this topic » Biofuel plant delays production by another six months Phnom Penh Post CAMBODIA'S first biofuel production plant has pushed its restart back until at least July, as the high prices of cassava continues to halt company plans, ... See all stories on this topic » Six children died of food poisoning in Central Java Island Crisis The six children died after eating 'tiwul' a traditional dish made from cassava. Two died on Saturday, then two more succumbed on Sunday and finally four ... See all stories on this topic » LIFT ON IMPORT BAN: THE REPS' POSITION Nigerian Tribune ... including textile materials, furniture, toothpicks and cassava products, some of which have been under import prohibition for about eight years. ... See all stories on this topic » PM directs ministry to submit report about mysterious weed The Citizen Daily The researchers, Mr Ally Mrendelo from the institute's Livestock Department and Ms Mariana Massawe of the Cassava Research Department were shocked by the ... See all stories on this topic » Photo: Sun News Publishing Daily Sun He said that it was better for the items to come in, thereby encouraging competition, ditto for cassava which, he noted, when there was no ban, ... See all stories on this topic »

Prophesy For 2011 GhanaWeb I mean she will set up her coal pot and mix her corn and cassava dough right there in the full glare of the Ghanaian public. She will then light her fire, ... See all stories on this topic »

Help . CASSAVA
Caribbean Hurricane Network
He as just given me some huge pieces of Cassava. OK, how do I cook it ? can anyone tell me. ? Is it like cooking dasheen ? Bit worried because I have been ... See all stories on this topic »

Nigeria: Lagosians Are Law-Abiding Citizens - Jaji
AllAfrica.com
Of course in Ejirin, Ikorodu, their primary product is garri (a local staple from cassava). We can actually key into this to go into cassava farming on ... See all stories on this topic »