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Cassava recipe for healthy harvests in Kenya

08 May 2013

Cassava recipe for healthy harvests in Kenya

Maize is a popular food crop across eastern Africa, but it needs plenty of rain. Frequent dry spells and outbreaks of plant disease mean ruined harvests are worryingly common.

Cassava is a great alternative to maize that can survive in much drier conditions - it is a nutritious tuber, a little like a giant potato or yam. However, many farmers are reluctant to grow it as it can take 18 months to two years to mature, and all too often it is ruined by diseases known locally as ‘mosaic virus’ and ‘brown streak virus’.

Disease-resistant cassava

In Kenya’s Ugenya district there isn’t enough rain for healthy maize harvests and many families rely on growing cassava to survive. But their crops are being destroyed by diseases on an alarmingly regular basis. Having spoken to local farmers about the problems they were facing, and engaged them in a successful trial, Farm Africa is now introducing farmers to new cassava varieties that resist common plant diseases and mature in less than a year.

Gloria is just one of more than 2,000 farmers who have benefited so far. She is a widow with four children and used to rely on her small tailoring business to feed her family. She was trying to grow maize despite the low rainfall, as she was too worried to invest time in growing cassava as she feared it died before she could eat it.

Fast-maturing crops

Having spoken to the team from Farm Africa and other local farmers, Gloria felt confident enough to plant three-quarters of an acre with the new cassava varieties, using the farming methods she had recently been taught as part of the project.

Just 11 months later she harvested her first cassava crop. She used some to feed her family, and sold some cuttings to other local farmers who had heard about the new ‘wonder crop’ and wanted to try it for themselves. She also turned some into cassava chips which fetch a good price, and is looking forward to learning new ways to add value to her harvest.

She told our team: “My life has changed for the better since I became involved in the project.” Thanks to this extra income, she is now able to comfortably feed her family all year round and pay for her children to attend school.

More about our cassava project

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