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Cassava farming

A child standing in a field of cassava in western Kenya. A child standing in a field of cassava in western Kenya.

Poor land, low-yielding varieties and a crop disease that decimated their staple food crop, cassava, meant farmers in western Kenya and major cassava growing areas struggled to produce enough food for their families and communities. 

Fast-maturing cassava

Farm Africa helped farmers in the Nyando and Ugenya districts in Nyanza to increase their harvests of healthy cassava by:

  • introducing new disease-resistant varieties that cope better with drought, mature faster, and produce more yield per hectare than the traditional variety
  • training leading farmers in the area how to look after the new variety, so that they could then train another five farmers each
  • promoting cassava consumption and boosting nutrition by teaching farmers new cooking techniques, including chapattis, crisps, chips and cakes, which fetch a higher price than unprocessed cassava alone.
  • training farmers in post-harvest conservation methods such as drying and chipping, to reduce losses and ensure food is available for longer
Farm aid not food aid Farm aid not food aid

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