In a recent partnership between the government in Tanzania and the Next Generation Cassava Breeding project, they hope to decrease challenges farmers are currently facing in Africa growing the crop. In the new partnership, Tanzania joins the efforts of Nigeria and Uganda. They hope that by increasing the ease of growing Cassava in Africa they can increase the well being of farmers there.
Cassava is a vital crop in Tanzania, second only to maize in volume produced. More than 80 percent of farmers in the country grow cassava, producing about 4.5 million tons of cassava roots annually. About three-quarters of the crop is used for human consumption.
"Partnering with NextGen should help us develop tools to address biotic stresses like cassava brown streak disease, cassava mosaic disease, and cassava green mite, and improve cassava root yields that will serve to increase cassava production countrywide," said Heneriko Kulembeka, cassava breeder and NextGen coordinator in Tanzania. "The NextGen project will assist in determining good parental lines for different traits of interest."
Cassava farmers face many challenges raising their crop. Tanzania loses an estimated 2.5 million tons each year to cassava brown streak disease, cassava mosaic disease, and cassava green mite. There is poor access to improved planting materials and processing technologies, limited use of fertilizers and herbicides, and low investment in cassava research and improvement.
