AfricaPress-Tanzania: ALTHOUGH Tanzania has registered increased production of cassava from 5.9 million tonnes to 8.2million between 2008 and 2019, the demand is still higher than supply, it has been said.
According to the Director of Crops in the ministry of Agriculture, Nyasebwa Chimagu, despite the increase, production of the vital economic cash crop remains relatively low in the country compared to the high demand from within and outside the country.
For instance, China alone demands more than 2 million tonnes of dry cassava, equivalent to 6million tonnes of fresh cassava per year.
Chimagu said in an interview here that low production was attributed to low use of improved seed, low application of improved technologies, unreliable climatic conditions as well as presence of diseases, among others.
According to him during the 2016/17 season at least 1,202,216 hectares of cassava were cultivated, producing a total of 4, 025,265 tonnes. “The low production was caused by prolonged droughts in major cassavagrowing zones,’’ he stated.
He added that during the 2017/18 season, the country grew cassava in a total of 983,502 hectares which generated 8,372,211 tonnes, whilst during the 2018/ 2019 farming season the county produced 8,184, 093 tonnes from 990,835 hectares.
“We are putting several measures in place to improve the country’s production level with an eye to meet expanded demand for cassava in home and away markets,” he observed.
Cassava Desk Officer, Upendo Mndeme, noted that the ministry of agriculture has developed a diverse strategy aiming to double the current production through increasing availability of quality cassava seed varieties, training farmers and extension officers on better agronomic practices.
“A number of efforts have been put in place to increase production, productivity and processing of cassava in the country, through which, more than 389 hectares of cassava seed farm have been registered for seed multiplication and at least 71 authorized seed inspectors have been trained on cassava seed inspection, Director of Crops in the ministry of Agriculture, Dr Nyasebwa Chimagu said.
As per the 2017 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s Agriculture Annual Sample Survey, cassava is operated by 1.9 million operators along the value chain and the crop contributes 17 percent of the food basket in Tanzania, second after maize during 2018/19.
Tanzania ranks 12th in the world cassava production, 7th in Africa, based on the country’s available cassava production data of 8.4 million tonnes in 2018.
The leading countries in cassava producing in the continent include Nigeria, DRC, Ghana, Angola, Mozambique and Malawi.
