Cassava is a staple smallholder crop all over Africa. There’s a lot to like: it is climate resilient, it nourishes the soil, and there’s growing global demand, especially as a gluten-free starch. There’s also a huge problem: it must be processed within three days, or it goes bad. Farmers routinely lose 40% of their crop, so they hedge by only using a fraction of their land.
CassVita has developed a treatment that extends cassava’s shelf life to 18 months by making it think it’s still in the ground. Farmers can now grow more, lose less, and earn more. The product is easy to use, requiring only a simple chemical bath for about an hour, and it integrates well with existing co-op structures.
Initial trials show significant income increases for farmers, with even greater potential if they plant more cassava on unused land. If this becomes the ubiquitous way to farm cassava, there is no reason to believe this can’t boost cassava farmers’ incomes all over Africa.
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