United Nations Radio

Cassava is back! After a year of devastating crop losses, farmers throughout the Great Lakes region of Africa are successfully harvesting a crop of one of Africa's principle foodstuffs.

The achievement came about as a result of a partnership between FAO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the European Union.

Each person in Africa eats around 80 kg of cassava per year. So, when an aggressive strain of a virus called Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) decimated harvests throughout the Great Lakes region, consequences were disastrous. With the help of the two organizations, by the last planting season, virus-free cassava planting material had been distributed to some 330,000 smallholders in countries struck by the virus - Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The improved crop now benefits more than one and a half million people.

Gerry Adams, United Nations.

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