Cassava joins list of Tanzania's main cash crops

Eating cassava was, until a decade or so back, a common phenomenon in most villages in Tanzania mainland-including the mountainous hillside of Pare.

In these places, where the main occupation for almost every household was farming in small scale, peasant farmers made it a rule to munch the food item, as part of breakfast before they set off for farming.

People in the rural areas ate it not because they liked it more than other food stuff, but mainly on grounds that there was no other alternative food. It is was in fact a life saving choice.

In other parts-for example on the coastal strip, the story was different; for whereas they also ate cassava , the food was cooked by use of coconuts-an important ingredient- even today.

It is a principal crop flourishing well in sandy loam soil where water easily penetrates to the ground and accordingly absorbed by the plant.

Notwithstanding its richness in carbohydrates, not many people regard it food of choice. They consider it a second class food stuff where there are no other alternatives, such as rice, maize, sorghum etc.

In some communities, people eat it only where the climate has been hostile. For example, during summer when they find their maize crop has been scotched by cruel sun-completely drying up. In such cases, failed crops are rendered useless; qualifying as food items for animals.

But for those growing cassava, whether in small or large scales, there is hope at the end of the tunnel. Now, cassava has diverted from being a mere security crop to a cash crop-joining a team of other cash earners – such as sisal, coffee, tea, cashew nuts etc. Read more