Luanda - The African Union Commissioner, Angolan commissioner, Josefa Correia Sacko, said it was necessary and urgent to attract more private investment for cassava processing and other commodities produced on the continent, including in Angola, which produces around 11 million tons of cassava per year.
Speaking, via video conference, at the 1st International Cassava Congress, which is being held in Malanje province, she noted that with the rise from 59 million tonnes, at the beginning of the 1960s, to 351 million tonnes since 2016, the harvest area had also risen from 11 to 42 million hectares.
The African Union (AU) Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment detailed that two-thirds of this increase consisted of cassava and yam, with cassava alone accounting for 138 million tonnes.
He specified that 67 per cent of cassava production is in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ghana, serving as the main or co-primary staple, while Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire account for another 16 per cent of this figure.
He said roots, tubers and bananas have the potential to contribute significantly to ending hunger and malnutrition on the continent due to the growth in productivity and the diversity of ecosystems under which they can grow.
