What is Cassava?

 

Here Brother Djoussou feasts on "cassava" which has been prepared outside of the MTC.  It is not served in the MTC, but as you can see here, it has been prepared correctly and he is enjoying it.  You are invited, as he would say.

So what is Cassava, you ask?  Cassava is Ghana’s most highly produced crop and a main staple of the Ghanaian consumer diet, with per capita consumption averaging 148 kilograms per year. While the crop is cultivated in large enough volumes to produce an annual surplus of more than 5.6 million metric tons as of 2010, its commercialization is significantly limited by rapid spoilage upon harvest and a lack of processing capacity close to production areas. Due to these factors, cassava has historically been consumed only in raw or lightly processed form, primarily in staple foods such as gari, fufu, and agbelima.Cassava is the third largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics, after rice and maize.

Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for over half a billion people.  It is one of the most drought-tolerant crops, capable of growing on marginal soils. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava, while Thailand is the largest exporter of dried cassava.

Cassava is classified as sweet or bitter. Farmers often prefer the bitter varieties because they deter pests, animals, and thieves. Like other roots and tubers, both bitter and sweet varieties of cassava contain antinutritional factors and toxins. It must be properly prepared before consumption. Improper preparation of cassava can leave enough residual cyanide  to cause acute cyanide intoxication and goiters, and may even cause ataxia  or partial paralysis.  The more toxic varieties of cassava are a fall-back resource (a "food security crop") in times of famine in some places.