Nutritional implications of projects giving high priority to the production of staples of low nutritive quality: The Case for Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) in the Humid Tropics of West Africa

Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is emerging as a dominant staple of primary or secondary importance in many developing countries of the humid and sub-humid tropics in Africa and elsewhere. Since it can withstand drought, it is sometimes a nutritionally strategic famine reserve crop in areas of unreliable rainfall. This paper reviews reasons for the spread of, and increasing interest in, cassava, the possible cyanide toxicity associated with it, the nutritional problems of cassava dependency, and the need for consideration of the total food/nutrition system in the planning of interventions to ensure balanced diets or attainment of acceptable nutritional status in cassava-dependent cultures. It also emphasizes the need to ensure that cassava, which is not usually fed to young children in tropical Africa, does not replace the traditional cereal-based and more protein-rich weaning foods.