VIDEO: THE STAKES ARE HIGH |
Demand for cassava in Asia is on the rise. As wet or dry starch, it’s in everything from noodles to pharmaceutical products, and has a growing niche in gluten-free and low fat foods. In Cambodia, this is a massive opportunity for smallholder farmers, who depend on income from the crop to support their livelihoods. |
CIAT 11 September, 2015 by Georgina Smith (comments)
Demand for cassava in Asia is on the rise. As wet or dry starch, it’s in everything from noodles to pharmaceutical products, and has a growing niche in gluten-free and low fat foods. In Cambodia, this is a massive opportunity for smallholder farmers, who depend on income from the crop to support their livelihoods.
But cassava intensification could have dramatic environmental costs if it’s not managed properly. And farmers face mounting challenges in cultivating cassava profitably: from a swathe of emerging pests and diseases devastating harvests to declining soil fertility, climate shocks and volatile market prices.
Huong Sokhang, farmer and group leader in Cambodia.
Huong Sokhang, a group leader of 30 farmers since 2013, knows the value of cassava for her family. She is one of around 40 million people across Southeast Asia who depend on the annual production of about 75 million tons of cassava grown as a cash crop on four million hectares.
Since the market is broad, it offers many opportunities for income generation. The crop can be stored in the soil throughout the year if it can’t be sold – and it’s relatively climate hardy. That’s especially important in Southeast Asia, which is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Dramatic impacts if not properly managed
Since 2009, supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Training of Trainer courses – complete demonstration and field activity courses on sustainable cassava production – have been provided by CIAT staff, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries across Cambodia.
More than 100 extension staff linked to the IFAD-funded Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project (RULIP) alone, in Ratanakiri, Preah Vihear and Kratie provinces, received training through demonstrations and on-farm trials, delivered by CIAT.
- See more at: http://www.ciatnews.cgiar.org/2015/09/11/looming-threat-for-asias/#sthash.HC9n6wiH.dpuf |
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