Preface

According to estimations by the FAO almost 100 million tons of roots and tubers are harvested annually in Africa. Of these, 77 million tons alone are cassava and yams, the most important staple foods in this group, which constitute almost 16% of the food consumed by the 575 million inhabitants of Africa.

In the past, roots and tubers were mainly subsistence crops With the increased tendency to urbanisation and thus more and more dependence of the African people on low-price foods, a gradual move away from subsistence crops towards cash crops has occurred To accommodate this, wide groups of the rural population have been able to enter into commercial agriculture and now not only cultivate crops to secure food for themselves

After harvesting, roots and tubers are perishable products and are subject to high losses during transport, storage and selling if the potential for food security is to be exploited to a more extensive degree, it will become indispensable to process these into products which can be stored without suffering great losses in practically applying measures towards this, the African women are extremely important

This brochure appearing in German, French and English presents an outline of the socio-cultural and economic aspects of cassava and yam production and summarises the most important findings currently available on processing and storage techniques.

This publication is to constitute a basis for more extensive advisory services and further investigations into the practical application of such methods. It is anticipated that restricting losses will lead to a greater area being cultivated and to a reduction in the work burden on women in Africa

J. Christenn

Bundesministerium ftschaftliche
Zusammenarbeit
Referat 223

A. Bell
Deutsche Gesellschaft fhnische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
OE 423

Abbreviations