Why cassava could be a way to keep food costs down.
There are two main root vegetables in West Africa - cassava and yam.
Cassava is available all year round, it is cheap and is known, or to put it correctly, was known as food for the poor.
Why cassava could be a way to keep food costs down.
The other popular one is yam, which Nigerian author Chinua Achebe famously described as "the king of crops".
The yam harvest is awaited eagerly. Indeed, special rites are performed before the new yam can be eaten, and we put on our finest clothes to celebrate the vegetable.
Cassava is, at best, everyday food and used to be the regular fare of the poor and servants.
Why cassava could be a way to keep food costs down : the global cassava development strategy.
Garri from cassava can replace wheat and can be used for bread.
I note that President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda is urging his people to turn to a diet of cassava as an antidote to the rocketing price of wheat during the current worldwide cost of living crisis.
"If there is no bread, eat muwogo [cassava]," he said.
