Transcript Cassava - Rutgers University

Cassava
• Indigenous to South America, and
a staple food in many African
societies
• Very tough plant: very droughttolerant, reproduces by cuttings,
grows in marginal soil
• Nutritional value: high in
carbohydrates, but not in protein,
and a diet high in cassava can
produce malnutrition
• It is toxic, but with processing
(soaking and fermentation), it is
edible. Its toxicity also makes it
resist pests.
Food crops in Ghana brought from
South America
Boro in Twi means
from afar/abroad
• borode = plantain
• aborobe = pineapple
• aburo = corn
Although--• bankye = cassava
Agriculture in Africa
• Production of
domesticated plants
using handheld tools
• Rain as the source of
moisture
• Major crops: grains such
as millet and sorghum,
and root crops like yam
and cassava
• Cultivated fields not used
permanently, year after
year, but remain fallow
Agriculture in Africa
• Lower yield per
acre than
intensive
agriculture but
less human labor
also
• Average plot size
are less than an
acre; 2.5 acres
can support 5-8
people a year.
• Population
densities are low,
but villages may
be large (1001,000 people)
Slash-and-Burn Farming
• A field is cleared by
felling the trees and
burning the brush
• The burned vegetation
is left on the land,
preventing drying out of
the soil
• Ash serves as fertilizer
• Very little weeding
required because of the
ash cover
• Fields used for a few
years and then allowed
to lie fallow (up to 20
years) so that the forest
cover can be rebuilt
and soil fertility
restored
Horticulture and the
Environment
• So long as the land is
allowed to remain fallow
until it rejuvenates, the
system is sustainable.
• However, access to land
by ranchers, miners,
tourists, and farmers;
horticulturalists’ desire to
increase production for
cash; and population
growth can mean that the
land becomes degraded.
Agriculturalists & Gender
• Men’s and women’s
work roles often clearly
defined
• A common pattern is for
women to grow staple
crops for food and men
to grow cash crops or
earn cash through
other means
• The differences in work
roles have implications
for the status of men
and women.
Agriculturalists & Gender
• With an increase in crops
grown for sale (cash
crops like cotton, cocoa,
etc) rather than crops
grown for household use
(staples or food crops),
men tend to dominate in
farming
• The introduction of the
market economy has
thus tended to benefit
men, not women.