The United Republic of Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa, covering 940,000 square kilometres, 60,000 of which is INLAND water. Tanzania lies south of the Equator and shares borders with eight countries i.e.Kenya and Uganda to the North-, Rwanda Bur-unck Zaire, and Zambia to the West; and Malawi and Mozambique to the south.
The main climate feature for most of the country is the long dry spell from May to October, followed by a period of rainfall during November/ December. The main rainy season along the coast and the areas around Mt.Kilimanjaro is from March to May with short rains between October and December. Around Lake Victoria in the western part of the country, rainfall is well distributed throughout the year, with the peak period between March and May.
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important subsistence food crop in Tanzania, especially in the semi-arid areas, and sometimes considered as a famine reserve when cereals fail due to its drought tolerance. 84% of the total production in the country is utilized as human food, the remaining percentages are for other uses like starch making, livestock feed and export. Both roots and leaves of cassava are of major nutritional importance in the country. The estimated annual growth of cassava consumption demand for period from 1980 to 2000 is 3.4% which is similar to the estimate for maize. Cassava is cultivated and produced in all regions of Tanzania. The main producing areas are: Mwanza, Mtwara, Lindi, Shinyanga, Tanga Ruvuma , Mara Kigoma, Coast regions and most regions in Zanzibar (Figure 1).
The Roots and Tuber Crops Improvement programme, which was established in 1974, and has its headquarters at Ukiriguru Agricultural Research and Training Institute in Mwanza, is actively involved in the improvement of cassava and sweet potato. Other governmental agencies involved in the unproverment of these crops include the Ministry of Agriculture of Zanzibar, Sokoine University of Agriculture, and the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC). The last two institutions are dealing mainly with the development of post harvest technologies. International collaborators include: members from the Natural Resources Institute (NRI)-United Kingdom, international Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Nigeria, Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network (SARRNET) and the International Potato Center (CIP).
Both local and external market for cassava is available. Since the crop is bulk in nature and perishable, fresh storage roots and leaves are sold at local markets near centres of production.Dried cassava (makopa) are transported to distant markets within or outside the country. Limited transport and storage ficilities make access to market a problem
The activities of the Roots/Tubers Research programme has been collection, maintenance and evaluation of cassava germplasm, development of high yielding early maturing varieties with resistance to cassava mosaic virus disease and cassava greenmite, with acceptable qualities by the consumer. Identification of appropriate technologies in crop management practices, multiplication of improved materials and distribution to farmers. Also emphasis is put on the integrated pest and disease control measures, improvement of storage methods practised at household level mid quantification of hydrocyanic acid content in cassava varieties and their products.
Figure 1. Map of Tanzania showing cassava producing areas
The purpose of this report is to analyze the past and present situation of cassava development in Tanzania, with a view to describing the lessons learned from past development interventions and their implications for future investment in cassava research and development.This report has topics on production and utilization, agronomic, breeding, plant protection, post harvest interventions and marketing, pricing policyinvestment in cassava research and infraestructure extension services,gender in cassava production and utilizationcritical analysis of major interventions,lessons learnt from past experiences and a synthesis for strategy on the future research and development of cassava in the country. Lastly the proposed future projects are outlined.
The report is based mainly on the secondary information collected from various departments
which have dealt or dealing at present with cassava sector. Also key informants and
reports from various case studies have been used. Producton statistics reported are based
mainly on the available national stastics. Proposed projects for future interventions are
a result of the findings from this study and previous missions by FAO.