Cassava: a food crop in the Wau Valley

Abstract

Cassava, Manihot esculenta, has long been cultivated in Central America and Brazil. More recently it was introduced to Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands. It has become an important subsistence crop in Africa. Because it is so easy to cultivate and gives such a good output on low-fertile soils, cassava is now growing in importance as a staple in the Pacific Islands, including Papua New Guinea.