Economic Impact

World production of cassava root was estimated to be 184 million tonnes in 2002, rising to 230 million tonnes in 2008. (FAO). The majority of production in 2002 was in Africa where 99.1 million tonnes were grown. 51.5 million tonnes were grown in Asia and 33.2 million tonnes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava. However, based on the statistics from the FAO of the United Nations, Thailand is the largest exporting country of dried cassava with a total of 77% of world export in 2005. The second largest exporting country is Vietnam, with 13.6%, followed by Indonesia (5.8%) and Costa Rica (2.1%). Worldwide cassava production increased by 12.5% between 1988 and 1990.

Cassava, together with yams (Dioscorea sp.) and sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas) are important sources of food in the tropics. The cassava plant gives the highest yield of food energy per cultivated area per day among crop plants, except possibly for sugarcane. Cassava plays a particularly important role in developing countries' farming—especially in sub-Saharan Africa—because it does well on poor soils and with low rainfall, and because it is a perennial that can be harvested as required. Its wide harvesting window allows it to act as a famine reserve and is invaluable in managing labor schedules. It also offers flexibility to resource-poor farmers because it serves as either a subsistence or a cash crop.

While underground storage of cassava is advantageous for managing work schedules, it may also lead to reduced quality of the roots, sometimes leaving the roots unsuitable for many types of processing. In some areas farmers have come to increasingly rely on dried Cassava chips. A 1992 study (Nweke et al.) revealed that about 42% of harvested cassava roots in West and East Africa are processed into dried chips and flour.

No continent depends as much on root and tuber crops in feeding its population as does Africa. In the humid and sub-humid areas of tropical Africa, cassava is either a primary staple food or a secondary co-staple. In Ghana, for example, Cassava and yams occupy an important position the agricultural economy and contribute about 46% of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Cassava accounts for a daily calorie intake of 30% in Ghana and is grown by nearly every farming family. The importance of cassava to many Africans is epitomised in the Ewe (a language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin) name for the plant, agbeli, meaning "there is life." However, the price of cassava has risen significantly in the last half decade and lower-income people have turned to other carbohydrate-rich foods such as rice.

In Tamil Nadu, one of the 28 states of India, the National Highway 68 between Thalaivasal and Attur has many cassava processing factories (local name Sago Factory) alongside it—indicating an abundance of it in the neighborhood. Cassava is widely cultivated and eaten as a staple food in Andhra Pradesh and in Kerala.

In the subtropical region of southern China, cassava is the fifth largest crop in term of production, after rice, sweet potato, sugar cane, and maize. China is also the largest export market for cassava produced in Vietnam and Thailand. Over 60% of cassava production in China is concentrated in a single province, Guangxi, averaging over seven million tons annually.