Wolin in Africa

On Sunday, Deputy Secretary Wolin will travel to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

In the afternoon, he will tour an International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) research station, which focuses on the cassava plant, to learn more about the importance of adaptive agriculture research in boosting yields in sub-Saharan African agriculture and to underscore the U.S. government’s commitment to financing research of this kind.

Tanzania is one of the top five producers of cassava on the continent. IITA’s work in Tanzania has resulted in modern processing methods and equipment to produce safe cassava products. It is funded by USAID, the World Bank and a variety of other development partners.

Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world.

In the humid and sub-humid areas of tropical Africa, cassava is either a primary staple food or a secondary co-staple. In some African countries it accounts for up to 30% of daily food intake.