Alternative food crops to adapt to potential climatic change in southern Africa

Abstract

This paper discusses the merits of an alternative food crop, cassava Manihot esculenta, as a means to alleviate the effects of climate-induced drought on human and livestock food security in southern Africa. Although both tubers and leaves of cassava can be processed for consumption, the crop is grown to a very limited extent in this region. However, local awareness of cassava's potential has increased over the last decade.