Cassava is Africa's second most important food crop. The cassava transformation that is now underway in West Africa is fueled by new high yielding TMS varieties that have transformed cassava from a low-yielding, famine-reserve crop to a high-yielding cash crop for both rural and urban consumers. The book highlights the role of cassava as a "poverty fighter" by increasing cassava productivity and driving down the cost of cassava in rural and urban diets.

Until recently, economists studying economic development have tended to consider it as a universal process, or focussed their attention on common aspects. This book originates from the growing recognition of significant sectoral differences in economic development and examines the catching-up process in five different economic sectors: pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, software, and agro-food industries. Each of these sector studies explore the learning and catch-up processes in various developing countries, in order to identify both the common features, and those which differ significantly across sectors and nations. The authors pay particular attention to China, India, Brazil, Korea and Taiwan. Edited by two of the leading scholars in the field, this book will prove to be invaluable for academics and postgraduate students interested in economic and technological development, and evolutionary economics.

"This book investigates the impact of diverse cultures on the development and actualization of global economic entities, exploring advanced methods and best practices for the effective utilization and management of financial organizations within a globalized political context"--Provided by publisher.

Cassava is a staple crop in a large number of countries due to its adaptability to a variety of climatic conditions. It has spread extensively throughout Latin America, tropical Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Cassava, which is well known for its high carbohydrate content, is the third most carbohydrate-rich food after rice and maize. This book discusses the diversity of cassava and its microbiome, cassava cultivation and postharvest practices, as well as crop yield-reducing diseases. Due to its widespread use and market importance, cassava has been subjected to biological and technological intervention to ensure food safety. This book will help readers to gain knowledge about cassava, its biological properties, and some of the strategies and procedures necessary to increase cassava crop output.

In recent times, results of various adoption studies have been mixed, raising questions regarding why some improved farm technologies are still not widely adopted several years after their first introduction. Many improved cassava varieties have been introduced to millions of farm households across Africa south of the Sahara. Using an extensive review of cassava-adoption literature focused on Nigeria, this paper discusses the uptake of improved cassava varieties. Generic measurement and methodological issues in the literature are illuminated and alternative approaches suggested. The literature can be improved to better inform policy by considering issues such as attribution constraint due to varietal identification challenges and sample selection bias that can limit interpretation of findings. Very few studies disaggregated adoption by men and women, thus the literature can provide more policy relevance by giving adequate attention to gender considerations. Also, the use of only descriptive statistics and dichotomous choice models is most common while issues of sequencing, simultaneity, endogenity, and social learning effects in adoption decisions are under-evaluated. The local germplasm at research institutions in the country is not exhaustive and thus efforts should focus on improving the database for an effective use of a DNA fingerprinting technique in the varietal identification process.

Sub—Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Because most Africans work in agriculture, escaping such dire poverty depends on increased agricultural productivity to raise rural incomes, lower food prices, and stimulate growth in other economic sectors. Per capita agricultural production in sub—Saharan Africa has fallen, however, for much of the past half—century. Successes in African Agriculture investigates how to reverse this decline. Instead of cataloging failures, as many past studies have done, this book identifies episodes of successful agricultural growth in Africa and identifies processes, practices, and policies for accelerated growth in the future. The individual studies follow developments in, among other areas, the farming of maize in East and Southern Africa, cassava across the middle belt of Africa, cotton in West Africa, horticulture in Kenya, and dairying in East Africa. Drawing on these case studies and on consultations with agricultural specialists and politicians from across sub—Saharan Africa -- undertaken in collaboration with the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development -- the contributors identify two key determinants of positive agricultural performance: agricultural research to provide more productive and sustainable technologies to farmers and a policy framework that fosters market incentives for increasing production. The contributors discuss how the public and private sectors can best coordinate the convergence of both factors. Given current concerns about global food security, this book provides timely and important resources to policymakers and development specialists concerned with reversing the negative trends in food insecurity and poverty in Africa.

This practical guide applies FAO's ecosystem-based model of agriculture, which aims at improving productivity while conserving natural resources, to cassava. The guide shows how "Save and Grow" can help cassava growers avoid the risks of intensification, while realizing the crop's potential for producing higher yields, alleviating hunger and rural poverty, and contributing to national economic development.

Handbook of Vegetables and Vegetable Processing, Second Edition is the most comprehensive guide on vegetable technology for processors, producers, and users of vegetables in food manufacturing.This complete handbook contains 42 chapters across two volumes, contributed by field experts from across the world. It provides contemporary information that brings together current knowledge and practices in the value-chain of vegetables from production through consumption. The book is unique in the sense that it includes coverage of production and postharvest technologies, innovative processing technologies, packaging, and quality management. Handbook of Vegetables and Vegetable Processing, Second Edition covers recent developments in the areas of vegetable breeding and production, postharvest physiology and storage, packaging and shelf life extension, and traditional and novel processing technologies (high-pressure processing, pulse-electric field, membrane separation, and ohmic heating). It also offers in-depth coverage of processing, packaging, and the nutritional quality of vegetables as well as information on a broader spectrum of vegetable production and processing science and technology. Coverage includes biology and classification, physiology, biochemistry, flavor and sensory properties, microbial safety and HACCP principles, nutrient and bioactive properties In-depth descriptions of key processes including, minimal processing, freezing, pasteurization and aseptic processing, fermentation, drying, packaging, and application of new technologies Entire chapters devoted to important aspects of over 20 major commercial vegetables including avocado, table olives, and textured vegetable proteins This important book will appeal to anyone studying or involved in food technology, food science, food packaging, applied nutrition, biosystems and agricultural engineering, biotechnology, horticulture, food biochemistry, plant biology, and postharvest physiology.