Consumption
Nearly every person in Africa eats around 80 kilograms of cassava per year. It is estimated that 37% of dietary energy comes from cassava. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest consumer of cassava in SSA, followed by Nigeria.
Disease and constraints
The major pests of cassava in SSA are the cassava green mite and the variegated grasshopper. The main diseases affecting cassava are cassava mosaic disease (CMD), cassava bacterial blight, cassava anthracnose disease, and root rot. CMD alone accounted for an estimated 47% of East and Central Africa's cassava production losses during a serious outbreak beginning in the early 1990's until 2006. Pests, disease and poor cultivation practices combined can cause yield losses as high as 50% in all of Africa.