Agriculture and Environment: Commodities

Table of Facts : Cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Production
Area Under Cultivation - 16.8 Million ha
Global Production - 178.6 Million MT
Average Productivity - 10,611 kg/ha
Producer Price - $69 per MT
Producer Production Value - $12,182 Million

International Trade
Share of World Production - 9%
Exports - 15.8 million MT
Average Price - $30 per MT
Value - $472 Million

Principal Producing Countries/Blocs
(by weight)
Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia, Dem. Republic of Congo

Principal Exporting Countries/Blocs
Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Costa Rica, China, Brazil

Principal Importing Countries/Blocs
Netherlands, Spain, China, Belgium, Indonesia, South Korea, Portugal, Japan, Malaysia, Germany

Major Environmental Impacts

• Habitat conversion
• Soil erosion and degradation

Potential to Improve

• Fair
• Cassava is produced on marginal areas with big impacts
• Most poor producers have few options, few have land titles
• Polyculture (e.g., multiple food crops grown at the same time) production reduces cassava's impacts
  
  

Source: FAO 2002. All data for 2000.