Mission & Objectives

 

 

Mission

Over 250 million sub-Saharan Africans rely on cassava as their major source of calories. A cassava-based diet does not provide complete nutrition, however. BioCassava Plus aims to reduce malnutrition among sub-Saharan Africans by delivering more nutritious, higher yielding, and more marketable cultivars of cassava. The improved traits which we will deliver include: enhanced bioavailable levels of zinc, iron, protein, vitamin A, vitamin E, and reduced quantities of toxic cyanogenic glycosides, improved post-harvest durability, and improved resistance against viral diseases. Field and human feeding trials will be conducted in close collaboration with African scientists to demonstrate efficacy.

Objectives

BioCassava Plus has six major objectives:

1. To increase by six-fold the content and bioavailability of zinc and iron in cassava tubers and demonstrate its viability in the field and efficacy in humans.
2. To increase by four-fold the protein content of cassava tubers and demonstrate its viability in the field and efficacy in humans.
3. To increase by ten-fold the vitamin A and E content of cassava tubers and demonstrate its viability in the field and efficacy in humans.
4. To decrease by ten-fold the cyanogen content in cassava tubers and demonstrate its resistance in the field.
5. To delay the rapid post-harvest physiological deterioration of cassava tubers and demonstrate its resistance in the field.
6. To develop virus-resistant cassava varieties and demonstrate its resistance in the field.

 

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