The human health benefits of research to reduce the hydrogen cyanide potential in cassava cultivars in Africa: A completed proje

Summary

This paper describes a completed project assessment of an ACIAR project PN9007 entitled 'Cassava cyanide: Improved techniques for estimation and influence of environment on concentration' and an associated small project entitled 'Cassava safety: Development and evaluation of simple tests of the cyanogenic potential of cassava flour and cassava tubers'. The ACIAR project PN9007 involved formal collaborative research work between:

* The Division of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University;
* The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria;
* The Department of Agriculture, University of Queensland;
* The Department of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Visayas State College of Agriculture, BayBay, Leyte, Philippines;
* Central Research Institute for Food Crops, Jalan Merdeka, Indonesia; and
* Bogor Research Institute for Food Crops, Bogor, Indonesia.

The associated small project involved formal collaborative research work between the following:

* The Division of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University;
* Bogor Research Institute for Food Crops, Bogor, Indonesia.
* The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria; and
* Universidad Eduardo Mondlane, Faculdade de Medicina, Maputo, Mozambique.

The most important source of impact from this project is the discovery, during the duration of project PN9007, of cultivars of cassava with very low hydrogen cyanide potential. At the time of the review of the project (Wheeler and Dahniya, 1994), the project's research outputs had not yet been expressed in terms of new cassava varieties or changes in cassava agronomy. However, it is estimated that the project is likely to have an impact on new cassava varieties, at the latest, in 10 years' time (Dr Howard Bradbury, Australian National University, Personal communication). The time lag between the end of the project and the start of impact is due to the length of time it takes for breeders to take the results of a research project and incorporate them in a new cultivar ready for release to farmers.