NRI is at the forefront of research to help rural processors gain improved incomes from the commercialization of the tropical root crop, cassava. A series of projects is being implemented in West and East Africa with a range of partners, including universities, research organizations, private companies and non-governmental organizations. The interdisciplinary approach aims to evaluate opportunities not only for their technical feasibility, but also for their economic returns and social impacts. Commercialization is not just about issues of small/medium-scale enterprise development, but also needs to consider the importance of current cassava-processing systems for household incomes and the role of women within such systems.

Research in several of the main urban centres in sub-Saharan Africa has indicated the importance of quality and safety of food. Some cassava products from rural areas are associated with poor levels of hygiene. NRI is working with small/medium-scale enterprises to develop quality management systems that are appropriate to the scale of processing and the resources that are available to implement them.

Much of the work is undertaken in the village or factory. To complement this, applied and adaptive research is carried out to develop technologies or provide basic knowledge for future application. Such studies are often undertaken by postgraduate research students and include, for example, the conversion of cassava flour into syrups using plant enzymes, and understanding the mechanisms by which cyanogenic compounds are reduced during cassava ferementations.

Developing practical solutions and disseminating them can have a major impact on the livelihoods of poor people. For example, in Tanzania a simple method of cassava storage was developed and introduced in communities supplying the capital Dar es Salaam. This increased economic returns to those in the marketing chain by 16%. The adoption of cassava flour as an alternative to wheat flour in street-food recipes in communities around Lake Victoria resulted in increases in income per unit of more than 100%.

Internationally, NRI has been working with other research, development and donor organizations (including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development) to develop a Global Cassava Strategy. This provides a general framework in which interventions focused on poor people can be made using cassava as an entry point. It is increasingly being used by the international community to address the commercialization of cassava.