Cassava

Cassava is a root vegetable. It is the underground part of the cassava shrub, which has the Latin name Manihot esculenta. Like potatoes and yams, it is a tuber crop. Cassava roots have a similar shape to sweet potatoes. People can also eat the leaves of the cassava plant.
Since the advent of cassava usage in production and processing of animal feed, Asia and Latin America have witnessed rapid changes in the value chain system. Other contributing factors include new government policies promoting the use of cassava based products, improvements in cassava processing technology and the emerging importance of cassava as an effective industrial raw material for starch, animal feed and ethanol industries.