Today's Lunch

I know what you are thinking: "does Bob really think we care what he ate for lunch?" I don't blame you, but please wait for the explanation. If you look at the photo you will see a green sauce on the left and a white cake like thing on the right. Both of these are from cassava (or manioc). The sauce is made from the leaves, and the cake, called ugali is made from the root. Both are quite tasty by the way, and a mainstay of the diet here. The organization I work for is helping farmers to obtain disease resistant varieties of cassava, since the older varieties have become susceptible to a mosaic virus which seriously reduces productivity. Farmers in our target communities are not only producing more cassava for themselves, they are also able to sell to the local market for a profit, and sell cuttings of the resistant varieties to other farmers and organizations. The other day I was in a meeting of community leaders and listened to them talking about how they are making money, and investing in rental and purchase of new fields to expand production. They were talking proudly of how they are contributing and will contribute to the food security of their communities and even the nation. It was one of those moments for me that makes this job worthwhile. On top of that I get to eat cassava in its many delicious forms.