Cassava as an Ideal Replacement for Maize in Poultry Feed to Improve the Income of Smallholder Farmers

Cassava is one of the staple food crops grown in sub-Saharan Africa. The crop offers numerous opportunities for profit gains from sales to various value chains including for human food and livestock feed. Cassava utilization in poultry feeds is well documented in other parts of the world including Asia and West Africa but has not been taken to scale in Southern and Eastern Africa. In this study we assessed the benefits of selling cassava roots to poultry feed manufacturers and poultry farmers as a replacement for expensive maize meal to determine the effects of cassava inclusion as source of energy on prices of poultry feeds in Malawi and Tanzania. Healthy cassava roots and those partially affected by cassava brown streak disease were used in the study as source of carbohydrates for poultry feed. Results showed that cassava farmers made additional 27% and 36% profits in Malawi and Tanzania, respectively, by selling fresh cassava roots to poultry value chain as compared to selling for human food. In addition, poultry farmers made an extra 24.1% profit using cassava-based feeds due to reduced disease and mortality rate and fast growth of chicks compared to using maize based feeds. Cassava has the added advantage of saving on transportation as it is readily available locally, thus promoting local trade and business. There is great potential for using cassava in poultry feeds to improve the incomes of farmers. Key words: Smallholder farmers, cassava feed, poultry feed