Optimization of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) Fermentation Processes for Food-Secured Twenty-First Century Africa

Abstract

In mid-2021, Africa’s population was more than one billion three hundred and seventy million persons and this figure is expected to reach 2.5 billion people by 2050. On the basis of regional population, Eastern, Middle and Western Africa countries are bound to continue to experience rapid rates of population growth in the coming decades. Between 1960 and 2010, the urban population of Africa increased by a factor of 8. Based on 2018 United Nation’s projection, nearly 60% of African people will be living in urban areas by 2050. Of deep concerns are most Eastern, Middle, and Western African countries which will have their urban populations multiplied by a factor of 3 to 7. Similarly, the number of youth entering the labor force, as well as elderly, will continue to grow rapidly. The dramatic increase for food secured Africa occasioned by the sprawling African population, and the corresponding jobs required will be the biggest challenge most African countries will need to confront between now and 2050.The biggest challenges in this respect will be in Eastern, Middle and Western Africa where the number of youth will triple in the next 30 years. Currently, different cassava fermented products are staples in various countries of Africa. Specifically, in the past six decades, cassava has become a food security crop in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to many favorable reasons. Many of these African cassava fermented products are still traditionally produced by spontaneous fermentation making the quality and safety of products uncontrollable, in addition to their incapability of mass production. Modern techniques have taken fermentation beyond preservation such that production is optimized via starter culture fermentation. These are done with a view of generating desirable organoleptic properties with quality and safety in mind. Beside this, a shift from traditional to industrial processing of cassava fermented products will generate jobs and provide enough food that will be needed to feed the projected highly urbanized future Africa. This paper advocates for the urgent need for optimization of cassava fermentation processes in Africa. However, such optimization should be characterized with multiple cultures fermentation which will generate desirable organoleptic properties, nutrition, quality and safety. Additionally, the wealth of information from genomics and proteomic era should be harnessed for improved culture performance and activities so as to improve the safety, quality and nutrient composition of cassava fermented food products indigenous to Africa. The possible impacts of such shift on food security in the twenty-first century Africa, realization of inclusive growth, poverty reduction, and achievement of economic convergence are going to be huge. It is therefore imperative for various African governments and policymakers to integrate this suggested shift into their future developmental plans so as to avoid the impeding ‘demographic time-bomb’.