An estimated 70 million people rely on cassava for basic sustenance. Cassava is a hearty crop able to withstand disease, drought and pests. It will also grows on poor marginal soils and is thus cultivated and eaten where both poverty and malnutrition is widespread.

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient lacking in the diets of poor malnourished population. Vitamin A deficiency retards growth, increases risk of disease and can cause reproductive disorders.

Biofortifying cassava with provitamin A (converted in the body to vitamin A) will have a significant positive impact on nutrition and overall health, especially among poorer communities.