Many residents of Enugu, particularly those living on the outskirts of the city, have taken up cassava farming due to the high cost of “garri” in the market.

It was observed on Wednesday that many residents had begun to clear fallow plots of lands for cassava farming towards approaching cropping season.

A teacher, Mr Edwin Mba, underscored the need for the citizens to engage in farming and produce some of the foods they consumed, adding that cassava remained the easiest and most reliable crop they could cultivate..

A resident, Mrs Ijeoma Ugwu, said that she could no longer afford to buy “garri” in large quantities because its price had spiralled from N700 to N1,200 per “paint rubber’’ container.

She, however, expressed the optimism that the situation would be better in 2018 since she had embarked on cassava farming.

“I think the current high cost of `garri’ has taught me some hard lessons,”she said.

A youth corps member, Mr Jude Onoja, said that he had already cleared four plots of land in his village in Benue, in preparation for cassava farming.

He said that if he was able to generate enough income from cassava farming, there would not be any need for him to look for a salaried job.

Besides, Mrs Ugochi Ibe, a civil servant, said that she had already sent some money to her relations in her village to help her to plant some crops.

Ibe expressed the hope that whenever the farm started producing cassava, her spending on “garri” would consequently cease.

All the same, Mr Elochukwu Eze, a cassava farmer, blamed the high price of “garri” on the current decline in cassava production.

He, nonetheless, expressed the hope that with the increase in the number of people going into cassava farming, there would be adequate supply of “garri” and other cassava-based foodstuff in the markets soon.