<p>Cassava is a major staple crop in the world and its global production has steadily increased in recent years. With three of the top five cassava-producing nations situated on the continent, Africa is the world's largest producer, underscoring the crop's critical significance in Africa especially in economic development and environmental sustainability. Cassava crop development has been investigated to increase production and starch quality for many uses, including pounding, waxy starch, resistant starch, and even post-harvest degradation. Food and feed quality is negatively impacted by the presence of the antinutritional chemical cyanide, and attempts to lower cyanide levels are constantly being investigated. Gaps in cassava processing, storage, shelf-life and regulatory bottlenecks have limited international trade from the African perspective since fresh roots are extremely perishable due to post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD), which necessitates immediate processing in order to be traded. This work explores the food and industrial uses of cassava, as well as the challenges that needs to be addressed in the cultivation, storage, and processing of cassava into value-added products like cassava starch in order to meet the international market standards for trade. Although cassava offers a wide range of potential applications in food and industry, meeting global market standards necessitates a concerted effort to address these gaps through enhanced technology and policies.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>