A pilot project to test the idea of processing cassava in Angola will be undertaken in the Cacuso Industrial Park in the north of the country, Jornal de Angola says, citing Angolan Industry and Trade Minister Victor Fernandes.

The minister announced the pilot project in a seminar online about the cassava business, the newspaper reported on Monday.

The report says the project is the outcome of joint studies by the Industrial Development Institute and National Directorate for Industry in Angola, and will be backed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Angola should make cassava starch, which is widely used in brewing beer and making medicinal syrups, Jornal de Angola quotes an agriculture ministry official, João Bartolomeu da Cunha, as telling the seminar.

In January the Angolan state-run news agency, Angop, reported that China imports more cassava starch than any other country, buying about US$350 million worth each year.