ARSTRACT This pcrper ancr1~~se.s the Prcsihntial Special Initiative on Cassava, a Ofmnaian governnrent initiative tlrt~t seeks to irrcrease sirbstantial(v the nation ' s foreign exchange ea~nirrgs through the trans/ormation of smallholder production methods and the processing of cns.str~a~for export. Research ~vork ~j a s carried out in the Gomoa and , the A w~rtu-Eflirtlr-Senya Districts in Ghantl ' . Y Ccntrtrl Region. Eighty (80) farmers, as well (1s ntc~tnhers of the.farmers' as.socirrtiorl

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... nntl the strrffand management of the Ayerrszr Starcli Cornpcrry n~er-r inten~ie~)ed. The firnd(1menta1 methorl used was participant observation. T1ri.s wtrs coniplgrnented with inten~iews, questionnaires and focus group discrrssions. The pclper asserts that severcrl bottlenecks are impeding attempts to increme smallliolrler crrssava prorlucfion. The rnornle of farmers is low and the starch filctot?) is cu~.rerrtlj~ working well belo~v its installed capacity. The paper questions the rationale behind successi\~e governments' policy of radically transforming smnllholder .subsistence production and suggests the nerd for a gradual process tlirorrgh the folm(ltion of (rctive out-grower cooperativr.s as well as the provision of estensiorl support, crvtiir arrrl trninir~g to farmers.