To review the state of knowledge on cyanide issues in cassava, the International Workshop on Cassava Safety was held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, during 1-4 March 1994. The meeting resolved that the biochemical pathway for the synthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in cassava was well understood, but that the physiological processes controlling their accumulation in various tissues were still unknown. To efficiently control cyanogenesis over the short term, cassava must be adequately processed. The dynamics of cyanogen removal and the factors involved are now known, thanks to the development of a new analytical method for determining glucosides and their breakdown products. Advances in the molecular biology of cyanogenesis, combined with conventional plant breeding, will now make possible the optimization of cyanogenic glucoside levels and distribution in cassava. Agronomic research has shown that environmental factors can be as important as genetic factors in determining the levels of cyanogenic glucosides in cassava roots. The understanding of causal relationships between cassava cyanogenesis and associated human diseases has improved, particularly in relation to outbreaks of paralytic diseases, and acute poisoning. These outbreaks occurred in socio-economically deprived communities who have traditionally relied on cassava as their staple food and who, because of food shortages, war, or poverty, make short cuts in their traditional processing methods. New socio-economic findings emphasized the importance of cassava processing⎯not only for safety's sake, but also for expanding cassava production by improving shelf-life, facilitating transport, and introducing consumer-specific tastes and textures into cassava