Southern Africa: Angola’s ‘Cassava Queen’ Honored By UN Food Agency for Rural Innovation

Luena — Teresa de Castro Mariz, an Angolan producer known as the “Queen of Angolan Cassava,” has been named one of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 100 “Heroine Women” of 2026 for her work transforming agribusiness in the country’s east.

Mariz, founder of the T. Mariz farm in Moxico province, was selected from a global pool of more than 600 candidates across 131 countries.

The FAO initiative, titled “100 Heroine Women in Agri-food Systems and Rural Development,” recognizes…