The traditional cassava bread (casabe) is a major export revenue-earner for the Dominican Republic, according to casabe producers? leader Cristian Valerio. A national casabe council special is being set up, Codecasabe, which will help consolidate the production and export of this typically Dominican food. Five hundred families owe their livelihood to casabe production, according to Valerio, who represents the casabe producers association in the northwestern town of Monci?n. The main ingredient of casabe is bitter yucca, or manioc, and is cultivated by 4,600 farmers, 90% of whom work in the province of Santiago Rodriguez.