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| Cassava is also a source of industrial raw material. |
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Huge
strides have been realized in transforming cassava from a food crop grown and
eaten mostly by the poor to a commercial crop that can make money and improve
the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in Tanzania. This is thanks to, among
others, the activities of a two-phased project funded by the Common Funds for
Commodity (CFC), led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA), and working with a wide range of partners in the country.
Cassava, a versatile crop that grows well under drought and in poor soils, is
also a source of industrial raw material. However, this potential has not been
well tapped in Tanzania where it is the second most important staple after
maize.
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| A CFC supported centre grating cassava to make HQCF |
According to Nicholas Cromme, CFC project manager who was in the country
recently, after years of talking about cassava’s potential they were in the
last mile of making cassava a commercial crop.
The first four-year phase of the project tested different technologies to
process cassava. Farmers were organized into groups and supported to set up
small-scale processing centers to produce high quality cassava flour (HQCF),
starch, and dried chips.
HQCF was, in the end, identified as the most
profitable product from cassava in the country.
The second phase, from 2009 to 2013, focused on promoting the medium- and
large-scale processing of HQCF. It also engaged a marketing specialist to carry
out a market study to identify people’s perceptions on HQCF and the best way to
market it. This led to the development of a brand for the flour which will be
launched next year as a pilot phase.
“We
first started by testing what farmers can do with cassava. But now for the
first time, we have a product to market that has been developed as a result of
a sophisticated market research. We have piqued the interest of a big flour
milling company to process and sell it,” Cromme said.
Two-step processing
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| A manager at Ukaya farm shows the processed HQCF |
According
to Dr Adebayo Abass, IITA’s Food Technologist and the regional coordinator of
the project, a two-step cassava processing technique was introduced by the
project to tackle the bottlenecks identified in Phase one.
“We have introduced two types of processors—intermediate and final processors.
The intermediate processors purchase fresh cassava from farmers. They peel,
wash, grate, and extract water using a pressing machine. The semi-dried grits
which have a longer shelf life are then transported and sold to the final
processor who dry, mill, package, and sell to the final consumers or industry.”
The project is also installing a mechanical drier which can process 8 tons of
cassava per day with one of the final processors, Ukaya farm in Mkuranga
district which is 40kms from Dar es Salaam, to enable the drying of semi-dry
grits even during the rainy season. This will therefore ensure that the final
processor is able to deliver HQCF with consistent quality and quantity to
markets and industrial users.
Ukaya farm currently has nearly 80 acres of cassava and also has entered into
contract farming agreement with 280 surrounding farmers to supply fresh cassava
roots to it.
Sefu
Mlaki, the director of the farm, says after hearing about cassava processing,
they approached the project staff for more information and received a lot of
support.
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| Employees at the farm spreading cassava grits to dry |
First,
the project team developed a business plan for the farm which showed that it
was possible to even recover all their investment in one year.
This convinced Mlaki and his partners to invest in cassava processing. They put
up a processing plant following the designs provided by the project. They also
dug up a borehole to ensure they had an adequate supply of water. After these,
the project leased processing machines to the farm and provided training on
cassava processing.
The farm has also entered into an agreement with the project to receive a flash
drier on loan to enable it to process all year round. It will therefore receive
and sell semi-dried grits from intermediate processors.
One such intermediate processor is Juma Mteta, 35, who set up his processing
center in Bungu village, Rufiji, and sells dried chips to a Dar es Salaam-based
company for milling into flour. He buys cassava for processing from over 350
farmers in his village.
One of his challenges is the lack of adequate water. He also needs a grating
and pressing machine. The project will therefore help him to get a loan to
construct a borehole and purchase large machines to process large quantities of
cassava into semi-dried grits for sale to the final processor.
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| Juma Mteta and his wife show the cassava chips spread to dry |
“The
banking sector is still scared of giving credit to the farming sector. The project
is therefore trying to link up with local banks to give credit to the
processors in market terms. However, to make it affordable to the farmers and
processors the project is considering providing credit guarantee to the bank
and full technical assistance to the credit beneficiaries. This two-pronged
approach will significantly decrease the risk margin for the banks, which in
turn will lead to reduced interest rates,” said Cromme.
Significant increases in cassava processing
Dr
Elifatio Towo, a scientist from the Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) and the
project’s national coordinator, says there had been a remarkable increase in
cassava processing in the country due to the project’s activities.
“HQCF
production has increased from 28 tons in 2010 to 112 tons in 2012. The acreage
of cassava grown for HQCF production has also increased from 28 acres in 2010
to 154 in 2012,” he said. “The number of farmers supplying the processors with
cassava has increased by nearly four times from 549 in 2010 to over 2,000
farmers in 2012.”
The project is also being implemented in Zambia and Madagascar.
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