Government to establish Cassava Processing Centre at Adidome
This is due to the enormous contribution of
cassava to the socio-economic development of the country, as it contributed
about 22 per cent of national agricultural Gross Domestic Product in Ghana.
The best practices would ensure that good
hygiene was observed, processing costs were kept low, particularly through the
reduction of energy costs, to enable competitive pricing and access to larger
markets, as well as innovative ways of cassava production.
This was disclosed by Mrs Mammie Hutchful, a
Research Development Officer at the Institute of Applied Sciences and
Technology, University of Ghana, during a day workshop organized in Accra for
cassava farmers from the Volta Region, to educate them on new and innovative
uses of cassava.
She said the Centre, which would be located
on the same compound with the Adidome Farm Institute, was chosen due to the
availability of the needed technical skills at the Institute, to support the
Centre’s operation and management.
“The establishment of the Centre which is in
collaboration with CSIR’s Food Research Institute, will come with the needed
technology including the installation of processing equipment and technical
staff," she said.
She said the Centre would also be used the
create a sustainable link between the cassava farmers, processors and the end
users.
Mr Gregory Komlaga, a Research Scientist at
the CSIR-Food Research Institute, said Ghana was ranked the sixth largest
producer of cassava in the world, and produced approximately 10,000,000 metric
tons of cassava annually.
He said apart from the Volta Region, cassava
could also be produced in the Eastern, Central, Brong Ahafo Regions.
He said when more value was added to
cassava, it could be used in the production of animal feed, ethanol, glucose
syrup, breweries, plywood industries, bakeries, pharmaceutical companies, and
confectionery, among others, in the production of their goods.
Mr. Agbanator, who sponsored the workshop,
called on the participants to take the production of cassava more seriously, in
order to make the Volta Region the main hub of cassava production in Ghana.
He pledged to hold a follow up forum at
Adidome to engage with the broader cassava out-grower communities for more
interaction and education.
Mr Justice Ayittey-Bediako, Executive
Director of Community Development and Human Resource Enhancement Group
(CODHREG), a non-governmental organisation, expressed his appreciation to Ing.
Agbanator for the initiative, and urged others to emulate him.
He said CODHREG would set up a
50,000-outgrow scheme, to undertake an estimated 500,000 hectares of raw
cassava plantation, around the Cassava Processing Centre.
He also appealed to the participants to take
cassava production seriously, and endeavour to impart the knowledge they would
acquire to their fellow farmers when they went back.
GNA
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