How to make 10 times more from five cassava tubers

Susan Wanyela grew up seeing cassava being grown. Her parents grew the crop, so did neighbours.

It was only natural that she took up cassava farming as well. She has been at it for more than three decades. “Since 1987, to be precise,” she says.

In her native Bungoma, cassava is a staple crop. “We take cassava with tea for breakfast. We also mill it into flour – to make cassava ugali,” she says.

Historians have documented that cassava originated from the American tropics and was introduced in the Congo basin by the Portuguese around 1558.

In Kenya, Prof Daniel Sila, the dean at college of food and nutrition sciences at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), says cassava is grown in the coastal region (in Kilifi) and across the western belt (Busia, Kakamega, Bungoma, Siaya, Migori, Homa Bay, Kisii and adjacent areas).

Non-existent in central Kenya

“The crop is almost non-existent in central Kenya and many parts of the Rift Valley,” he says.

West Africa is the largest producer of cassava. The West African ugali, known as Fufu, is made from cassava and yams.

It is rich in carbohydrates, calcium, vitamins B and C, and essential minerals. Nutrient composition varies with soil conditions, climate, and other environmental factors.

However, cassava has never gained prominence compared to cereals such as maize and beans. This is changing due to the magic of value addition.

Prolong shelf life

Why would one do value addition for cassava?

Prof Sila says value addition is the surest way to increase the shelf life of cassava and therefore make it available in the market.

“Cassava is highly perishable. High perishability is a key factor in mitigating post-harvest losses,” he says.

From Wanyela’s experience, cassava starts going bad after 12 hours.

“Because it is highly perishable, I harvest my cassava early in the morning. It allows me time to peel the roots and chop them into chips; which dry faster under the sun,” she says.

She does this because “by evening the cassava will have started changing colour from snow white to blue-green and then eventually to black.”

Cassava, she notes, also changes taste and flesh texture quickly. Cassava meant for breakfast is cooked as soon as it is harvested for this reason.

Increase profitability

With a longer shelf life, the cassava is made more available to clients. And thus, the farmer has a higher chance of earning from her harvest.

The most readily available cassava value addition strategy for many Kenyan farmers is drying and milling into flour.

Composite cassava flour – mixed with other flours – is sort after to make ugali.

Wanyela, in her ingenuity, now uses cassava flour to make cake, mandazi, chapati and crisps.

“Cassava flour makes tasty breakfast treats. In fact, it is a healthier option because it is gluten-free,” she says.

According to Wanyela, value addition increases profits exponentially.

“At the market, a full basin of raw cassava roots will fetch about Sh200. For me, with just five root tubers, I will make about Sh2,000. I cannot explain better the difference value addition has on cassava,” she says.

Prof Sila says subsistence farmers can also derive benefits of value addition. It would prolong the shelf life of their cassava and make it available for the family for longer.

Farmers can use the crop in various ways, he says. “The leaves can be used as vegetables. Of course the roots can be cooked for breakfast. But most importantly, it can be converted into flour.”

Wanyela urges county governments to make cassava even more profitable by building processing facilities.

“A proper processing plant would provide farmers with an avenue for better income than what they earn selling fresh roots at the market.

“In Bungoma the county government raised our hopes with news of a plant coming up but it has never materialised,” she says.

Cassava has diverse use in the food industry and beyond, says Prof Sila.

Cassava flour, known as tapioca flour, is used to manufacture glucose, sweeteners and similar products.

The flour is also used to make monosodium glutamate (MSG): a product used as a flavouring agent in foods such as meats, vegetables, sauces and gravies.

Cassava starch and molasses, FAO notes, are the major raw materials used in the manufacture of MSG in the Far East and Latin American countries.

Other industrial uses of cassava starch are: production of bioethanol, as a binding agent for active ingredients in pharmaceutical drugs, as a stabiliser, to manufacture adhesives, and to manufacture paper – among many other uses.

“This means there is huge potential for Kenyan farmers to earn better returns if such industries were available locally,” says Wanyela.

Animal feed

Cassava leaves and stems are often considered waste products. Analytical tests have however shown that dehydrated cassava leaves are equivalent in feed value to alfalfa.

According to FAO, dried peels of cassava roots are fed to sheep and goats. Raw or boiled roots are mixed into a mash with protein concentrates such as maize, sorghum, groundnut or oil-palm kernel meals and mineral salts for livestock feeding.

In Brazil and many parts of southeast Asia, large quantities of cassava roots, stems and leaves are chopped and mixed into a silage for the feeding of cattle and pigs.

Cassava seeds

Tangakona is a commercial centre off Munias-Busia road. The name is famous because of a cooperative known for cassava processing.

Tangakona commercial village farmers’ cooperative society was formed from a noble idea: for farmers to support each other.

“We also deal with sweet potatoes but cassava is the crop that got us to where we are today,” Stephen Nakhulo, a member, says.

According to Nakhulo, the cooperative, if anything, has helped farmers commercialise farming and earn better revenues from their produce.

The cooperative is heavy on value addition: conversion of cassava into crisps, crackers and Weetabix-like product called gari. They also mill cassava into flour.

An emerging area is seed production, Nakhulo says. Some farmers are producing cassava seeds: growing the crop specifically to produce good quality cuttings for root-tuber farmers.

“A bag of cuttings currently goes for Sh500,” he says. “This is not small money.”

As cassava gains prominence around the country there is no doubt that the seed market will grow even further as demand for cuttings increases.