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Cassava Production Rising in Sierra Leone |
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Sunday, 27 December 2009 |
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Five new cassava processing centres in Sierra Leone are expected to
boost production of the crop and to inspire agricultural growth in the
region.
The processing centres are part of a $1.6 million Common Fund for
Commodities (CFC) funded project involving Nigeria, Sierra Leone and
the Benin Republic. The project is seeking value addition to cassava
and to consequently boost production and generate wealth.
Since 1990, cassava production in Sierra Leone has been on the
upbeat climbing from 178,200 metric tons (MT) in 1990 to 1,236,852 MT
in 2007. The utilization of cassava and creation of products such as
gari--a Nigerian-introduced staple--has actually created demand for the
crop. Now, cassava is second to rice as a staple with people eating
both the leaves and tubers of the crop.
The establishment of the processing centres has spurred interest in
cassava production in local communities. In Hamdalai Village in Sierra
Leone, one of the communities to receive a cassava centre, 40
farmer-groups have been formed for cassava production. Each of the
groups comprises about 30 farmers. The groups will ensure the steady
supply of cassava tubers to the processing centre which will process
the tubers into gari, foofoo, cassava cake and cassava doughnut among
others.
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