17
BUSINESSOAY. Tuesday 28. April 2009
Commodities Processi ng cassava chips, pellets for export
OInInodit:y
DON ABRAHAM
lgala Is Ihe worlds lugesl producer of cassava roolS. It. output Is over 34 million metric tonnes (MT) pet annum. But despite this impresslvr sl tuatiOfl, little of thb total national output Ii processed and exported. Much oflt is consomed locally mainly beca use il b the coun trys number one staple food. Yet com mudal cuSliva cultivaliOfl, processing and aportlng.lf adequately m«luraged, funded and Pnlctised.can tum ouIto be a Itrong contmdcr for the number one foreign achange earner for the country. The quantum leap 11'11 trigger off In runll industrlaUntion, the financial empowerment of over 15 pu cm t of OUT popuIa· tion engaged in agricul!ure In the runl arns and the gmenl improvanenl in the nation's eco· nomk activities can hardly b""t quantified monetarily. Chip. and pellell Ire the most common form in which dried cauava roots ~ sold to the numerous customers who usc them as raw materials for various indu.triu. Chips are cassava roo ts that have been sliced in to irregular .ite' (not more than Scm long) and then dried so as to enable thrm to be stored in silos pending when they will be utilised Pellets on the other hand are obtained from dried broken cnsan roolS bygrinding and hmJming them Into cylindrical dlapes.. The produclion of theK in the country for export is lIil1ln its infancy when com p",~ to the le..-d it has 'Ittained in such countriu like Thailand (the world"s largest exporter). MaI",y5ia , IndonesIa and other parts of Afric.a and the Americas where the two products ~ exteruimy procn-Kd (or aport. Market consideration Nutritionally, common varieties of cass;ava roots at hatw:lt time have as h, fibre, fat s protrin, sugar, starch and moisture. CasJava chips and pelleu provide a reliable and study wpply of good quality fee d ingredie nt; they give a high metabollall y energy value. 8eause of this, they arc In very high demand by feed milieu both locally and OVCtKas for liftstock feed compounding. Eyen from 11$ blocbcmial composition above. it can be SH1l that cupn is a good $Ouree of energy for both man and anlaals. "The local market for c.-a.uava chips and pellcu (rom the above is large and will apand vuy rapidly in the near future. The market is sustainable bec:ause both the human, animal and pouhry population are inc::re;uIng. Feeds account for between ~ and "'"' of the toQ! cost of Inimal production and so chips and pellell processing is very important If this market's ClIrtnll and future dema.rld will be met.AvaIlable lIalistic$in the country Indla.te a gme..! rise In Uvestock production. This is correlated by the ann ual nlt es of Increase In the compounded feed consumptio n In t hOle countries that Im port auava chips and pellcu. Demand Is stUI InCffUlng. And JUch Inc:rnsa locally and ove rseas In com· mercial animal production and feed compounding will triaer
N
to aflatoxin contamination . ,.And to reduce $ l ,2b" global trade losses
slearchers at the Ibadan-basccl Intern atio nal Insti· tute of Tropical Agricultu re-. lhe Afri can Agricultur · Technology Foundation, Kleny;t , and thle United States Department fo r Agricultu re havle demo nstrated the ab ility of natural Niger ian fungi to reduCIe the cooc:e:nln· lio ns of aflatodns In maite and, as a r~ult , reduce global trad e losses esti matccl at Sl.2bn . The researchers through a partnership h ave oa.tccl a safe natural biological me thod of eliminating ailato:rin contamination oHood crops, UTA says today. AlIatoxins atle chemical poisons produced m ainly by the fungus Aspergill us navus in maize, groundn uts.. cusava, and yam chips. These toxins are abo potent causes of cancer and suppress the immune system cau.sing humans and animals 10 be more susceptible 10 diseases. Besid.es. aflatoxins are also non ·tariff barrlen to inter nationa] trade since agricultural p roducts th at have more than peTmbsible levels of contamin ation are rejected in the global m arket. Though losses faced by the global economy are estim.at· ed at 5 1.2bn, African economie-s lose abou l $450m annually to aflatoxin contamin ation. "AlIaloxin is a silent killer. It un dlermines h wnan health an d stu nls the growth of children b ut is not o ften visible on the co rn wh en purchased." says Dr. Ranaj il Bandyop adbyay, UTA Pa thologist at a meeting organi zed by th e AATF in col· laboration with UTA. The meeting, which en ded on Friday, exa mined thle prospects of a i:?,iol?!iical m et hod fo r drasti · I cally reducing afla toxin conla mlh atJ~ O n · station field trials o( the biocontrol method in Zaria , Ike nne, Mokwa and Ibadan sbowed 50 to 99 pe r cen t reduct.io ns in a natoxin contamination of maize.. Under the blocon troJ, native slrains of Aspergillus fla vus that do not produce ailaloxins (called atoxlgen ic strains) can be appUed in order to alter !hie fungal community on crops and througbout an area so that maize becomes less contaminated with aflatoxins. When appUed appropriately, these nath~ atoxlgenic strains competitivdy exclude ail",· toxin producers.
lli
Cassava tubers
The actual number, calibre and cost of labour t hat w ill be needed to run t he project effi cient ly and profitably will be determ ined after the level of operation has been chosen
off high demand for cassava chips and pellets and so any investors in this agricu lt ura l lub'se<:tor of the economy will immensely reap the fortune in the busine.u. Raw and packagin!: materials The nw materi;a15 fur the production of cassava chips and pellcll are the freshly harvested c:as.sava roots. The otbCB needed for pac:b.ging are the 50 kg and 100 kg polypropykne sacks or 100 kg jute bags. All the$( are anibble in the local rnaJbts. Machinery and equlpmCllt
The types and $Ophi$tic:atioo of thee machinery and equipmrnt one wUI use wil1 depend on thee knI of nmsaged production. Al the small-scale level. ane will ne-ed to gel the chippiog and the pelIcting machines. The former sho uld incl ude the b lowing mat hln e. Of course you will n«d knives, sa.ln, wheelbarrows etc. All of the above can be obtained 1oc.a.lly. "The equipment that'll produce 5 MT of ch ips p er day costs between N10, 000 and N15. 000 while thIs will sell for between $900 and S 1,000 j( impo rt ed. You can source your machinery and equipmen t lOQ]Jy by obtaining acopyofTHE DIRECfORY OF INDUSTRIAL MACHiN ERY
FABRICATORS AND SUPPUERS IN NIGERIA. At a higher level (medium or large Kale), one lhouk! think of disintegrating and cube process-ing machines. boilers. blOwing and drying machines, scales, bagging and packaging equip· ment. In both cases, it il more eco nomical tn do the peeling manually and $0 It It Jlro ngly recommended to be used. Thls will help generate employment opportunities (or the unskilled labour fo rce in the indus try" ioeatinn. Man u fac tur ing p roceuu· Briefly, these indude receiving the cassava roots, wuhlng and "m.ing of the tuben. chipping. drying and I»gglng for chips. For pellets, the$( Include washing. peeling, and chipping. drying, pelletlng and bagging. In moll cases. it Is felt that peeling is unl1CCt'$SiIJ)' for pdlcts. Labour requiremen t The actual number, calibre and COlt of labour that will be needed to run the proj~t ef· ficiently and profi tably will be determi ned after the level of oper.ltion hu been chosen and before prepari ng the feulbUlty report to Im plement the project. However, these will be such that they will in number and quality tant procurement, production, market ing and administration departm ents. They will also COWtt aU the relevant line lIaff. DcWb of these and their salary levels will be Induded in a bankable and comprehensive fea5l.bility report. R«onli k«plng
You need thee gene..! ledger, cash boob, rccdpt,lnvolce and waybill booklets, debtnn and crediton kdgers. joumaI book. lIock c:anls. fiud assets register etc- to ke-cp record on daily lasiJ of)"Ou.r income and expmdit~ stadt m~mmts etc. You also need to establish the limple kind of Internal control J)'1tem that , ults you r bull nen and wb lch will he lp you nfeguard your assets as wdI as ensure the reli abili ty of ynur r~ords. By 50 doing you will be In position tn mooitor the progrt$J of )'tlur bwlnes.sand th rough this gulck It to profi tability and growth. Any ass istance needed by any internted investO'f In thb regard will be given on request.
lmplemenllltion Befnre embaddng 00 this proj~t , Indeed any projeo, the mtreprcncur is strongly advi$cd to research or ha\~ researched on his behalf, all the- aspecu of it and have the outcome incorpo-roiled in a bankable, currenl and realistic feuibilily report. Par· ticularly, he hu to research the export market and conditions prevailing there. He's to be sure of his ready and regular supply of cassava roots and thee quantity he requires. The investor is also advised to comider having his own farm or go into fOtw<llrd purchue contract with some Carmen close to his location.
Condusion Loeal annual Mmand fur as· sava chlJl$ and pellets is on the increase while productioo is scarcely able to satiJ:fy 30% of it. lhe world demand of over 3S million MT per annwn, steady ~ WFP. say m iUions still vulnerable. despite progava ilability of raw malerlals an d labour aU commend this Ghana bas reduced hunger, but many households projec t to any serious invesirem ain vulnerable. tor that is desirous of malting The h eadsortwo Rome·based food and agricul tureaglen. money with peace of mind. The list of the various industries and des today said they are ste-pping up support to keep Ghana on cou rse in Its fight against hunger and poverty, stress ing companies that need the produets Is lengthening and with that millions of people remai n vu lnerable am id th e global the proeess tKhnQlogy lOQ]Jy financial crisis an d high food prices. At a time when mo re people th an ever are going h ungry available, the 5ky b the steppmg Itone (or anyone that vmtu«S wo rld wid le. Ghan a has been succeessfu! in figh ting the nwd, lntn this project. The addresses b UI continues to face n ew challenges, FAO Director-Gencn.I of overseu Importers contained Jacques Dlouf and WFP Executive Di recto r Josette Sheeran In the manual en titl ed T HE $aid during a joint visit to th e West A(rica.n country. WORLDWIDE DIRECTORY Based on FAO statistics., the estimated number of un OF FOREIGN lMPORTERSOF dlern ourished people In Ghana dropped steadily from 5.• AGRICULTVRALPRODUcrs millio n people in th e 1990-92 baseline period to 3.0 million AND SOLID MINERALS can in 1995· 97. followed by. further decnase to 1.9 million In be obtained from this writer OIl 2003"()5, though child undtt nutri tio n is not improving. requrst. Any interested serious inves-- Study sbows bioenergy benefits for rural poor tor who needs advice :u to the ooking wi th biogas from animal and human waste types. sources and corts of the • in China relevaol equipmenl and raw Bioenergy. when produced on a small-seaSe in materials. ma.rlcd and localional local communi ties, can playa s ignificant role in rural de· sIudy and analysis and geoer.ally packaging of a bankable, cur- velopment in poor cou ntries , ltCCOfding to a new IqlOrt renl, realistic and up- to-date jointly published by FAO and the UK 'J Department fel" (euibUlIy report 10 Implemmt In ternational Development (ORO). The study. "Small Scale Bioenergy Initiatives: Brief thll and other pro;ecu or would like to obtain the bold-me-by. I Description and Preliminary Lessons Od Uvelihood lmhand, step-by-st ep guidebook pacts from Case Studies in La tin America, Asia and Afrientitled THE UNTAP PED IN· ca," covers 15 diffe~nt ~start-up" bioeDtTgy projects £rom VEST MENT OP PORTUNI· 12 countries in Latin America , Africa and Asia involving . TiES IN CASSAVA CULTIVA- diverse array o f lechno lopcs. TI ON, PROCESSING AND 'The furioUJ debate around biocncrgy has largely con-EXPO RTING' shnuld contact cemcd liqu id fue ls used ror transpon ," said O liver Dubois, this writer. a biocnergy expert in FAO 's Natura] RC$OtIlt'eS Departmenl. ContACt: 1W: + llf.. J -08D.i "Yet more than 80 perce nt o f bioeneJEY usage in the 7J5-J974; D80H I.JI-4J61; QJ1755-4D5; E' rn4j~tQl1c2dc'" world invo lves o ther sources, mainly wood, which ~ used yalt"" .c" ..; wea ' ,,"c" a",," _ for basic household cooking and heating in poor areas of lde~yah_CDIft the world."
•Supporting Ghana's fight against hunger
F
C