FIRST MEETING OF THE IFAD ROOTS AND TUBERS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES/PROJECTS Douala, Cameroon November 2007 Contribution of the PNDRT - CAMEROON André MBAIRANODJI Officer in Charge of Production/Processing CASSAVA PROCESSING

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION Introduction Current situation of processing activities Main activities carried out by the PNDRT/Results achieved –Real impacts on beneficiaries –Implementation procedures (innovations) –Good practices and lessons learned –Difficulties and solutions –Main challenges in the future and required/anticipated actions Conclusion

INTRODUCTION  Cassava is the most processed R&T crop in Cameroon. It provides a varied range of products: gari, cassava rolls, miondo, chips, flours, etc.;  Objective of the processing component : i) to improve the efficiency and profitability of R&T processing processes; ii) to improve product quality.  Women are the main actors.  PNDRT support for the roots and tubers processing sector is still weak.

Existence of several types of processing:  Industrial processing (Association agricole Sud-Sud processes cassava into starch and sells it to second-phase businesses  Semi-industrial processing by medium-sized processing units (often limited to a mill/grinder, a grater, a press, a sieve decanter and a dryer) owned by certain organized groups: POUMA Cassava Processing Unit, PROTRAVICAM CIG, UPMAN, KASIPLANT CIG, NGOUMOU GIE FAN etc.  Artisanal processing using rudimentary equipment such as mortar, pestle and crushing stone  Household processing for non-commercial purposes CURRENT SITUATION OF PROCESSING ACTIVITIES

Supply of raw material  Household and village units operate thanks to production by the group, community, village or themselves  Semi-industrial and industrial units are organized around growers’ organizations that sell their produce to the factory.  Some factories (e.g. the POUMA cassava processing factory and PROTRAVICAM CIG) have established fields, but these do not produce enough to supply their unit CURRENT SITUATION OF PROCESSING ACTIVITIES (continued)

MachinesSpecifications Stainless steel cassava chip mill Stainless steel cassava graterAverage yield 500 to 600 kg/hour, rotation speed 3000 revolutions/minute; 5 horsepower Crusher Starch extractorYield 750 to 1500 kg/hour; drum rotation speed 3000 revolutions/minute Gari sieve Drying oven1 000 kg/24h Stainless steel cassava paste millYield: 200 kg/hour after steeping; 3 horsepower Fermentation tank2 000 litres Grill Grated cassava press Mortar Crushing stone Grinders Gari friers, scrapers, plastic tanks Processing equipment used

Yields from the processing equipment used  Yield from traditional units is still poor: the extraction rate for starch is often less than 10%.  In those rare cases where semi-industrial units exist, the extraction rate ranges from 15 to 18% (7 to 8 tonnes of starch per month produced from 60 tonnes of cassava roots). CURRENT SITUATION OF PROCESSING ACTIVITIES (continued)

MAIN OPERATIONS IN PROCESSING CASSAVA CASSAVA TUBER Peeling Washing Chopping/Shredding Drying Chips Milling FLOUR Grating Steeping/pressing Crushing Sifting Roasting Sifting GARI/TAPIOCA Soaking Filtration Decanting Drying Milling STARCH Fermentation Shredding Wet grinding Bagging Raw rolls (bobolo, miondo, mintoumba) Cooking COOKED ROLLS Peeling Drying Granule s Milling FUFU Water Fufu

MAIN ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PNDRT Promotion of unfermented cassava flour Testing processing equipment Study of the priority problems in R&T processing in the 5 PNDRT regional units

MAIN ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PNDRT Promotion of unfermented cassava flour production  Real impact on beneficiaries: Not yet. The activity is experimental.  Stages in manufacture: Harvesting or gathering of roots ----Reception and weighing-----Peeling---- Washing----Chopping or grinding----Drying or pressing----Crumbling or sifting----Drying (sun, especially in oven)----Milling or grinding----Sifting---- Bagging or packaging.  Target group: Producers, food and agrofood industries.  Innovations/Good practices: - White, odourless, standardized flour; - Locally made ovens using local materials.

MAIN ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PNDRT Promotion of unfermented cassava flour production  Difficulties: Availability of better chopping or grinding equipment, construction of the drying oven, milling, bagging.  Solutions: Search for funding to purchase equipment.  Main challenges: (1) Establishment of a legislative framework (passing of a law authorizing bakers to incorporate unfermented cassava flour when baking bread); (2) Research to determine the precise harvesting period for cassava roots, with the maximum level of accumulated dry matter and the minimum level of woody fibre; (3) Product promotion.  Planned actions: Establishment of a framework for consultation among the government, the private sector, research institutions, programmes and projects, and international organizations.

MAIN ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PNDRT Testing cassava processing equipment  Results: - 3 cassava paste processing units installed in the Douala unit; - 4 hammer mills and 2 moulinex received and distributed (Ngaoundéré); - 26 other pieces of equipment being made or received.  Real impact on beneficiaries: - Not yet. The processing units have just been installed (August-September 07)  Implementation method: - Implementation of the recommendations of the most recent UNOPS supervision mission; - Contractualization.  Target group: - Cassava processors.  Good practices/Innovations: - Certification of equipment by the relevant departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; - Equipment for the Ngaoundéré unit installed by local artisans.

MAIN ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PNDRT Testing cassava processing equipment  Difficulties: - Very long procurement procedure; - Delays in payment of service providers’ bills.  Solutions: - Revise the procurement procedure; - Speed up payment of service providers’ bills.  Main challenges: - Standardization of agricultural equipment; - Manufacturing agricultural equipment under licence/patent; - Mass production or standardized manufacture.  Planned actions: - Establishment of a framework for consultation among all actors and institutions.

CONCLUSION  Very long procedure for accessing PNDRT resources: Baseline study Choice of priority villages Formulation of village roots and tubers development plans Identification of beneficiaries’ priority needs Translation of these needs into microprojects Contractualization Execution of the microprojects.  Partnership with actors from the private sector – GIFAMA, APICA, NABAINA FILS, GARAGE POLYTECHNIQUE etc. – is very encouraging.  Implementation of the mid-term review’s recommendations will allow the processing chain really to take off.

Thank you