KUJI CASSAVA INITIATIVE
KUJI
CASSAVA PROJECT- GHANA 2003
The Kuji Foundation is firmly on the ground and working in Ghana. An
office has been opened in the Manet Gardens neighborhood in the East
Airport Area of Accra. Our focus in Ghana is to promote sustainability by working with President Kufuor’s Special
Initiative (PSI) on Cassava. This direction was given by Ghana's
Chief-of-Presidential Affairs/Minister of Information Jake Obetsibi
Lamptey. The initiative centers on the need to promote
the growth and processing of Cassava, one of the major food staples of
Africa. Improving the farming and processing methods of cassava has immense potential to improve the living conditions
for many communities in the rural areas of Ghana.
The first Cassava Processing
Center sponsored by Kuji was built on Dr. Aidoo's farm near the town of Nsawam.
In addition to the processing center in Nsawam
we have provided equipment for processing centers in the
villages of Aboro Empiro and Croboa Coltar.
The centers in both
villages were designed with the assistance of the Gratis Corporation. The majority of the construction was
done with indigenous materials by local carpenters.
There is an abundance
of cassava grown in both villages. Currently, most of the cassava
is sold whole (unprocessed) at a very low cost. Access to the processing
centers will enable the people to receive more value for their
product. Most of the cassava will be processed into Gari.
Some starch will be processed, along with tapioca and cassava dough.
The Kuji foundation looks forward to the grand opening of both centers
in June.
Take a look at some
of the donated equipment in action!
The farmers in the village of
Aboro Empiro can now take their harvested cassava directly to
the Kuji Cassava Processing Center. Local farmers have completed their
training and can now use the equipment and share their knowledge.
Access to these machines will greatly increase their productivity.
No longer will countless hours be spent peeling, drying, grating and
sifting the cassava by hand. Best of all, significantly
less cassava will spoil due to the faster processing. In the
past, with no access to processing machines, these farmers lost more
than %50 of their harvest. Now, they will be able to further process
their cassava into a variety of marketable products. Pastas, granules
and flours are the most popular cassava products and now they will
have an opportunity to enter the market. The increase in their
yield and free access to the Kuji Cassava Processing Center is the
beginning of a better life for the local farmers of Aboro Empiro.
W.E.B DuBOIS
MEMORIAL CENTER
Accra, Ghana
The Kuji
Foundation has donated painted sign boards for the W.E.B DuBois Memorial Center for Pan African
Culture. The W.E.B DuBois Memorial Center is where one of the
fathers of Pan-Africanism, W.E.B DuBois, has been laid to rest.
Located in downtown Accra the center is a popular spot among tourist.
The center offers regularly scheduled tours, lectures, and an abundance of
information on the history of the Pan- African movement. Tourists and
locals alike can reap the rewards of visiting the center.
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ONE OF OUR DONATED CASSAVA PROCESSORS FOR THE NSAWAM CENTER 
CASSAVA PLANTS AT NSAWAM FARM
KUJI VISITS A LOCAL FARMERSOF THE NSAWAM COLLECTIVE
DONATED CASSAVA PRESS FOR NSAWAM CENTER
MORE EQUIPMENT FOR NSAWAM
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What is Cassava?
Cassava is a perennial. woody shrub with an edible root. It is the
basis of many products and used commercially for the production of animal
feed and starched based products. It is a major crop in the farming
systems of Ghana.
It contributes substantially 22% to the Agricultural Domestic
Product (AGDP).
It can be processed into a variety of granules, pastas and flours or
consumed fried, boiled or raw.
Traditional methods of processing cassava involve combinations of
peeling, grating, dehydration, sifting, fermentation, milling and
roasting. Unfortunately, traditional processing methods are often slow and
labor intensive.
Processing machines are a major innovation in Cassava processing. It
can reduce losses by 54% and save up to 75% of the labor.
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