Creating Value in the golden roots
CASSAVA PROJECT UGANDA
Welcome
Welcome to Cassava Project Uganda Ltd. We are a social enterprise dedicated to transforming Uganda’s cassava value chain by empowering rural farmers, enhancing value addition, and expanding market access. We have been Incorporated in 2024, and we are a company Limited by Guarantee with guaranteed commitment to equitable and sustainable development, rather than profit maximization. We are found in Uganda, East Africa
Uganda is endowed with naturally fertile lands and favorable tropical and bimodal climate for growing Cassava. We are a predominantly peasant community where 80% of the population is employed directly in Agriculture as the main economic activity.
Despite the perfect Agro-ecosystem enjoyed by our farmers the national average yield of cassava is at 3.5 tonnes per hectare, this is far lower than the global and continental average of 11 tonnes per hectare and 8.7 tonnes per hectare respectively.
This is attributed to a number of factors including; poor land management, low mechanized farming, low fertilizer utilization levels, rain-dependent farming and poor yield varieties.
Therefore, our communities still face significant challenges with poverty and food insecurity. A considerable portion of the population struggles to meet their basic needs, with many experiencing food poverties, characterized by inadequate access to sufficient and nutritious food.
We are therefore intentioned to leverage Uganda’s abundant potential presented by the Agro-ecosystem of the country to develop a well-managed and structured cassava value chain by focusing on small-holder farmers, post-harvest handling technologies and innovations, mechanization, product quality, market expansion, extra.
This initiative will contribute to the economic growth of Ugandan farmers while addressing food security and environmental concerns.
We therefore welcome you to share our story
Cassava - The white Gold
Cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) also known as tapioca or yuca in some parts of the world is one of the major agricultural crops in Uganda. It is the third largest output crop in Uganda after bananas and maize. Cassava is grown as a cash crop and food crop at the same time.
Cassava is a healthy food without gluten and is widely consumed in Uganda, the region and globally, and its global demand is on the rise because of its nutritional attributes and demand as a raw material. It can be processed into a wide array of products, ranging from food and animal feed to industrial products of commercial importance.
Products like, Pastries, noodles, instant porridges, composite flours, baby food, glucose syrup, industrial starch, beer, paper and soft boards can be produced from cassava roots. It is one of the most important roots.
The leaves are consumed as a sauce (sombe) and also used as a medicine
Farmer Empowerment
The ultimate goal is to mobilize and organize farmers into a
Cassava Growers Cooperative (CGC) which will have a major stake in the business.
Cassava farmers will be trained and equipped with skills, resources, and knowledge to transform cassava farming into a sustainable and profitable venture.
News and Blogs
SOLAR DRYERS
Cassava is a highly perishable crop. In Uganda our farmers luck affordable, safe and renewable technology to process the cassava after harvesting and therefore some are forced to harvest on a piecemeal basis or harvest and process using the rudimentary ways. This means harvesting the roots and spreading the crop on the ground to dry by the direct sun. This process takes 5-7 days for the cassava roots to dry. However, the end-product is poor quality cassava full of sand and with a high microbial load. This makes the crop to lose value, food quality and reduces the shelf life of the crop. Therefore, our initiative of solar dryers at Farm Service Centers will reduce this post-harvest losses suffered by the farmers and will increase the marketability and value of the cassava crop product The benefits are both economic and environmental These include HOW IT WORKS The structure is built using wood or metal and is covered by an ultra-violet material that collects and entraps the solar energy and concentrates it in the drying chamber as thermal energy, this energy makes the air in the chamber hot and when the hot air is circulated in the chamber the moisture from food products is removed due to thermal action and dries the chips and therefore this reduces microbial growth. The drying chamber can accumulate heat up to 60˚. C. Whereas direct sun drying exposes the cassava chips to dry directly under the sun, solar drying utilizes a heat entrapment mechanism to enhance the moisture removal process.
RESEARCH
The Cassava Resource Centre is designed to house; Researchers, Food technologists, Agronomists, Nutritionists and many other scientists to collaborate, study and drive the new knowledge base on the cassava crop Our scientific objectives The anticipated key features of the facility
