CSIR-FRI holds workshop on selection of best bet products.
Accra , Jun 19, GNA - Measures are being instituted to ensure that roots and tuber crops like yam and cassava which suffer between 30-60 per cent post-harvest losses in the society are reversed and sustained.
The losses occur mainly through their processing, leading to losses in their economic value, quality and disregard for the bio-waste.
As part of strategies to ensure success and the sustainability of these crops a workshop on 'selection of best bet products' was on Tuesday held by Food Research Institute (FRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra.
The selection of Best Bet Product is an activity under Work Package (WP) 6 of the Gratitude project.
The Gratitude project investigates Gains from Losses of Roots and Tubers (Cassava and Yam) with special emphasis on developing useful products from waste (peels, liquid waste and pulps) in Ghana, Nigeria and Vietnam.
The WP6 will support the demonstration of outputs from the research activities in either rural settings or in collaboration with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) whilst lessons from the demonstration activities go to support wider dissemination of the technologies developed.
Director of the Food Research Institute (FRI), Dr Nanam Tay Dziedzoave said the objective of the workshop was to finalize the selection of products for field activities under Work Package (WP) 3 and WP4.
He said the workshop would offer private sector participants the opportunity to learn more about progress made under the Gratitude project and to finalize the selection of 'Best Bet' products.
He reminded participants of the platform created for lessons sharing and learning exchanges between the South-South countries, preparation for the project mid-term review in October 2013 and the urgent assignment of packaging project outputs for assessment by donors.
Mr. Sobukola Olajide, WP6 leader, encouraged participants to sign up to Gratitude South-South (S-S) interaction facebook group and noted that the purpose of the S-S interactive platform was for southern countries to engage with each other on issues covered by the Gratitude project
He mentioned that partners from Thailand and Vietnam would visit Africa from the 3rd week of August and a turn round visit by the Nigerian-Ghanaian delegation to Thailand and Vietnam in the third week of September.
In her presentation on Cassava value chain, Ms Wilhelmina Quaye said cassava and cassava processing was a major source of income for rural livelihoods and noted that its contribution to food security and the role of women in the cassava value chain could not be overemphasized.
She said physical and economic losses as well as waste was generated along the fresh cassava value chain and the sub value chains for gari, agbelima, kokonte, High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) and starch.
In respect to waste generation, she said it was clear that bulking yam peels could limit possible utilization since this is mostly available at the household level.
She however said there was potential for use of peels as substrates for growing mushrooms, peels for goat feed and use of peels for starch recovery and sugar syrup.
According to her the SWOT and GAP analysis for all the three uses revealed potentials for cassava peels as substitutes for mushroom cultivation, but market development strategies for the sale of substrates with cassava peels needed more in-depth studies on the economic feasibility.
She noted that there were prospects for the use of cassava peels for goats feed in urban areas but however noted that, starch recovery from peels may be unattractive to the small scale processors.
'There is market prospect for Industrial Grade Cassava Flour (IGCF) particularly, for the paperboard and plywood industries', she added.
The 'Best Bet' product selected for field demonstrations are (1) High Quality Yam Flour (HQYF) for reducing losses of fresh yam, (ii) peels of cassava and yam as substrate for mushroom cultivation (iii) peels for animal feed and (iv) Industrial Grade Cassava Flour (IGCF).
GNA