Accra, Feb. 23, GNA - The Food Research Institute (FRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Tuesday launched a two-year project in Accra.

It is aimed at improving post-harvest quality and packaging of rice, sorghum, millet and cassava to enhance their marketability in West Africa.

The project being financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), seeks to mobilise strengths, expertise and resources for post-harvest technology development and transfer in West Africa, to demonstrate appropriate post-harvest technologies for adoption.

Dr. Kwame Vowotor, National Coordinator of FRI, said the project was= among six others to be implemented under the framework of the Emergency Global Food Security Initiative, to address the current food crisis and hiking food prices.

He explained that the project would promote improved rice, sorghum, millet and cassava processing technologies, to ensure food security, enhance marketability and increase farmers and processors incomes.

Dr. Vowotor said "It would help develop market for high quality cass= ava flour as a partial

replacement for wheat flour in bakery products, other food products or in=

the commercial

manufacture of products, such as plywood and paperboard". He said women were expected to benefit more from the initiative that=

would help them develop

new ways of preserving cassava for their households by simply grating and=

drying it. Dr. Vowotor said the project was being undertaken in Senegal, Mail, Liberia, Ghana, Burkina-

Faso, Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria, where capacities of targeted groups=

would be strengthened to

enable them adopt the technologies, while access to the acquisition of simple processing equipment

would be facilitated through relevant linkages. He said the project was unique since it had a higher business and mo= re technical focus than

previous projects initiated by the CSIR, which placed more emphasis on research and extension. 23 Feb. 10

NSCE 06 Science Launch Project 2 Accra

Dr. Vowotor said people in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises wo= uld be trained on

improved gari and high quality cassava flour processing technologies in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and

Benin, while upgrading processing equipments in selected pilot centres in=

each country and

encouraged networking among stakeholders. He said experts would also analyse existing rice post-harvest technologies and identify gaps,

produce training manuals on improved threshing, milling, pre-boiling and packaging. Dr Vowotor proposed the formation of a consultative group comprising=

all stakeholders of

cassava and rice related projects in Ghana as well as development partner= s to integrate efforts and

leveraging synergies in the industry to avoid duplication of efforts. Dr Mamaa Ensua-Mensah, Deputy Director-General, CSIR, said that enhancing the marketing

opportunities for cassava and its products required government interventi= ons in the promotion of

investments in the development of cassava products. These could be undertaken through guaranteeing loans for the private=

investor, the use of

legislation to protect investors in the development of cassava, intensive=

education of consumers

and encouragement for manufacturers in the food industries to use cassava=

products. Dr Ensua-Mensah said the provision of adequate support for the development of improved varieties for the varied agro-ecological zones, the supply of adequate planting materials, research and extension support, improvement in the traditional method of harvestin= g and processing would

help expand the current out-put of cassava, which would increase its role= in the sub-region in food

security, poverty alleviation and application for several uses. She said cassava was very important in maintaining food security in sub-Saharan Africa and had

market opportunities to replace imported starches and flours as well as a=

major source of

employment and foreign exchange for the country. Dr Ensua-Mensah said it was estimated that about 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa,

especially those in rural areas, depended on very low incomes and cassava=

being a common staple

had the potential to significantly reduce their poverty by increasing the= ir incomes through enhanced

connection of farmers to new markets.