The Gari producing community of Krachi Akura in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region is appealing for basic equipment.

The widely consumed cassava derivative is one of the staple foods of the community, which produces hundreds of bags daily.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and a Non-Profit Organisation 'Send Ghana' witnessed the production of the staple using traditional tools and setups.

The predominantly women workforce, break their backs lifting boulders unto sacks of grated cassava dough to drain out the water, and the sifting process that follows is done just a few inches from the ground.

Tijokuba Badagri, a processor said a simple turn screw pressing apparatus and a cassava-grating machine were among the most pressing needs.

“We suffer a lot because we don’t have machines to process the cassava. The fire too burns us. Things are very difficult here,” Bliko Oba Jagede, another producer said to the GNA.

According to businesswomen, the absence of electrical power in the community probably affected investments in machinery, and GNA witnessed an itinerant grater touring processing centers with a fuel-powered machine.

The processors mentioned to the GNA the absence of water as another challenge facing the industry in the community.

“We need water, we need electricity, roads. Please come and help us. The gari cannot go to the market in Dambai. During the rainy season, vehicles and the market women cannot come here to buy our produce,” Bliko Oba lamented.

Charity Mananyi, an SHS student said the Che River, which was about an hour away from the community, remained the only source of water, and processors had to make at least two trips each day on motorbikes.

She said the area had no secondary school, and that she and other SHS students had to journey several kilometres to and from schools in Nkwanta.