By Politico staff writer
A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in Sierra Leone, BRAC has boosted 12 farmers of Bo, Pujehun, Kenema and Kailahun Districts with cassava processing machines.
With funding from the European Union, BRAC supported the local entrepreneurs with the processing equipment that is helping them to produce large quantities of cassava flowers in a cost-effective manner.
One of the beneficiaries of the machines, Idrissa Momoh Foe who is a young entrepreneur, working on cassava processing in Kotebu village, in the Small Bo chiefdom, Kenema district expressed joy on how the machine has helped him feeding his family.
“My life has taken a progressive turn for the better since we received the cassava processors,” he said.
He has a family of seven and three other families who he said depended on him, and with the help of the cassava processing machine, himself and his family are said to be earning a decent living. He further explained that, prior to him receiving the processing machine, earning a square meal a day had been difficult for him.
He pointed that his relevance in the community improves greatly after receiving the machine, noting that the frequency of visits his community is getting from the district due to the processing machine is tremendous.
Foe went on to say that, he is aspiring to grow the business on a large scale, noting that his eye is firmly set on buying a modern machine for gari production. “I would like to get access to modern gari production machines”, he said.
He said that, he was inspired by the business scale-up ambition through the extensive cassava business opportunity in his area.
“Recently, I have been approached by many farmers to buy their cassava farm. I would like to increase my business through the purchasing of cassava, which I will process and sell to traders and consumers,” said Foe.
He appealed for a credit facility so that he could scale-up his business.
Veronica Boima, at Largo, in the Norgowa Chiefdom, Kenema district is another farmer that had been empowered with improved farming and entrepreneurial skills. She said they used to depend on rice farming, until BRAC introduced them to the idea of producing cassava flour with the readily available processor in the area.
She added that cassava farming and processing are providing livelihood and entrepreneurial opportunities for tens of thousands of people in the Bo, Pujehun, Kenema and Kailahun districts.
Veronica who is a mother of eight (8) children expressed her happiness that she could use the proceeds to feed her family, buy school materials for her children, and pay for their university fees. She explained that communities in the area had little interest in producing cassava.
“We now know the economic importance of cassava and we as women farmers are paying attention to its cultivation”, she added.
BRAC, with support from the European Union aims at improving the functionality of the value chain, and add value to the cassava products. The NGO is said to have so far trained about 100 farmer groups of 2100 smallholder farmers with business and improved farming skills.
Cassava is widely produced in Sierra Leone, especially in the Southeast which other school of thought is saying that farmers have not been getting the required returns on investments. The reason was said to either be lack of the skills that could make them having a bumper harvest or if they get the bumper harvest, they lack the technology access that enables them to process their product on a large scale.
The presence of a simple gari processing machine and required skills by BRAC is bringing the farmers a return on their investment. The clear chain of production within the community is said to be helping the locals to reduce the cost of doing business, provide a market and maximize profit.
Since BRAC began working in Sierra Leone in 2008, its main principal activities aim at providing health services, education, agriculture, livestock, and youth empowerment programmes.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (16/09/22)
