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Approximately 80% of the rural population relies on farming for livelihood. From the statistic above, the farming practiced
is still not able to lift the population out of poverty. However, a major crop that was identified that will bring about quick
and sustainable turning around of the economic status in these communities is the extensive production and processing of cassava
in to foods and other marketable products. Cassava is the second most important food crop in Sierra Leone and it is even now
considered an economic crop because of the demand for its products such as local foods, gari, foo foo, cassava flour and starch.
The demand is even increasing beyond the borders of the country. The current local way of producing and processing the cassava
is time consuming and cumbersome, and not economical at all. Without mechanical cultivation and improved processing facilities
farmers do not bother with large scale production of the crop at all. Cultivation of the crop is mostly small scale; because
growing it in large quantities will create the problem of marketing the tubers without the facilities to processing in to
more marketable and profitable products.
Cassava has a short life-cycle, 8-12 months and can be rapidly produced. In spite of the current low levels of productivity
both in terms of farm size and yield, there is tremendous potential for expanded production by both small and commercial producers.
Technology now exists for large-scale production, agro-processing and conversion into high valued commodities and made available
on the local and international market. Thus cassava is food for the poor but by processing and marketing it can substantially
raise the income of the small producers and therefore reduce poverty level in the rural households.
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Cassava Processing Center at Project Headquarters Peace Village Mile 91
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The Yoni Cassava Initiative (YCI) Project
In 2018, SIGA started the Yoni Cassava Initiative (YCI) project in the Yoni Chiefdom Tonkolili District, north central Sierra
Leone. The YCI was set with funds from donor partner organizations Bread for The World in Germany, to support the commercial
cassava production activities of communities in the chiefdom.
The YCI has completed the construction and setting up of processing equipment and facilities for a factory for the processing
of raw cassava in to local foodstuff Gari and Foo Foo purely for the local market. The current capacity is about two metric
tons of cassava tuber in to Gari and Foo Foo per day.
The YCI entered in to partnership with the local producers including farming associations, community groups, churches
and individuals in to setting up commercial cassava farms in their communities. The partners provide the land and manual labour
for planting and weeding and general care and also provide security for the plantations. The YCI provides hired tractor services,
improved high yielding varieties of cassava cuttings, train and supervise the farmers in planting and general care for the
plantation. The partnership has established about 50 hectares with 10 farming groups in the Yoni chiefdom.
The factory has just started production of Gari and Foo Foo; all local foodstuffs. The cassava fever has taken the chiefdom
over. The project partners do the harvest and YCI provide transportation for the tubers to the processing center. The YCI
has trained and employed women and men from the communities who carry out the processing of the cassava tubers.
Seventy percent of the processed goes to the farming organization and the communities. Bags of processed Gari and Foo
Foo is returned to the communities every week. Thirty percent of the processed cassava is retained by the YCI as in-kind
processing fee for the sustenance of the processing center and staff. A key commitment made in this arrangement is for the
benefitting farmers to retain some of the Gari for the provision of daily lunch for the school going children in the communities.
Nearly every farmer in the chiefdom is willing to get in to the partnership for the production of commercial cassava to
take advantage of the processing facilities. Before this YCI project introduction in 2018, not much attention has been paid
to the large-scale cultivation of cassava in the chiefdom.
We need help to extend cassava production an processing services to communities all over the Yoni Chiefdom.
* We need tractor services to reduce labor expenditure for the cultivation larger scale cassava farms
* We need used or new farm machineries including small tractors, trailers and implement, power tillers, for cultivation
and for transportation of produce, materials and equipment.
* We need help to improve the capacity of the processing center; including used or new electric generators, electric Gari
fryers, pressers, sieve etc.
* We need partners to help in the marketing of our key processed cassava products; Gar and Foo Foo
Click on link to view YCI Video
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