Tales of Taraba women making money from cassava
Madam Zainab Danladi is the manager of value chain development centre located at Kofi village in Gassol Local Government Area of Tarara State.
The centre was jointly funded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Taraba State Government under the Fadama project and handed over to a female cooperative society in Kofi town in 2015.
The Kofi women cooperative society is under the name, Hausa Taimakon Gwaraye, which means Support for Widows and Orphans Cooperative Society.
The group at the beginning had 25 women as members, and gradually, the membership increased because of benefits in terms of profits members are getting from their value chain activities.
Zainab told Daily Trust on Sunday that at the centre, raw cassava was processed into different products and all the members engaged on a daily production of dried cassava and other products throughout the year.
She said raw cassava was the main product they processed into two types of dried cassava and there is always a ready market for the product from within and outside the state.
Zainab said some of the facilities in the centre included space for peeling cassava, platforms for drying cassava, borehole for cassava washing and a store house where the product is stored.
She said the entire centre was fenced, including a parking space where raw and dried cassava is offloaded and loaded into trucks and other vehicles.
She revealed that each member with helpers or her children worked daily in processing work, and mostly, individual products are processed for sale.
According to her, on the average, between 20 and 30 women work on a daily basis in the centre, and tonnes of raw cassava are processed.
Zainab told Daily Trust on Sunday that they farmed raw cassava and purchased from other farmers from their earnings and make profits, while the middlemen also bring in their raw cassava for processing and they pay for services.
“Widows and married women in the community are taking opportunities offered by the centre to make money through processing raw cassava for sale,” she said.
She said the work they did in the centre was manual, so there is the need to have machines for processing, which she said would increase their activities and profits.
Zainab further said that out of the profit they were making, they were able to purchase a land that could be used for an expansion of the centre.
She explained that before the opening of the centre, widows and orphans were suffering, but now, widows who work at the centre are getting good income and taking good care of themselves and their children.
Madam Rebecca Charles, a member of the cooperative society who engages in the processing of raw cassava, said the centre offered a good opportunity to women, not only widows but even married women in the community.
“Poverty among widows and married woman generally has reduced in the community. Idleness among widows has also reduced,” she said.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that Chinese companies and pharmaceutical companies are top on the list of those buying raw cassava and its by products from the centre.
In the past, raw and dried cassava was consumed by residents, and the price was
very low, but gradually, companies came in to buy raw cassava and its by products and prices started going up.
“There was a time a 100kg bag of cassava was sold at N4,000 and there were few buyers, but now, a 100kg bag of dried cassava is sold at N23,000 in various markets,” a farmer said.
Findings revealed that companies and businessmen who engage in agro business are patronising products at the centre.
Kenneth Joel, a representative of the Robo agro company based in Makurdi, said that for the past two years, he was buying cassava products from the centre.
He said the products purchased was reprocessed by the company and supplied to a Chinese company that also used the product and its by products for production of pharmaceuticals, food items and other products.
Joel said the Kofi cassava value chain centre was one area his company was buying cassava product, while Nasarawa and Kaduna are additional places they purchase cassava product as well.
Lami David, a widow, said she benefitted a lot from the centre in terms of regular income, with which she paid school fees for her children and took care of her needs and that of her children.
“Like any other member, the centre has encouraged hard work and business initiative among widows and married women in the community. We are making good profit from processing cassava at the centre,” she said.
Findings revealed that at the initial stage, prices of cassava was very low and there was no demand for its byproducts, but now, farmers and those involved in its value chain activities are getting good income.
Zainab said there was good demand for both raw and dried cassava and if more equipment was provided at the centre and members trained on processing technology, more money would be generated.
She said cassava had many byproducts needed by different industries, but the technology and equipment to harness the potential of cassava is lacking among those involved in its value chain activities.
She advocated the training of unemployed youths on technology to harness the potential of cassava and other agricultural products.
Zainab also disclosed that a gari processing unit would soon be added to the products of the centre, and for that, the group had deposited N260,000 for a gari processing machine.
She said the group was working hard to pay the balance, and once that is done, the machine would be installed.
Zainab said that apart from other products, there was high demand for gari in the state and others, and that’s why they are working to set up of processing unit at the centre.