Cassava has the potential to be processed into four product areas, making it an industrial crop, which could reduce imports, increase exports, create employment and increase smallholder farmers’ incomes along the value chain.
Due to the versatility of High-Quality Cassava flour (HQCF) and its high starch content, cassava could be processed into cassava chips, HQCF, starch and ethanol.
The Managing Director of Caltech Ventures, Mr Chris Quarshie, said "because of its relative ease of production and higher value addition; compared to chips, it has a relatively lower investment cost, and it is a viable alternative to wheat flour and native starch in bakery and in industrial applications.''
Mr Quarshie said a total of 115,000 tonnes of HQCF could be used to address demands in the bakery industry to replace wheat flour, industrial starch production and packaged food industry.
However, he said there were major constraints such as importation of wheat flour into the country among others, which needed to be addressed through government policy and interventions.
Source: ghanaweb.com