Janet Gyimah-Kessie

Janet Gyimah-Kessie joined a programme in Ghana that promoted the cultivation of cassava in 2002. What commenced as an acre of cassava has due to the fact grown into a cultivation and processing business enterprise, Josma Agro Industries, that is searching to department into immediate exports in the in close proximity to long term. Jeanette Clark spoke to her about how she created the small business and growth possibilities in the cassava field.

Deficiency of refreshing cassava marketplace led to processing

Gyimah-Kessie did not prepare to turn out to be an agro-processor. After a 12 months of expanding the enhanced range of cassava presented by the Presidential Particular Initiative programme, she uncovered there was no market for the harvested generate.

“I was actually missing. I did not know the marketplace I was making for and discovered cassava spoils effortlessly after harvest,” says Gyimah-Kessie. A dialogue with a pal led to the plan to approach her harvest and those of other regional smallholder farmers into garri, which is the granular flour acquired by processing the tuberous roots of the refreshing cassava. Garri is cooked by adding water and kneading it into a dough that accompanies dishes like stews.

What would later grow to be Josma Agro Industries, started out smaller in a local kitchen area with 8 ovens for roasting the cassava and about 15 employees members.

Processing the cassava turned the harvested crop into a item with a considerably for a longer time shelf-existence. The regional farmers supported the get started-up by contributing their harvests and, in 2004, Gyimah-Kessie registered Josma Agro Industries.

These days, the corporation grows about 70% of the contemporary cassava it works by using on its individual land, though the rest is sourced from other smallholder farmers.

Obtaining the finance for products

In the starting, Gyimah-Kessie utilized her private money to get started off.

“When I realised the enterprise was outgrowing my readily available money, I applied for a grant from the Ministry of Food items and Agriculture, intended as help for modest-scale farmers and agro-processors. This assisted me to procure the very first parts of machines: a grater and a chipper.”

However, this machinery had to be changed in a 12 months, as they have been not stainless steel and unsuitable for extended-phrase…