2008

Cassava Flour If you work in agri-business and want to diversify your products, the Rwanda Agro-Science Institute might give

you some ideas. These days, "producing for export" is the mantra to be sung for entrepreneurs who want to make their business

bigger. This, however might be a big step for a micro of start-up enterprise. Their best bet might rather be diversification,

all the more so since, for a lot of products, the local market is still largely untapped. For those working in agribusiness -

even small farmers who produce only a limited surplus to sell - the Rwanda Agro-Science Institute (Institut des Sciences

Agronomiques du Rwanda - ISAR) in Butare might be a good place to get some ideas on how to expand their product range. This

might seem strange, as agricultural research is generally associated with mixing of species to come up with an improved crop

- better taste, higher nutritious value, resistance against insects and diseases. Obviously, ISAR is carrying out such

research. However, a little known unit of the institute is the post-harvest unit, set up in 1996, which deals exactly with

looking at ways of making better and more diversified use of farm produce. Theirs is not rocket science (although they are

very inventive); they have made cakes from flour from cassava, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, sorghum, maize, beans and

bananas. The unit also comes up with ways to use the flour: Irish potato flour is excellent for chapattis, the one of beans

is appropriate for wedding cakes and doughnuts, whereas banana flour is more adapted for biscuits. Long-lasting cassava flour

Jean Bosco Shingiro, one of the researchers in post-harvest, says that producing flour from various crops is indicative of

the work of the unit, which always looks at new ways of transforming common farm produce into new products. However, he

stresses that they do not only look for new ways of using agricultural produce, but also to improve the methods of

transformation. "For example, the unit found a way to make cassava last longer by turning the un-dried cassava into flour,

after which they are placed in bags and put into clean water. After drying, this cassava produces flour that remains good for

a longer time as some acids have been extracted in the process," the researcher explains. Not all flour can be used on its

own, however. The one from beans has to be mixed with baking powder in order to be able to produce biscuits. At other times,

Shingiro says, flour from different crops is mixed to increase the nutritional value. It is for this last reason that for

some farm produce it is better to turn them into flower and make cakes or biscuits out of them. For example, the post-harvest

researcher explains, "cassava, although produced in great quantities, is in itself not very nutritious; but when it is mixed

with milk and sugar to bake cakes, you get a rich final product." All this flour and biscuit business does not mean that ISAR

has now turned into a full-time bakery. "Obviously, we are not selling anything", says Shingiro. "We research techniques to

create new products from available crops, and then we train people to use these techniques." The trainings target

associations, so as to have a maximal impact. Over the past months, eight associations have passed at ISAR to learn

alternative ways of producing flour, and turning it into bread, biscuits, cakes and the likes. Several of their members are

now running businesses producing and selling these products. Interested associations are always welcome to contact ISAR for

more information on the training.