Zanzibar cassava yields up

Agri-Business 

Monday, March 03, 2014 

BY KENAN KALAGHO, EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS WEEK, KAMPALA, UGANDA

TRY IT: Machano shows samples of their cassava flour which sells at just over one US dollar for kilogramme.

UNGUJA, Zanzibar - Fishing is an important aspect to most island dwellers but to Zanzibaris, farming also plays a central part in their daily lives. 
Hard to believe, but many Zanzibari’s are farmers cultivating on a small scale, and cassava is their favorite crop, although rice is also consumed in large quantities.
About 17 kilometres North West of Zanzibar at Kimbiji area in Kizimbania,  a group of farmers is already making a difference through communal organized farming.
Muhamad Machano the Chairman of the ‘Tumwambie Nini Farming Cooperation’ says their farming group mainly focuses on cassava, Upland Rice, as well as sweet potatoes.
“We do grow Upland Rice on a very small scale. The weather is so dry on the island that we can only grow other rice varieties in wet areas or during rainy seasons,” he said.
He said since the groups’ inception in 2009, they have been able to make considerable progress with the hybrid grown cassava varieties and this has given them high yields at every growing season.
“We grow cassava hybrid varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases as opposed to our local varieties,” he said.
He added that these hybrid varieties include Machui, Kizimba, Mahonda and Makama.
Currently the group is cultivating up to 20 hectares of farmland and from every hectare the group is able to produce around 50 bags of hybrid grown cassava as opposed to just nine bags they used to get before.
According to Haji Saleh the Director of Kizimbani Agriculture Research Institute in Zanzibar, 90% of the food crops grown in Zanzibar is cassava, because it is able to resist the dry weather of the island.
“We are involved in crops, livestock, fisheries but we would like to focus much on the problems of post -harvest,”  Saleh said. He said this accounts for at least 40% loss of all the produce.”
The institute is currently looking at the ways on how to train farmers on post-harvest loss from farm to consumers in order to allow farmers earn more from their produce.
The Tanzania government is still contemplating on passing legislation that would allow the use of Genetic Modified (GMOs) crops to be grown alongside hybrids crops and other local varieties currently grown in both Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar.
If the law is passed, it would mean that scientists will now be able to work on the drought resistance genes of other plants into rice, allowing the dry places like Kizimbani in Zanzibar to still grow their favourite crop in relatively dry areas and still expect bumper harvest.
If the Tanzania’s strict prohibitive legal clause as stipulated in Biosafety Regulations of 2009 are worked out, this means farmers in Kizimbani area will now have reason to smile in their faces because with innovations, scientists are now able to produce rice that could carry a drought tolerant gene.
This science innovation would in-turn enable Kizimbani farmers in Zanzibar to grow their favourite rice crop for consumption even in harsh dry weather.
However Saleh said, “Despite cassava mainly being grown in Zanzibar, it is rarely consumed. It is mainly grown for sale and export, their favourite is rice.”
The Kizimbani Research institute is also focusing on sweet potato improvements and offering training to farmers on the best farming practices in order to help them source for clean planting materials especially cassava and sweat potatoes.
“It is very easy for farmers to transfer diseases through planting materials if farmers are not taught on how to manage planting materials properly,”  Saleh said.
He said both cassava and sweet potatoes use stems as planting materials and therefore easy to transfer diseases”
Machano on the other hand says that due to the increased participation on best farming practice with the research institute, the lessons obtained have been able to help them increase more produce and are currently planning to elect an office from where they will be selling their processed cassava.
“We have been able to grind cassava into cassava floor and pack them for sale at Tsh2,000 ($1.23) for every 2kgs of cassava floor, he said adding that crisps has also been their business.”
The cooperative is now looking for more opportunities as it plans to buy a petrol or electricity grinding machine at the cost of $2,097 (Tsh3.4million) and $3,701 (Tsh6million) respectively.
Muchano says besides selling crisps, and cassava floor, they also raise money through members’ monthly contributions and selling of cassava planting materials for $1.85 (Tsh3,000) for a bunch of 30 cassava stem bundles.
He however said that they face a challenge in sourcing for capital in order to allow them operate independently and raise funds for their children’s education as well as meeting their family needs.
“We would like to have our own machines for producing cassava floor and crisps that would later help us to have our own brand and possibly make our products be available to super markets.