IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria - Cassava farmers and processors are set to earn bigger profits and get better-quality product thanks to a new cost-effective and efficient flash dryer that produces 300% more flour while using 40% less fuel. Developed by IITA and its national partners in Nigeria, the improved flash dryer is capable of processing 8 tons of raw cassava tubers into 2 tons of high-quality flour per day compared to the less-than-a-ton daily production of existing models. Aside from higher production capacity, the new flash dryer also consumes less fuel, using only 12 liters of diesel per hour to produce 250 kg of flour. Comparatively, current models burn about 20 liters of fuel per hour to produce  only 80 kg of flour.

The new flash dryer is also cheaper. Most models being used by cassava millers in Nigeria are imported, usually from Brazil, and cost about US$ 68 500 per unit. The new dryer is locally manufactured and costs about US$ 22 800 each, or only about a third of the price of imported ones. “The improved flash dryer not only doubles the capacity of present ones in the market, but it also produces much finer quality of flour,” says Dr Gbassay Tarawali, Project Manager of IITA’s Cassava Enterprise Development Project (CEDP). The dryer also addresses the perennial problem of short-period perishability of cassava after harvest.

Under the Presidential Initiative on Cassava, Nigeria mandated millers to integrate 10% cassava flour to wheat flour in making bread, a move aimed at increasing the utilization of the tuber crop. However, supply of cassava flour have not been able to keep up with demand. IITA and partners say that this situation will be improved with the introduction of the improved flash dryer, benefiting the farmers downstream with better market opportunities and prices for their crops.

"The development and introduction of this improved flash dryer represents a win-win situation for the millions of cassava farmers and processors not only in Nigeria but also in other cassava-producing countries of West Africa," says Prof Ayo Kuye of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt who led a team of engineers in developing the new dryer in consultation with IITA. "This new flash dryer will not only save the country millions of dollars in import payments but will also generate millions more in production increases and cost savings once it is widely distributed and used. This dryer is a success story for the cassava industry in general".

Aside from foreign exchange savings, developers say that the technology would build the capacity of Nigerians and create jobs. “With this breakthrough, the future of cassava industry is further brightened,” says Dr Lateef Sanni, IITA Post Harvest Specialist. IITA and its partners will pass on the technology to local flash dryer manufacturers in the country.

National partners in the development of this improved flash dryer include the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi; the Roots and Tuber Expansion Program of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and Godilogo Farms in Obudu, Cross Rivers State. Plans are underway to mass produce this dryer for local use and for export to other cassava-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

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For more information, please contact:

Gbassay Tarawali, g.tarawali@cgiar.org
Project Manager, CEDP

Lateef Sanni, l.sanni@cgiar.org
Postharvest Specialist
IITA - Onne
Nigeria

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa)

Communication Office
IITA - Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people's lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR (www.cgiar.org).