Caltech ventures to start production of cassava flour for industries

Takla (V/R), April 27, GNA - Caltech Ventures, an integrated industrial cassava estate in the Volta Region will in June this year begin the production of 10 metric tones of cassava flour daily for industrial use.

The 2000-hectare estate is located between Takla and Hodzo near Ho. Mr Chris Quarshie, Managing Director of the Estate who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said trial production would begin in May.

He said arrangements were also almost concluded for a sword cutting ceremony by September this year, for the construction of an ethanol production plant which would go into the production in September 2010. Mr Quarshie was optimistic that the company would be able to save the country a big chunk of foreign exchange used in importing cassava flour and ethanol, worth between 50 million and 200 million dollars respectively.

He said there is a large domestic market for cassava flour in the pharmaceutical industry, paper packaging, as composite for flour production and several other industrial needs which the company was poised to serve. Mr Quarshie said the country should explore and exploit the versatility of cassava in the food and non-food industries in order to save foreign exchange. He said Brazil, India and Thailand were gaining tremendously from exports of cassava based raw materials to several countries including Ghana.

Mr Quarshie therefore urged other potential investors to venture into that area, because the domestic and West African markets for cassava derivates were large. He said apart from helping the country to save and earn foreign exchange, integrated cassava estates have the potential to tackle unemployment and improve rural incomes as well as address rural poverty. Mr Quarshie said the estate, which has so far developed 50 hectares into cassava plantations, plans to put the entire 2000 hectares under cultivation this year.

He said the estate would be relying heavily on its out-growers when it starts the full scale industrial processing of cassava. Mr Quarshie described the relationship between the estate and its surrounding communities as cordial. "I have no regrets at all for coming here," he said. One of the workers told the GNA that they were ready to sacrifice towards the consolidation of the estate because there were positive signs for the future.