African Crop Science Conference Proceedings, Vol. 7. pp. 583-590 Printed in Uganda.

All rights reserved ISSN 1023-070X/2005 $ 4.00 2005, African Crop Science Society

Value addition to cassava in Africa: Challenges and opportunities

L. SANNI, B. MAZIYA-DIXON, M. PATINO, M. AKORODA, C. EZEDINMA, R. OKECHUKWU, J. LEMCHI, F. OGBE, J. MUKUMBIRA, P. ILONA, G. TARAWALI, E. OKORO & A. DIXON International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, P.M.B 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria Abstract The paper looks into various ways for utilizing cassava beyond the traditional products. NEPAD has adopted the slogan of Cassava: A Powerful Poverty Fighter in Africa for its Pan African Cassava Initiative. A critical review of current diversification of cassava to value added products is reported. There are pockets of cottage native starch factory along with scanty large-scale industries of cassava starch in Africa especially Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. Modified starch is starch that has been changed in its physical and/or chemical properties. Africans have not started to carry out extensive research and applications on modified starches from cassava. Currently, there is no commercial factory in Nigeria producing glucose syrup from cassava, despite the huge abundance of the raw material required. IITA is promoting inclusion of cassava flour in bread and confectionery products in Nigeria. Wheat substitution in bread is in theory a huge potential market with potential to pull industrialization of cassava. Specific cassava snacks only exist at local level and should be developed. A major problem in the cassava cottage industry is still the drying process of unfermented cassava flour. At the moment, the paperboard and plywood sectors are using wheat flour and imported starch because of unreliable and non-competitive domestic cassava starch. Production of cassava bagasse and mushroom from solid waste of cassava is reviewed. The use of cassava flour in gel culture is also reported. The current role (e.g. policy on inclusion of 10% cassava flour in bread production, glucose syrup production in Nigeria) of IITA in advancing adding value to cassava is reported. Key words: Cassava products, challenges, opportunities, value addition Rsum La recherche examine diffrentes voies dutilisation du manioc au-del des produits traditionnels. NEPAD a adopt le slogan Manioc, un puissant outil de lutte contre la pauvret en Afrique pour son Initiative Panafricaine sur le manioc. Une rvision critique de la diversification actuelle du manioc en produit valeur ajoute a t note. Il existe des poches dindustrie de lamidon ensemble avec des industries grande chelle pour lamidon de manioc en Afrique, spcialement au Nigeria, Ghana et Afrique du Sud. Lamidon modifi, cest celui qui a t chang dans ses proprits physiques, chimiques. Les africains nont pas encore commenc mener des tudes et des applications extensives sur les amidons modifis provenant de manioc. Actuellement il nexiste pas dindustrie commerciale au Nigeria produisant du sirop de glucose partir du manioc, malgr la grande abondance de matire brute ncessaire. LIITA est en train de promouvoir linclusion de farine de manioc dans la confection de ptisserie et la prparation de pain et produits de boulangerie au Nigeria. La substitution de bl/froment dans le pain constitue en thorie un norme march potentiel prsentant un potentiel pouvant tirer lindustrialisation du manioc. Des amuse-gueules spcifiques base de manioc existent simplement au niveau local et devraient tre dveloppes. Un problme majeur dans lindustrie du manioc reste encore le processus de schage de la farine de manioc non fermente. Pour le moment, les secteurs de panneaux en papier recycl et le plywood utilisent la farine de froment et lamidon import parce que lamidon de manioc domestique est non comptitif et peu fiable. La production de bagasse de manioc et de champignons partir de dchets solides de manioc est revue. Lutilisation de farine de manioc dans la culture de gel est aussi reporte. Le rle actuel (exemple : la politique dinclusion de 10% de farine d manioc dans la production de pain, production de sirop de glucose au Nigeria) de IITA dans lavancement de lajout de valeur au manioc est document. Mots cls: Produits base de manioc, dfis, opportunits, valeur ajoute

Introduction
A staple food for over 500 million people, cassava is a good commercial cash crop and a major source of food security, but it needs a competitive edge to thrive in the global market. A factor for economic development highlighted recently by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The importance of cassava to the livelihoods of many millions of poor people has made the commodity a target for interventions. NEPAD has adopted the slogan of Cassava: A Powerful Poverty Fighter in Africa for its Pan African Cassava Initiative (Whingwiri, 2004). The potential of the crop is large because it offers the cheap source of food calories and the highest yield per unit area. It also has multiple roles as famine reserve, food and cash crop, industrial raw material and livestock

feed. There are also many agronomic (relative resistance to pests and diseases, flexibility in planting and harvesting, etc.) and social (income earner for women, flexible labour requirements) reasons why cassava has become so important (Westby et al., 2004). A critical review of current diversification of cassava to value added products is reported. Research to investigate modified starch quality for better marketability is proposed. The food industry must be alert to the findings from this science network as it could well open the door to viable alternatives to current sources rooted in high price raw materials.

Methodology
Information was obtained through field visits, desktop research and rapid interview during major International

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Meetings within and outside Africa. Some pictures were taken while others were collected from Scientists operating in other parts of Africa. Native and modified starches from cassava. To date starch is used to produce such diverse products as: food, paper, textiles, adhesives, beverages, confectionery, pharmaceuticals and building materials (Chang, 2000). High amylose corn starch is also used in extruded and fried snack products to obtain crisp, evenly browned product and hampers penetration of cooking oils. High amylose corn starch requires higher cooking temperatures, typically 150-170oC, to gelatinise properly. Cassava starch exhibits good clarity and bland flavour. It has good filmforming characteristics with resistance to cracking and chipping. It may be used at a concentration of twenty per cent. The film-forming properties of cassava dextrins make it effective as a replacement for gum Arabic in the pan coating of confections. This dextrin can be used as a nontacky glaze for cakes, doughnuts, fruit, nuts and candies. Native starches have limited usage, mainly in the food industry, because they lack other desired functional properties. The native starch granules hydrate easily when heated in water, they swell and gelatinize; the viscosity increases to a peak value, followed by a rapid decrease, yielding weak-boiled, stringy and cohesive pastes of poor stability and poor tolerance to acidity, with low resistance to shear pressure, as commonly employed in modern food processing (Chang, 2000). There are pockets of cottage along with scanty large scale industries of cassava starch in Africa especially Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa (Sanni et al., 2004). Total demand for starch amounts to about 65000 MT per annum in Nigeria and 5000 MT in Ghana. The starch market consists of several sub-markets for native and specific modified starches. These small national submarkets (except for Nigeria) would not allow making a recovery on investments to produce most modified starches. The Nigerian starch industry is not competitive at the moment. Its sales price for native starch amounts to Naira 65000/MT compared to Naira 48000/MT for imported cornstarch, due to: (a) overcapacity in the domestic market; (b) the collapse of the traditional home market for native starch (textile, cardboard); (c) inefficiencies in the industrial process (low starch yield, etc.). The sector should restructure to become competitive. The Ayensu starch factory in Ghana are unable to purchase and harvest enough fresh cassava roots because its outgrowers are not sufficiently organized. It takes 72 hours to bring sufficient volumes of fresh roots to the factory instead of less than 24 hours required in starch production. Processing capacity is 20 000 MT/annum of native starch, compared to a domestic market of 5000 MT (Goossens, 2004). Modified starches. For those characteristics, which are unattainable with native starch, it can be used for other industrial applications through a series of modification techniques, namely, chemical, physical and enzymatic modification, the chemical method is the most important (Chang, 2000). Modified starch is starch that has been

changed in its physical and/or chemical properties. Modification can be as simple as sterilizing products required for the pharmaceutical industry to highly complex chemical modification to confer properties totally different from the native starch. A simple modification process is represented by washing, air classification, centrifugation and pre-gelatinization. Pre-gelatinization can be done in many forms from boiling in crude pots to drum dryers to modern multi-screw extruders. Modified starch products are used in the food, paper and textiles industries. Modified starches increase the acceptability and palatability of many processed foods to consumers. Modified starches are also used to reduce costs of established food products. More expensive ingredients such as tomato solids, fruit solids, or cocoa powder can be extended with combinations of modified food starches, flavours, and other inexpensive food substances. Modified starches and dextrins have successfully replaced caseinates in meat emulsions, coffee whiteners, and imitation cheeses. Modified dextrins are also used to replace butterfat in ice cream and ice milk, vegetable oil in salad dressings and shortening in icings. Modified food starches and dextrins play a very important role in cost reduction efforts. However, Africans have not started to carry out extensive research and applications on modified starches from cassava. Cassava starch finds good use in manufacture of noodles. Cassava based modified starch can be used as a fat mimetic in dairy systems due to its bland flavour. A low-fat product can be prepared with the organoleptic and textural properties of a traditional fat containing product. Cassava starch and cassava roots are being used in Malaysia and some other countries for the production of yeasts for animal feed, the human diet and for bakery yeast. Medium high glucose syrup - 63 DE - replaces sugar in marmalade and jam. Starch products are used as crystal and texture controller in Ice cream. Cassava speciality dextrins replaces from 20% to 40% of gum Arabic in some hard gum candies. The specific properties of modified starches are shown in Tables 1-3 (Tupper, 2000) while Table 4 presents the standards for modified starches in the international market (Sangseethong et al., 2005).

Some products from modified cassava starches in Africa

Monosodium glutamate (MSG). This product is used extensively in many parts of the continent in powder or crystal form as a flavouring agent in foods such as meats, vegetables, sauces and gravies. Cassava starch and molasses are the major raw materials used in the manufacture of MSG in the far East and Latin American countries. The starch is usually hydrolysed into glucose by boiling with hydrochloric or sulfuric acid solutions in closed converters under pressure. The glucose is filtered and converted into glutamic acid by bacterial fermentation. The resulting glutamic acid is refined, filtered and treated with caustic soda to produce monosodium glutamate, which is then centrifuged and dried in drum driers. The finished product is usually at least 99 percent pure.

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Commercial caramel. Caramel, a colouring agent for food, confectionery and liquor is extensively made from glucose rather than sucrose because of its lower cost. No industry is producing this product, yet major bakery and confectionery industries in Africa are using imported caramel for their activities. This is a major challenge to the African Scientists. Syrups. The commercial manufacture of glucose from starch began during the Napoleonic Wars with England, when suppliers of sucrose were cut off from France by sea blockade. Rapid progress was made in its production in the United States about the middle of the nineteenth century. At present, glucose is commonly produced as syrup or as a solid. The physical properties of the syrup vary with the dextrose equivalent (DE) and the method of manufacture. Dextrose equivalent is the total reducing sugars expressed as dextrose and calculated as a percentage of the total dry substance. Sweeteners and syrups, used to prepare soft drinks and confectionaries, are a rapidly growing market in West and Central-Africa. At the moment, all sweeteners are imported, with Ghana alone importing 920 MT per annum. A prerequisite for
Table 1. Physical properties of modified starches. Starch type Acid converted Enzyme converted Oxidized Starch esters Hydroxyl-ethyl corn Hydroxyl-ethyl potato Hydroxyl-propyl cassava Product Short chains + solubles Short chains + solubles Short chains + solubles Short chains Short chains Short chains Short chains Viscosity Very poor Poor Medium Poor (alk) Excellent Excellent Excellent

production is a supply of cheap, high quality starch, which is available in Nigeria-Matna, Real Foods, NSM, etc. Currently, there is no commercial factory in Nigeria producing glucose syrup from cassava, despite the high availability of the raw materials. Dextrose and glucose syrup are widely used as sweetening agents in confectioneries. High maltose and high conversion syrups improve moisture retention and colour control in final product. Dextrose syrup improves crust and dough properties of baked products. High fructose syrups are used in frosting and fillings. IITA in collaboration with University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Scientific and Equipment Development Institute, Enugu (SEDI) have developed prototype locally fabricated bioreactor for the production of glucose syrup. With this capability, an enterprise training will soon take place at IITA for interested investors on production of glucose syrup from cassava starch. Participants will be trained on the production of glucose syrup, equipment fabrication and maintenance, cost benefit analysis of the glucose syrup business and other SMEs information that will jump start the market for the product. Upon request, the SEDI has capability of scaling up the reactor to cater for SMEs.

Machine runnability Very poor Poor Medium Medium Good Excellent Excellent

Color Very poor Medium Poor Poor Very good Very good Excellent

Set back Very high High Medium Medium Very low Very low Lowest

Table 2. Paper properties of modified starches. Starch type Acid converted Enzyme converted Oxidized Starch esters Hydroxyl-ethyl corn Hydroxyl-ethyl potato Hydroxyl-propyl cassava Limiting control lowest Fair Good Fair Excellent Excellent Excellent Wax pick Poor Low Good Good High Higher Highest Gloss Poor Medium Good Good Good Very good Very good

Table 3. Properties of modified starch films. Starch type Acid converted Enzyme converted Oxidized Starch esters Hydroxyl-ethyl corn Hydroxyl-ethyl potato Hydroxyl-propyl cassava Surface Very poor Poor Good Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Strength Very poor Poor Medium Excellent Good Very good Excellent Flexibility None None Medium Good Good Very good very good

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Maltodextrin and starch is used as a nutrient with low fermentability. Dextrose are used as an energy source. High fructose starch-based syrups (HFSS) are used for soft drinks as sugar replacement with similar sweetness. HFSS 55, is a very concentrated sweetener used primarily in beverages. It is a direct replacement of sugar. High maltose syrups find use as wort syrup in beer production. Cassava Ethanol and other derivatives. The production of ethanol is considered as a market segment with high potential in Nigeria and Ghana, because of the large volume consumed. Nigeria alone imports 21 000 MT of ethanol per annum. Industrial processors in Nigeria are investing in processing facilities. Industrial performance of the ethanol production sector is not clear yet. Apart from serving the beverage industries, ethanol is an alternative to fuel energy (Goossens, 2004). Extraction of wood fuels accounts for 20% of total deforestation in Africa. Kerosene and LPG are imported in most countries. Wood fuels and kerosene when used for cooking generates considerable smoke and fumes (in-door pollution) resulting in health hazards to women and children. Energy poverty at the household level is rapidly increasing due to increasing wood fuels scarcity and escalating cost of imported petroleum fuels. As population continues to grow the development of renewable, low-cost & clean alternative household fuels is urgently needed. One attractive option for achieving this goal is the promotion of ethanol based household fuels using cassava as the basic feedstock. Ethanol gel as a fuel is expected to be a substitute for illuminating paraffin (kerosene) and candles in both rural and urban areas. It is a product that has hit the radar screen of DME and World Bank. More than 3.65 billion liters/year of illuminating paraffin is currently used in Nigeria with up to 52% percent being imported. A reduction in demand for illuminating paraffin would have minimal impact on the operations of Crude oil refiners because it could be blended into distillate. Currently kerosene consumed in the country at N50/liter (filling station pump prices) is subsidised given rise for smuggling to other kerosene importing neighboring countries. A liter of the concentrated Gel fuel is the equivalent to two liters of kerosene. A wide range of cooking stoves has been developed to suit any size of cooking needs. The stoves are made out of stainless steel & Zintex and runs purely
Table 4. Standards for modified starches. Type of starch General Item

on the Ethanol Gel Fuel and thus no electricity is required. It is economical, clean and safe to use. It is totally portable thus making it suitable for indoor and outdoors cooking. The Ethanol Gel Fuel is odorless, smoke free, easy to light, does not taint food, and is safe around children as it is a gel and does not spill. It has wide application in Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa through World Bank support. Traditional cassava products and flour derivatives. Future increase in cassava consumption will depend on: (a) how well cassava is prepared into convenient food forms, which make it an alternative to cereals; (b) on cassavas ability to compete with grains in terms of cost and availability (Nweke, 2003). Medium and long-term demand for traditional cassava products (e.g. chips, gari, paste and derivates) in regional markets is still the main source of growth and growth is expected to result from the following: (a) demand in domestic urban centers because of urbanization (64% growth of demand in 10 years), while the number of farm households increases slightly due to a rural exodus (increase of marketable surplus per household); (b) growing seasonal south-north flows of gari from coastal areas to the Sahelian zone during the hunger season (February-June); (c) exports to petroleum producing countries in the region (Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad). The ethnic market (US, EU) is less important in volume terms, but is crucial for the niche of quality cassava-based food items and innovation (SMEprocessors; product development; packaging). These SME-processors also supply local supermarkets with quality cassava products, which is a very small but growing niche. Gari is considered as a convenience food (easy to store, prepare, trade) with more long-term potential (income elasticity: 0.85) than chips and paste (0.55). Gari has also potential in non-traditional cassava consuming zones, namely, Sahelian zone, northern Ghana and Nigeria. According to Goossens (2004), during the 1980s and 1990s, IITA, CIRAD and CIAT did extensive research on utilization of cassava flour as a partial substitute for wheat in bread (up to 10-15%), biscuits and snacks (40-100%). IITA promoted substitution of wheat flour in Nigeria but the impact was limited, because most industries sooner or later had problems with quality and supply of cassava flour. At the moment, constraints are as follows: (a) supply

Limitation <14% <0.5% <0.05% <30mg/kg <2mg/kg<1mg/kg<0.5mg/kg <1.1% <0.04% <7.0%< 1mg/kg <2.5% <0.4%

Moisture Protein Acid-insoluble ash Sulfur dioxide Heavy metal: LeadArsenicMercury Carboxyl group Phosphate as P Hydroxypropyl groupPropylene Chlorohyrin Acetyl group Phosphate (as P)

Oxidized Distarch Hydroxypropyl starch Starch acetate Monostarch phosphate

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lines for High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) are weak; (b) a strong consumer preference for 100% wheat bread and biscuits; (c) wheat millers are not interested in composite flour, which is technically more complex to use and for which no significant market demand exists (according to them); (d) a negative image of cassava flour; some industrial bakeries and biscuit makers had bad experiences (fermentation) with cassava flour in the past. Wheat substitution in bread is in theory a huge potential market with potential to boost industrialization of cassava. It would allow the emergence of a sector of HQCF processors. Unfortunately, the industrial stakeholders are not interested at the moment due to a lack of incentives and the risks and costs involved. Large-scale bakeries that do not use cassava would be more competitive than those who use composite flour. The only way forward is: (a) a policy intervention to oblige the use of a limited percentage of cassava flour in bread (gradually increase from 2% to 10%), combined with stakeholder consultation. A policy dialogue and stakeholder consultation is required to develop this market segment. In Ghana, RTIP realised some successes with utilization of unfermented cassava flour in biscuits and snacks; caterers were trained. Potential (but slow growth rate) for product and market development exists both on the basis of unfermented flour and sour starch. RTIP (Ghana) developed some know-how in training and SMEdevelopment. Specific cassava snacks only exist at local level and should be developed for a wider market. A major problem in the cottage industry remains the drying process of unfermented cassava flour. Cassava in paper, textile and adhesives industries. Currently the paperboard and plywood sectors are using wheat flour and imported starch because of unreliable and non-competitive domestic cassava flour and starch supply. In Ghana, substitution levels of 20-40% cassava flour are considered acceptable by the plywood industry. Cassava has the potential to reduce production costs of plywood boards by 35%. The market is relatively small (1200 MT per annum in Ghana), but is a starting point for developing cassava flours. In Nigeria, about 90% of textile factories closed down during recent years because of cheap textile imports. The remaining factories are using imported cornstarch. In the paper and board industries, starch is used in large quantities at three points during the process: (i) at the end of the wet treatment, when the basic cellulose fibre is beaten to the desired pulp in order to increase the strength of the finished paper and to impart body and resistance to scuffing and folding; at the size press, when the paper sheet or board has been formed and partially dried, starch (generally oxidised or modified) is usually added to one or both sides of the paper sheet or board to improve the finish, appearance, strength and printing properties;

(iii)

in the coating operation, when a pigment coating is required for the paper, starch acts as a coating agent and as an adhesive.

Cassava starch has been widely used as a tub size and beater size in the manufacture of paper, in the past mainly on account of its low price. A high colour (whiteness), low dirt and fibre content, and, above all, uniformity of lots are needed in this instance. An important new application of starch is in the machine-coating of magazine paper, formerly done exclusively with caseins. There are indications that cassava is particularly well suited to the purpose; however, definite specifications for the starch still have to be worked out. Starch is used in the textile industry in three main areas: sizing, finishing and printing. Approximately 80% of the starch used in textiles is used in sizing where individual fibres of yarn must be shaped or formed into a warp that pass through a sizing solution that coats the surface of the twisted warp. The starches most commonly used for the manufacture of adhesive pastes are maize, potato, and cassava and of these the latter appears more suitable in several respects. Cassava starch adhesives are more viscous and smoother working. They are fluid, stable glues of neutral pH that can be easily prepared and can be combined with many synthetic resin emulsions. Corn and rice starches take a much longer time to prepare and a higher temperature to reach the same level of conversion compared with cassava starch. Starch based adhesives in the manufacture of paperboard consist mainly of starch or flour blended with certain chemicals. The essential ingredients in starchbased adhesives (SBA) are starch/flour, gelatinisation modifier (sodium hydroxide), viscosity enhancer/stabiliser (borax) and preservative (sodium formaldehyde). The amount of borax and sodium hydroxide must be determined experimentally so as to provide a SBA with the correct viscosity and pasting temperature (Graffham and Dziedzoave, 1998). Cassava products for animal feeding. At the moment, the international market price for cassava pellets (fob Rotterdam) is US$ 108/MT. West Africa requires an international market price of at least US$ 140-150/MT to be competitive. In 1996, a Ghanaian exporter used a farm gate price of US$40 for chips, while a margin of about US$ 110/MT was required for bulking, transport and handling. Short-term potential is therefore limited. The use of cassava as animal feed is well documented (Tewe and Bokanga, 2001; Buitrago et al., 2002; Tewe, 2003), but utilization of cassava in livestock feeds remains marginal except for feeding of peels to sheep and goats at farm level and use of chips by some medium-scale feed millers. According to Goossens (2004), domestic use of cassava for livestock feeding in Nigeria has potential, mainly in the booming poultry sector (which is protected), but also for fish and pig farming. Major constraints are: (a) the absence of pelletisers to produce hard pellets for poultry and floating pellets for fish; (b) the negative image of

(ii)

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cassava (compared to maize); (c) absence of varieties with thin peel for which no peeling is required before chipping; (d) absence of supply chains that produce bulk volumes of quality chips. IITA is actively working in collaboration with local fabricators in Nigeria to mass produce a pelletizer with facility for hard and floating pellets. The following pilot activities are of high priority in this effort: (i) adaptation and introduction of prototype pelletizers to produce hard pellets; (ii) development (if possible) and promotion of cassava-based feed that is at least 20-30% cheaper than maize-based feed rations; (iii) information and training. In Ghana, the poultry sector is in a crisis because of cheap imports (no market protection). A largescale feed miller is interested in using cassava chips as energy source, if farmer groups are able to guarantee a correct price, quality and supply. As pilot activity, farmer groups can be identified and organized to supply chips. Adding value to cassava processing by products. The waste water coming out of settling tank for cassava starch production contain unextracted starch, cellulose, carbohydrates, nitrogenous compounds and cyanoglucosides (Nanda et al., 2003). Waste water could be converted to methane (biogas) (Sanni and Bokanga, 2004). In Asia and Latin America, cassava workers and factory owners have advanced in the utilization of cassava residues for mycoproteins (using Aspergillus Rhizopus), protein enriched food (using Trichoderma pseudokoningii) which served as energy source in broiler rations, ethanol production through hydrolysis of starch with Saccharomyces cerevisae, citric acid production (using Aspergillus niger treated with -amylase and amyloglucosidase before fermentation), maltodextrins of varying dextrose equivalents of 0.71 to 25.83 (using amylase called Termamyl of 0.01 to 0.1 %), and methane production through anaerobic batch and semi-continuous digester with 87.8% reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and cyanide. The biogas is used for roasting cassava in the factory or as cooking gas at homes. Cassava bagasse. Cassava bagasse is an inexpensive carbon source for L(+) lactic acid production using mixed culture of Lactobacilli and can be used in production of cellulose. According to Pandey et al. (2000), advances in industrial biotechnology offer potential opportunities for economic utilization of agro-industrial residues such as cassava bagasse. Cassava bagasse, which is a fibrous material, is the by-product of the cassava-processing industry. It contains about 30-50% starch on dry weight basis. Due to its rich organic nature and low ash content, it can serve as an ideal substrate for microbial processes for the production of value added products. Attempts have been made to produce several products such as organic acids, flavour and aroma compounds, and mushrooms from cassava bagasse. Solid-state fermentation has been mostly employed for bioconversion processes. The developments in processes and products developed for the value addition of cassava bagasse through biotechnological means are described below.

Mushroom Production from cassava. Cassava bagasse has been used for mushroom cultivation in SSF. Beux et al. (1995) compared the cultivation of Lentinus edodes on cassava bagasse and sugarcane bagasse, individually or in their mixture. Both the substrates were found suitable for mushroom production, but the best results were obtained when a mixture of cassava bagasse (80%) and sugarcane bagasse (20%) was used. Data on kinetics of consumption of starch (present in cassava bagasse) showed that about 77% of the starch was used during the biotransformation process. The protein content of the substrate was improved three times. The results were claimed to be useful in providing a novel alternative technology for shiitake production. Barbosa et al. (1995) also compared cassava bagasse and sugarcane bagasse for mushroom production. They used a different fungal culture, Pleurotus sajor-caju. Cassava bagasse showed good potential for mushroom cultivation, but the best results were obtained when cassava bagasse was used in a mixture with sugarcane bagasse (8:2, dry weight basis). The results were claimed to be useful for upgrading the cassava bagasse for animal feed. Cassava in agriculture. According to Maliro and Lameck (2004), there is potential of a tissue culture medium gelled with cassava flour to support shoot proliferation of stem nodal sections of Uapaca kirkiana and Faidherbia albida. A two factorial experiment was conducted with the first factor as type of gelling agent (80 g/L cassava flour; 80 g/ L cassava flour mixed with 3.5 g/L agar; and 7 g/L agar) while the second factor was two plant species. Explants were obtained from 8-months old U. kirkiana and F. albida in vitro raised seedlings. Data included number of shoots and height and analysis of variance was performed. Number of shoots proliferating and shoot height from cultures on medium gelled with cassava flour was the lowest. This was attributed to the degradation of the cassava flour gel after two weeks. Performance of the cassava flour mixed with 3.5 g/L agar gel was better than agar alone. The stability of cassava flour as a gelling agent can therefore be improved by mixing with some agar. Copolymerizing starch with acrylonitril and alkaline hydrolysis gives a super absorbing polymer, SuperSlurper used for coating of seeds to improve presence of water for faster germination and to improve water holding capacity of soil for potted plants. A further major application area for starch is in the production of degradable agriculture mulch. This product can be obtained from various combinations of starch and ethylene-acrylic acid polymers (EAA). Concern over the build up in the environment of discarded plastic goods, due to their resistance to microorganisms, will drive demand for this biodegradable product. Some starches, especially canary dextrins, are also added to produce nutritionally balanced animal feed rations in pellet form. This helps to avoid animals selecting certain feed ingredients. Adding value to cassava by IITA. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture is currently collaborating

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with National and International Agencies to promote innovativeness and utilization technologies to add value to cassava in Africa. IITA has recorded laudable achievements in the areas of value adding to cassava varieties, diversified industrial cassava products from flour and starch, and has engaged in the production of flyers, training manuals, books and monographs to stimulate the cassava industry at private level. IITA and other stakeholders are facilitating successful implementation of the policy on 10% cassava flour in bread from 2005. The policy had stimulated lots of attention and challenges to the cassava sub-sector. IITA is collaborating with National Agencies and Universities in developing glucose syrup from cassava starch. The Bioreactor used was locally fabricated by the Scientific and Equipment Development Institute, Enugu, Nigeria. The all glass Double jacketed bioreactor (5 little capacity) was fabricated at SEDI Enugu and it has a temperature probe, impeller shaft with impeller blade at an angle of 45 degrees and a control panel. Indicator lamps were also installed to monitor the status of the heating element and motor. Compression springs were used to assemble the equipment to allow for lateral and longitudinal expansion due to heating. Charge/feed hole was provided for charging the reactor without removing the upper plate and wooden crate was incorporated for safe handling. The performance test of the reactor was conducted with cassava starch (10%w/v), distilled water, and enzymes as main ingredients. The extracted syrup was centrifuged and sugar level monitored using Digital refractometer. The syrup was finally bleached to white colour. With this capability, an enterprise training activity for interested investors on production of glucose syrup from cassava starch will soon be organized by IITA. Participants will be trained in the production of glucose syrup, equipment fabrication and maintenance, cost benefit analysis of the glucose syrup business and other SMEs information that will drive the market for the product. Upon request, the SEDI has capability of scaling up the reactor to cater for SMEs. IITAs collaboration with CSRS (Centre Swiss de Recherche Scientifique) and NESTLE Plc, in Cote dIvoire in screening over 300 cassava varieties for suitability for cassava flour production. Special characteristics for making Maggi cubes in addition to good agronomic performance are desired. After series of experiments and analysis, six varieties were selected and currently Nestle uses 45t of cassava fresh roots daily from these varieties obtained from farmer outgrowers scheme to produce the special flour to make Maggi cubes, which is traded across West Africa. This is an example of a niche needs for industries in which the farmers and Nestle Plc are gaining from this intervention in Cote DIvoire. Also, in collaboration with the starch company (SOPROKA) in Senegal, elite cassava varieties adapted to the semi arid agroecology were introduced, evaluated and the selected clones were multiplied and distributed to farmers to improve production and ensure supply to the factory for starch production. Through collaboration with the national bakers association (ABAC) in the DRC, the use of high quality cassava flour (HQCF) as a composite

in bread and confectionaries is stimulating demand in cassava production, creating jobs and enhancing income to households in the DR Congo: over 1000 households are currently benefiting from the production of HQCF. Significant capacity building was achieved with 11 students who completed their postgraduate degrees during the review period, in addition to several short-term attachments, as well as technical backstopping provided to national programs.

Conclusion
A great potential exists for cassava utilization in food, paper, textile, starch and livestock industries in Africa. The food and starch using industry in Africa should take advantage of the abundance of cassava production in the region to develop a local raw material base. Bakeries and confectioneries manufacturers should start to utilize cassava products, even at low levels of substitution for wheat flour. The profitability of any cassava factory depends primarily on the following conditions: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) year-round availability of cassava roots of the desired quality in sufficient quantity; presence of abundant water with the needed qualities reliable power supply appropriate scalable processing equipment transportation facilities both for the roots and the end products; availability of capital and labour. existing demand, new markets and products and quality of the products

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