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Elizabeth
Gikebe, the founder of Mhogo Foods, a value addition start-up based in Banana,
Kiambu, displays the cassava value addition products made in her enterprise. Photo
| James Karuga | Nation Media Group
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●Cassava flour is gluten-free, which means unlike wheat or
barley, it cannot cause abnormal body reactions, some which damage the small
intestines. ●After harvesting the cassava, the tubers are bulked at a
central point, and then the farmers select the healthy, mature and firm ones,
which should have no bruises. ●To learn how to process cassava, she enrolled for a one-month
course at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute in Nairobi,
where she learnt various aspects of value addition that made her confident of
starting the business. ●In Western Africa, cassava leaves are eaten as well and are
available when other leafy vegetables are scarce and they provide excellent
nutrition. They are rich in proteins, Vitamin K and are low in calories.
Dressed in a white
overcoat and her hair covered with a white cap, Elizabeth Gikebe, 26, puts a
branded empty packet on a weighing scale and fills it with flour.
Daily
Nation report continues:
She
adds more flour in the 500g packet as she checks the scale, getting the
accurate weight before sealing the packet and moving onto the next.
Elizabeth,
a software developer, is the founder of Mhogo Foods, a value addition start-up
based in Banana, Kiambu, which processes cassava into flour.
Cassava
flour is gluten-free, which means unlike wheat or barley, it cannot cause
abnormal body reactions, some which damage the small intestines.
The
flour is suited for people with diseases like asthma or eczema, often triggered
with foods eaten.
“I
started the business in July last year after doing market research and noticing
that there was a gap in cassava flour.”
Some
seven months later, Elizabeth says she supplies her product, which has a
six-month shelf-life, to over 10 supermarkets.
“I
also supply my Kenya Bureau of Standards certified flour to Kaldis Coffee
House, which uses it for baking. Cassava flour can make bread, pancakes, ugali,
brownies and cookies.”
With
the help of Farm Concern International, she was able to get about 40 farmers,
who she contracted to supply her dried cassava.
After
harvesting the cassava, the tubers are bulked at a central point, and then the farmers
select the healthy, mature and firm ones, which should have no bruises.
DROUGHT RESISTANT CROP
“The
farmers are spread in Busia, Makueni, and Embu. They supply monthly up to 30
tonnes of dried cassava, which is processed and distributed to shopping outlets
in Thika, Nanyuki, Gilgil, and Kiambu in 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 5kg, 10kg, 20kg, 50kg
and 100kg packs,” says Elizabeth, who started the business with a capital of
Sh800,000 and has a monthly turnover of about Sh300,000.
The
capital, which came from her savings, went to her getting legal certifications,
buying machines, printing packages, raw materials and renovation of the
premises.
Last
month, her start-up processed 5 metric tonnes (MT) of flour and this month, her
target is 7MT.
The
company currently employs seven workers, four who are in the sales department,
and the rest in production.
“We
also use social media to popularise the flour and reach more customers. Our
Mhogo Foods Facebook page has over 13,000 likes, and facilitates quick
interactions between us, and customers. We even get enquiries from as far as
Australia,” says Elizabeth, who holds a Bachelors in Business and Information
Technology from St Pauls University and is employed at a city firm as a
software developer.
The
value addition bug hit her at an early age as her parents ran a maize flour
milling business.
But
her interest was on roots and tubers. “Cassava is a drought resistant crop that
needs little care on the farm, the reason I love it. I process the flour to
make it more palatable to consumers as many think it is a poor man’s food,” she
says.
To
learn how to process cassava, she enrolled for a one-month course at the Kenya
Industrial Research and Development Institute in Nairobi, where she learnt
various aspects of value addition that made her confident of starting the
business.
VERSATILE CROP
Soon,
she plans to start processing flour from other traditional roots and tubers.
But
it is not an easy ride. According to Elizabeth, most of the top supermarkets
with a wider reach, and huge customer base, view her start-up as a small
company that they frown trading with though she can supply tonnes of cassava
flour.
“There
is also the challenge of limited capital, which has hindered me from hiring
more sales persons to market the flour.”
Ruth
Oniang’o, a professor of nutrition, notes that any effort to make cassava to be
widely consumed is welcome.
“During
the colonial days, I remember my mother having to grow it at the instruction of
the government to serve as a food reserve. We used to add cassava to millet
during food shortages. Then it used to be known as the “hunger” crop, perhaps
the reason why consumption went down.”
She,
however, adds that the crop is versatile.
“In
Western Africa, cassava leaves are eaten as well and are available when other
leafy vegetables are scarce and they provide excellent nutrition. Cassava
leaves are rich in proteins, Vitamin K and are low in calories.”
She
notes that cassava provides gluten-free flour and is a good addition to other
grains like millet, for variety, and economic reasons, and serves as a viable
food reserve.
“Cassava
can also be an excellent industrial money-making crop for farmers and for the
Kenyan economy. Through cassava value addition, one can get glue, cassava
chips, starch and flour. From the flour one can make flour based foods like
cookies, cassava ugali and brownies.”
***
The
Data
Kenya’s annual cassava fresh root production is estimated at 662,405 tonnes, against an annual demand of 301,200 tonnes of dried cassava, and 1,204,800 metric tonnes of fresh roots, according to 2014 data by Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Sources: BBC & DAILY NATION (KENYA)
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