Sirleaf, Malac; Inaugurates Industrial Rice Processing Facility

NiajaAgroNet:

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, will today officially inaugurate  Liberia’s first industrial rice processing and warehousing facility, Fabrar Liberia Inc., in Kakata, Margibi County, alongside U.S Ambassador to Liberia, Deborah Malac, NiajaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that with financial and technical support from the U.S. Government through the USAID Food and Enterprise Development (USAID FED) program and private equity financing from West Africa Venture Fund in 2014, Fabrar Liberia Inc. was able to procure an automated rice processing plant and expand its warehouse facilities.

The USAID FED Program, NaijaAgroNet learnt is implemented in six counties: Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado and aims to reduce hunger and promote food security by increasing agricultural productivity and profitability of food crops (rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats), stimulating enterprise development and building agriculture workforce.

As against the previous supply of rice entirely by foreign imports due to a lack of domestic supply, NaijaAgroNet gathered that, the Liberia Government through the industrial rice processing and warehousing facility and Fabrar Liberia Inc. would market rice to local consumers in Monrovia and throughout the country.

Fabrar Liberia Inc. (Fabrar) was fully incorporated 2009, as Liberian owned and run agriculture holding firm to tackle food insecurity in Liberia by improving the livelihoods of farmers and providing them with increased access to domestic and international food markets

Daniel Nsolibe/Ed, Ops.

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Cassava is foodstuff, industrial raw material

NaijaAgroNet:

Cassava has been identified as crucial to food security for millions of Africans, and now the shrub’s potential for industrial purposes is being considered, says a professor at the school of molecular and cell biology,Wits University South Africa. Prof. Chrissie Rey, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking on the versatility of the crop, Prof. Rey said its used in several products including flour, paper, textiles, food additives and animal feed.

"The main thrust of cassava in South Africa is for industrial purposes and the use of biotechnology to improve the crop for agro-processing," noted Prof. Rey who has been studying the shrub since the 1980s.

According to Rey,other countries on the continent have always been interested in cassava for food security but all cassava-growing countries are getting interested in its industrial potential.

Rey says herinterest on studying the plant was because its roots are a valuable source of starch. "The need for root-based starch will rise in the next 50 years. Cassava is a potentially valuable crop and the South African government is interested in exploring that potential for small-scale and commercial farmers," she says.

The crop is also used to produce bio-ethanol, which is used in small stoves instead of paraffin. The bio-ethanol produced from cassava is cleaner for the environment, she pointed out.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Pix: Cassava tubers