Feasibility studies on gari processing facility at Kwaman, Central region, Ghana

Abstract

An agro processing facility owned by Mr. Vincent Koomson has been set up at Kwaman in the central region of Ghana to process cassava into Gari for both local and international markets. The owner in ensuring the safety of the product and compliance of the processing facility to food processing ethics contacted the Food Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-FRI) for technical assessment of the facility before it begins its full scale Gari production. Preliminary discussion was held between CSIR-FRI and the owner of the facility, after which a service request was signed between Mr Koomson and CSIR-FRI for FRI to conduct feasibility studies on the facility at Kwaman. The CSIR-FRI team led by Dr. Gregory A. Komlaga visited the facility at Kwaman on July 8, 2022 for the assessment and discussions with the owner. The CSIR-FRI team after visiting the facility and conducting the necessary feasibility believe that the facility is ideal for commercial gari processing. However, further inputs have to be made by the owner to ensure safety of the product and sustainability of the production in the facility. The key recommendations proposed to the owner for improvement of the facility are; inclusion of a washing trough, construction of a fermentation trough, installation of a robust gari roaster and rearrangement of the processing line for safe and efficient production of the product. The CSIR-FRI team is also ready and available to provide technical support to the facility in terms of intallation of new equipment, training of personnel and periodic quality systems audits of the facility and its product