By Joshua Kato
Eseza Airo eats, smells, walks, talks and dreams about cassava.
“My life is about cassava farming and promotion,” she says.
In Teso and some parts of Busoga, Airo has gained the moniker ‘Maama Cassava’. Using family land, she established a 40-acre farm of cassava in Amuria district, Dokolo village.
She is in the process of establishing another farm in Napak district in Karamoja.
She is also adding value to cassava by processing it into flour, chips etc.
The Amuria farm is well-maintained. The farm, under Eseza Airo Development Foundation, employs several youth both on permanent and casual basis. It also offers free training in cassava production and other skills along the value chain.
The objective is to support families improve their household income and obtain skills to enable farmers move into the money economy.
Starting
Airo says farming has been part of her life since childhood on a subsistence level.
She decided to take this a notch higher and practise agriculture on a commercial scale, so she can earn an income while ensuring food security.
“I picked cassava because it is not only resilient in the face of many challenges, for example drought, but it is also a multi-useable crop,” she says.
Airo started her farm in Amuria, about five years ago. She says her main objective was to grow cassava to earn an income and create jobs for women and youth.
“I had savings that I invested on the farm. At the end of the season, I sold both cassava and cuttings,” she says.
There were no challenges at the inception of the farm, especially because Amuria and Teso in general are known for producing good cassava.
“I collected the cuttings from National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and some farmers,” she says.
She spent about sh5m to start the farm. A long the way, in 2019, her efforts caught President Yoweri Museveni’s eye, who is also enthusiastic about farming.
Museveni was touring Teso region when he met her. With a directive from President Museveni, Airo was directed to distribute 50,000 bags of cassava stems to the youth and women within Busoga and Teso region, she successfully distributed these inputs to over 1,000 farmers who benefited from the project in three years.
“I distributed cuttings from my farm to as far as Busoga, 120kms away. I accompanied this with knowledge about growing cassava,” she says.
The beneficiaries planted the cuttings and earned money from it. They are still growing it. With her regional reach, she was informally named the brand ambassador for cassava farming.
“People now call me ‘Mama Cassava’ or ‘omubaka wa muwogo’ because that is the gospel that I preach at every occasion,” she says.
Because of her connection with the small holder farmers, Airo says she provides an opportunity for them to access regional and global markets for cassava and its products.
“I have done a lot of research on cassava growing with the small holders and I know that with some push, they can earn more,” she says.
Airo points out that just like other enterprises are widely promoted, the same must be done for cassava. Her current campaign, she says, is to have cassava products countrywide.
“We need to have roadside markets for cassava from which every product about cassava can be picked by Ugandans,” she says.
These include cassava flour, fresh cassava, pancakes, bagiya, fried cassava, steamed cassava, etc.
“We have a couple of products that are on the market. These include Airo cassava flour, which is processed from our farm cassava,” she says.
Value addition
According to Airo, while direct earnings from fresh cassava may be low, adding value to the product improves the returns.
Gross earnings from an acre range from sh1.2m to sh2m depending on a farmer’s location.
However, the more value one adds to the crop, the higher the returns.
Airo says cassava can be used for making confectioneries like bagiya, daddies, cassava chips and on further refinement can be used to make alcohol, ethanol and starch and medicinal tablets among others.
“We have Airo cassava flour on the market. We are also currently incubating at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories – Kawanda on processing of other products,” she says.
Social impact
Airo is working with various groups in Teso and Busoga regions to grow more cassava.
“I am already working with 20 groups,” she says, adding that she gives the farmers capital in form of cassava cuttings.
She explains that gradually, she is developing these people into a fully-fledged cassava farmers.
“To ensure that the we produce the finest quality of cassava, we offer regular extension services to them,” she says.
In May 2022, Airo organised the first cassava expo in the country. It was held at the Uganda Museum.
“I wanted to promote the growing of cassava and the many uses it has,” she says.
The expo attracted most of the stakeholders, including government institutions like NARO.
“I wanted to show the country that cassava is more than the tuber that they steam and eat. It is actually an industrial crop,” she says.
Airo employs five permanent staff including a farm and business manager to run the farm. During weeding, however, she employs other casual workers to help.
Market
Airo says there is good market for cassava in the country.
“I sell all my harvest and value-added products in Uganda,” she says, adding that the demand is higher than the supply.
“You can confirm this by visiting any major market. The price of cassava has been consistently high in the last two years because there is a scarcity,” she says.
According to figures from the National Agricultural Advisory Services, Uganda produces about five million metric tonnes of cassava per year.
Local consumption of fresh cassava in 2021 was around 2.8 million metric tons, however, about 800,000 metric tonnes were dried and processed into flour while the rest was exported both formally and informally to DR Congo, South Sudan and Kenya.
Achievements
Airo says through her efforts, including the cassava expo, she has been able to raise positive awareness about the cassava.
“Many people who were growing it for only domestic consumption are now growing it for money,” she says.
She has also been able to get money from her farm activities.
Plans
Airo plans to expand her cassava enterprises to as far as Karamoja, by the end of 2023.
“There is food insecurity in Karamoja and yet the soils are fertile. I am investing in cassava there,” she says.
Airo also plans to set up a fully-fledged processing unit for cassava products.
“I am planning a one-stop processing centre for cassava products,” she concludes.
What others say
John Opolot, a farmer in Katakwi Airo has added impetus to the fight against hunger and famine in eastern Uganda.
Cassava is widely grown here, however, we have not been able to benefit from all its attributes. With sensitisation, we are now growing it for ethanol and medicines.
Margaret Amongin, farmer in Amuria I was growing cassava only for my home consumption, however, when I received cuttings from Airo, I now produce enough for home and selling.
Farm expenses
On average, to prepare an acre she needs sh150,000, tilling twice before planting, sh200,000 acquiring cuttings.
Between planting and harvest, the farm is weeded three times at a cost of sh100,000 per acre.
Average yields per acre, according to Airo, is 10 to 12.5 tonnes, earning between sh1.2m and sh2m if the cassava is sold raw.
This means that gross earnings from her 40- acre farm range up to sh50m. Cassava is harvested once a year.
“The returns are enough to cater for the company’s costs which include workers’ wages, production expenses, renting office space for the cassava foundation and processing the crop into various products.”
Making confectioneries
According to Airo, the flour can be used as posho or to make confectioneries.
She says depending on what one is processing, one needs particular equipment.
“If you are making cakes, you need cake cups, a charcoal or electric oven. You need eggs and sugar plus wheat, with quantities depending on the volume of the products. Preparation for any confectionery involves mixing cassava flour and wheat in equal measure before mixing the dough,” she says.
The volume of the dough depends on the quantity of products, for instance, when a kilo of high-quality cassava flour is mixed with a kilo of wheat flour, one can get 80 queen cakes, earning sh40,000, compared to an investment of about sh12,000.
“Considering expenses of other ingredients included in production of cakes or daddies or bagiya, one makes a profit margin sh150,000-sh200,000 from a 50kg sack of cassava flour. These are some of the things that we must put in one market place so that cassava farmers move from potential earnings to real earnings,” Airo concludes.
Processing flour
She says the processing starts with selecting clean cassava tubers. These must not have any visible infections for example rotting.
They are then peeled, washed clean after which they are inserted in a chipping machine that cuts them to pieces. The pieces are spread on a clean plastic sheet and laid on a makeshift dry rack in an open space to dry.
In a sunny weather, it takes two days for the pieces to dry. When dry, the chips are stored in plastic bags and transported to a mill.
“To get fine clean flour, we remove the dirty or mouldy pieces,” she says.
The milled flour is packed in branded bags for the market.
