Cassava Post harvest management

Almost all cassava grown in Africa is for human consumption; 30 percent is consumed after

peeling, cleaning and boiling, while 70 percent is processed into a wide variety of food

products including dry chips and flour, cooked pastes, roasted or steamed granules, beverages, etc. Both rural and urban peoples use these products as a basic daily source of dietary energy.

In Rwanda, We have the following cassava products:

• Ugali or fufu refers to the dough made from  cassava flour. This flour can be obtained in two ways: sun drying of fresh cassava whole roots or chips and milling them into flour when dry; or first soaking whole roots in water for 3 to 5 days. Soaking is usually the preferred process if water is in abundance; where water is scarce, cassava flour is made from sun -dried roots.
• Gari: a free flowing, granular, fermented and gelatinised cassava product. Easy to store and fast to cook, gari is a convenient food well suited for a busy urban lifestyle.
• Food processing factories are mixing cassava flour and wheat flour in the production of biscuits, bread, cakes,....
• Starch is being produced industrially,
• Kwanga (or chickwangue) is a popular fermented cassava product. To make it, cassava roots fermented by three days of soaking in water are mashed and steamed. The steamed mash is kneaded into smooth dough which is wrapped in leaves and steamed. After steaming, the wrapped cassava is allowed to cool. The product can be consumed warm or cold. Its shelf life is about 3 to 7 days at room temperature if the wrapping is not open. Otherwise it will dry up and become unfit for eating or it will support microbial growth.
• Cassava leaves: young tender leaves are usually selected, pounded and boiled for 15 to 30 minutes; various ingredients are then added to taste.