USD$25,000 Invested Into Cassava Production By Investors

Zambian firm Three Roofs Investment, with support from the United States Africa Development Foundation, have invested USD$25,000 into a project in Luapula Province which aims to add value to Cassava production within the region. 

Luapula Province was chosen by the investors due to the large amount of Cassava production within the area. 

Three Roofs Investment is expected build a factory in Chief Chisunka’s Chiefdon to produce hand sanitiser with ethanol, a by-product of both Cassava and Aloe Vera. As a result, the need for Cassava within the area will increase, especially given the increase in demand for hand sanitiser due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Company Board Chairperson Martin Chanda has indicated that the company will work closely with farmers in the Province to supply Cassava to Three Roofs. 

Chanda also indicated that part of the project will involve Cassava experts educating the farmers on new ways of growing the crop to help increase production. 

“There will be high demand for ethanol from our side therefore we expect Farmers to be able to meet this demand by increasing their production,” says Mr, Chanda.

Three Roofs Investment CEO, Annie Kapapula, hopes to create a market niche and use Luapula as a hub for Cassava production. 

“As an industry, we need to evolve if we are to remain contemporary and sustainable and that is the reason why we have embarked on this journey in Luapula Province,” she said. 

Aware of local uncertainty which may arise around the project, Mrs Kapapula has urged farmers to embrace the project as a means to help better their lives through increasing demand for their crop, whilst also improving the production of their Cassava at the same time. 

A number of Zambian farmers currently lack the capacity to transition from subsistence to small-scale commercial farming. Access to means of production such as land and transport infrastructure have failed to be implemented by the government to help increase national production of a variety of crops including Cassava. Although President Lungu has been seen to visit agriculture centres in Chisamba and Chilanga recently, government actions to improve the agriculture sector are yet to be seen.