Cassava Processing Level 2

Who it is for. People who have finished Cassava Processing (Level 1), or who can show the same skills. National Proficiency II covers varied work, mostly routine, under limited supervision.

Bridge from Level 1: what you already know

Level 1 did not cover testing moisture and grade, setting a food-safety system with records, working the grater, hydraulic press and roaster as a line, making high-quality cassava flour with dryers and mills, costed recipes for starch, tapioca, attieke, agbelima and composite bread, shelf-life and label checks, FDA and GSA steps, or group enterprise costing. Level 2 covers all of these.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical.

Honesty rule. Numbers marked example were invented to teach the method. Numbers marked derived were calculated from a cited number. Where a Ghana fact could not be found, the book says not verified. A claim ends with its source in brackets.

Four rules for every unit in this book.

1. Safety gates stay shut. Never shorten fermentation or pressing. Never put your hand into a running machine. Never sell product you have not tested.
2. Use stainless or food-grade surfaces. IITA says contact surfaces should be stainless steel because mild steel rusts and contaminates.
3. Write it down. A batch that is not recorded cannot be traced and cannot be defended.
4. Check the arithmetic twice. Every worked example here was checked by a computer script.

Competency standard

Range. Gari, high-quality cassava flour, kokonte and cassava dough. Evidence. Moisture and sieve test sheets; batch record; hygiene schedule; oral questions; logbook.

Why a "system"

A system is a set of habits that make the product safe and the same each time. It has four parts: limits (what is allowed), checks (how you measure), actions (what you do when a check fails) and records (proof). You already know the products. This unit gives you the habits.

The main dangers in cassava foods are four:

• Cyanide left in the product because a step was cut short.
• Dirt and germs from water, floors, flies, hands and tools.
• Chemicals from pots, dyes and packaging.
• Poor quality: too wet, gritty, burnt, floury, fibrous or sour.

Moisture: the first number

Water is the enemy of storage. Wet gari goes mouldy and sour. The Codex gari standard sets a maximum of 12.0% moisture (mass by mass) and says moisture should be lower for hot or long transport. A Ghana study of gari samples found 8.1% moisture, 1.63% fibre and swelling capacity of 310%, and the samples met the essential factors of the 1994 Codex standard.

How a laboratory measures moisture. A food laboratory weighs a sample, dries it in an oven until the weight stops changing, then weighs it again. The loss in weight is water. The oven temperature and time are set by the laboratory method; they were not verified for this book, so ask CSIR Food Research Institute or the Ghana Standards Authority before you quote a method on a certificate.

The formula (derived).

Moisture % = (weight before − weight after) ÷ weight before × 100

Worked example (example numbers). 100.0 g of gari weighs 89.0 g after drying. Water lost = 11.0 g. Moisture = 11.0 ÷ 100.0 × 100 = 11.0%. That is under the 12.0% limit, so it passes.

Simple weight-loss test for training (good practice, not a certified method). Use a pocket scale that reads to 0.1 g. Spread a 100 g sample thinly on a tray. Dry it in a low oven or in strong sun, covered from flies, weighing every hour until two weighings are the same. Use the formula. A homemade test is good for comparing your own batches. It is not proof for a label. Hand-held and bench moisture meters also exist; their prices in Ghana were not found.

Grading gari by sieve

Gari is graded by grain size. IITA gives these sizes: extra-fine 0.25–0.5 mm, fine 0.5–1.0 mm, coarse 1.0–1.25 mm and extra-coarse 1.25–2.0 mm. The Codex standard also sets classes by sieve in an annex, but the layout of the annex in the copy read was jumbled, so use the IITA sizes in this book and read the Codex annex yourself before you claim a Codex class. The annex also gives limits for total acidity (minimum 0.6% as lactic acid), crude fibre (maximum 2%) and ash (maximum 2.75%); these values were read from the text but you must verify them in the standard before you use them.

Before roasting, break the wet cake and sieve it through 1.5–2.0 mm to take out fibre and lumps.

Cyanide: what your system must guarantee

You learned in Level 1 that cassava roots hold linamarin. When the root is cut or grated, an enzyme called linamarase releases cyanide. Cyanide dissolves in water and leaves as gas when fermented material is dried or heated. So a safe product depends on every step staying in the process:

In an attieke study, fermentation cut total cyanide by about 30–50%, pressing by about 20% and the final steaming by about 15%. In a Ghana study of high-quality cassava flour, solar drying removed cyanide better than mechanical drying.

What the numbers say. About 10 mg/kg (10 ppm) of total cyanide is widely cited as a safe level for cassava flour, although some experts say it can be met only with low-cyanide roots. The Codex gari standard text has no numeric cyanide limit; do not write that it has one. Codex says importing countries may set their own limits for bitter cassava.

Konzo. Konzo is a permanent paralysis of the legs linked to short-cut processing of bitter cassava, for example soaking for 1–2 days instead of 3–4, and low protein in the diet raises the risk. Outbreaks were also seen among processors who make cassava flour quickly for sale. It is reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon and is not widely reported in Ghana; teach it as a warning.

Your cyanide checks (a rule for every batch).

Testing for cyanide. Picrate-paper test kits for cassava cyanide exist from the Australian National University; whether they can be bought in Ghana was not verified. The cyanide ranking of Ghanaian varieties was not found. Until you have both, the safe rule is: before you sell in volume or begin a new variety, send a sample to a laboratory such as CSIR Food Research Institute and keep the result. The laboratory fee was not verified; ask for a price first.

Hygiene routines

Use these rules, drawn from the IITA gari guide.

Waste water. In the Western Region, a three-month MoFA training for about 150 gari and dough processors found that juice was thrown away in ways that smelled and drew animals; the lessons were to wash thoroughly after peeling, ferment dough in clean basins and not on bare floor, collect the juice in a catchment pit, and bag and seal gari.

Pans and pots. No study tested gari pans for aluminium. A Ghana study of scrap-aluminium pots found aluminium, lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel leaching, and 77% of pots assessed contained high lead. So for roasting use stainless steel or another food-grade pan, and avoid pans made from scrap radiators or engine parts (course rule from these sources).

Oil. Many gari makers oil the pan lightly or sell gari coloured with red palm oil. FDA monitoring in 2024 found the illegal Sudan dye in 24.44% of palm oil samples, and there is no safe level of the dye. No gari-specific warning was found. Buy oil only from a supplier you trust and ask where it comes from.

Records and tracing

A batch is the product you make from one lot of roots in one run. Write one batch record for each batch. A good record lets you answer "which roots, which day, which people, which tests?" when a customer complains.

Batch record: fields to fill.

1. Date, product and batch (lot) code, for example G-261008-01 for gari (G), 8 Oct 2026, batch 01 (the coding style is a suggestion; use one style and keep it).
2. Where the roots came from, the variety if known, and the weight received.
3. Time of harvest if known, time of arrival and time of peeling.
4. Fermentation start and end times.
5. Press start and end times, and cake weight after pressing.
6. Roast times, pan or roaster used, and the weight of finished product.
7. Moisture result and sieve grade.
8. Weight packed, number of bags, and the lot code printed on the bag.
9. Names of the people on shift. Any problem and the action taken.

Recovery check (derived). IITA reports that most varieties need about 4 t of roots for 1 t of gari, while high dry-matter varieties such as TME 419 need about 3 t. One Ghana demonstration unit reported an overall recovery of 28%. A big gap from your usual figure is a warning: roots were poor, the press took too much, or product was lost.

Complaints and recall. Keep a complaint book. If a customer says a bag made them sick, stop selling that lot, find the lot code in your records, collect the bags you can and tell the FDA. Write what you did.

A simple control table for a gari line (a teaching tool)

This table is built from the sources above, to teach the idea of a control point: a step where one failure can hurt a customer.

Check yourself

1. What is the Codex limit for moisture in gari, and what must you do if the gari will travel far in hot weather?
2. Name three steps that remove cyanide, and say what you must never do to them.
3. What goes on a batch record, and why is a lot code printed on every bag?

Competency standard

Range. A small group line of one grater, one press, one roasting station and a sifter. Evidence. Safety walk-round; observed operation; roast log; maintenance checklist; oral questions.

The line, in order

IITA lists the equipment of a mechanised gari line with these capacities: root peeler 2 t/h, motorised grater with stainless steel drum 2 t/h, manual sifter 0.2 t/day, mechanical sifter 1 t/day, gari roasting bay 3–6 kg per load, grinder 250 kg of powder/h, bag stitcher 1 bag/min (needs a 2 kVA generator), impulse sealer 100 packs/h and a weighing scale of 100–150 kg.

Look at the list. A grater that can do 2 t/h is useless if the roasting bay handles 3–6 kg per load. A line is only as fast as its slowest step, the bottleneck. The usual bottleneck in a small group is roasting.

How to balance (derived).

1. Decide how much gari you want in a day.
2. Work back to roots: about 4 kg of roots for 1 kg of gari, or about 3 kg for high dry-matter varieties.
3. Work out hours of grating, pressing and roasting from each machine's rate.
4. Add pans or roasters until roasting is no longer the slowest step.

Prices: what a group would pay

No fabricator price sheet was found. These are classified listings seen, undated, so treat them only as a starting guide and get three quotes: cassava grinder or grater GH¢8,000 (Accra); industrial cassava squeezer GH¢10,500 (Agona West, takes 10 bags); dough squeezer GH¢6,000 (Ga East); 10 HP industrial grinder GH¢18,000 (Agona West). A GIZ tender asked for a locally made grater with a stainless steel body, 10 HP motor and about 1 t/h capacity; the tender gave no price. A petrol-engine grater at the University of Education, Winneba, achieved 89.16 kg/h for places without grid power. A 2014 Ashanti project found no affordable cassava presses suited to gari producers, and local mechanical presses were large and costly.

Step 1: The grater

The grater has a drum with teeth, a hopper, a motor and a guard. A stainless steel drum keeps rust out of the mash. Mechanical grating is faster, neater and more hygienic than hand grating, gives an even particle size and reduces drudgery.

Breathe clean air. Grating releases cyanide, and processors can inhale it. Grate in an open, well-ventilated place and do not stand over the hopper.

Step 2: Ferment and press

The bagged mash is fermented on racks for one day or more, or it is pressed during fermentation. Over one to two days the gari becomes very sour. One Ghana demonstration unit used 36 hours of fermentation. A hand-made gari study fermented for 24 or 72 hours and pressed with a screw press.

The goal of pressing is to remove water without making the cake floury. IITA says press until water stops dripping but the bag surface is still moist. Under-pressing leaves lumps in roasting. Over-pressing makes floury gari. The Ghana demonstration unit compared hydraulic and manual presses and found that dough moisture of about 44% before roasting gave the desired texture. The handmade gari study aimed at 40–50% water in the mash after fermenting and pressing.

Step 3: Break, sieve and roast

Break the wet cake by hand or machine and sieve it through 1.5–2.0 mm to remove fibre and lumps. Then roast.

IITA says: use a lightly oiled stainless tray, load 3–6 kg per batch, and stir constantly with a wooden spatula until the gari is dry and creamy-granular. Leave a small amount in the pan for the next batch. Too little heat leaves white gari; too much burns it. The end point is a matter of the operator's experience.

A study of handmade gari saw wok temperatures of about 130–200 °C and a roasting time of about 10–17 minutes for a batch with 3–4 additions of mash; very high temperatures up to 259 °C with wet mash caused sticking and browning. A mechanical (planetary) roaster developed in Ghana had a capacity of 35 kg/h, but not every sample reached the standard colour.

Fuel and smoke. Burns and smoke are the main hazards at roasting. Improved stoves take smoke away. No measured smoke-exposure figures for gari roasting were found.

Step 4: Grade, bag and store

Cool, sieve for grade (Unit 1) and bag in plastic-lined woven sacks of 25, 50 or 65 kg, sealed, and store on pallets in a cool dry place; IITA says gari keeps up to a year. More in Unit 5.

Maintenance: a schedule you can follow

The schedule below is a teaching schedule from good practice, not from a cassava source. Follow the maker's manual when you have one.

Fault-finding: from the gari back to the cause

All causes below come from IITA unless stated.

Check yourself

1. Why is roasting often the bottleneck in a small gari group?
2. What do you use to push roots into a running grater, and what must you do before clearing a jam?
3. Gari is floury. What is the likely cause?

Competency standard

Range. A cottage or small group HQCF line with a solar dryer and a pin mill. Evidence. Drying log; yield sheet; sample of flour; moisture test; oral questions; logbook.

What HQCF is

High-quality cassava flour (HQCF) is fine, white, odour-free flour made from fresh cassava roots by a process that removes most of the cyanide and keeps the flour white. IITA lists twelve steps: select raw material, peel, wash, grate (or slice or chip), press (dewater), disintegrate, sift, dry, mill, screen, package and store. Slicing or chipping can replace grating, pressing, disintegration and sifting. Roots must be processed within a day or two of harvest.

IITA's minimum equipment list is a grater, a press, a solar or flash dryer, a pin mill and a stitching machine for packing. The process can be done with simple cottage equipment like that used for gari.

Why the speed matters

A freshly dug root starts to deteriorate within 24–48 hours: blue-black streaks appear, and the root becomes unfit for sale. Wounding sets it off, and some reviews say roots are unfit within 2–3 days. No official "process within X hours" rule was found; the 24–48 hour target is a safe working rule from those timings and from IITA's "within a day or two". Harvest only what you can process the same day or next day.

Variety matters. For flour you want roots with plenty of dry matter, because they give more flour per kg. CSIR-CRI lists Afisiafi at 12–15 months, 28–35 t/ha and 32% root dry matter, and Abasafitaa at 12–15 months, 29–35 t/ha and 35% dry matter. Local suitability at Akwidaa was not verified; ask CRI or MoFA.

Two routes

Route A: grating, pressing and drying (a "grated" HQCF). Peel, wash, grate, press the mash, break up the lumps, sift, dry the crumbs, mill, screen, pack.

Route B: chipping and drying. Peel, wash, slice or chip thinly, dry the chips, mill, screen, pack. Fewer machines, but the chips must dry fast and clean.

Cyanide in each route. In a study summary, most of the cyanide change happens during drying in the slicing method and after pressing in the grating method. In Ghana, solar drying removed cyanide better than mechanical drying. So do not rush drying with extreme heat; and never skip a step.

Drying

Sun (solar) drying. Kokonte makers chip roots to a maximum of about 7 mm, sun-dry for 3–6 days on a raised platform, and cover the product at night and in rain; black polythene under the product speeds drying. Slow drying is a quality risk: reconstituted flour can turn pale-black, and traditional kokonte can carry aflatoxin; oven-dried product is whiter.

Flash (pneumatic) drying. A flash dryer gives the shortest drying time. It needs reliable power from the grid, a generator or solar panels. Many designs exist among Nigerian fabricators. Energy cost for small users was higher than for big factories because of poor design; improvements include a longer drying pipe, a re-engineered heat exchanger, a larger blower and a higher product-to-air ratio. Another review of flash dryer innovations agrees that design drives the cost. Dryers made in Ghana and their prices were not found.

Milling, sifting and packing

1. Mill dry product in a clean pin mill. Clean the mill before and after; a dirty mill gives grit and dark flour. A food-grade mill cleans easiest if it is stainless where product touches.
2. Sift or screen the flour through a fine sieve; return the oversize for re-milling. The particle size a baker wants was not found; agree it with your buyer and write it into your specification.
3. Cool before packing if the mill heats the flour.
4. Pack in clean, strong, sealed bags. Sew or seal (a bag stitcher runs at about 1 bag a minute; an impulse sealer about 100 packs an hour; Source: IITA-Gari).
5. Label and store on pallets (Unit 5).

A specification you can give a baker

A written specification is a promise. Below is a model for you to adapt. Only the items with a source are facts; the rest are your agreement with the buyer.

Selling to bakers

In a Ghana study, up to 20% HQCF was acceptable in sugar bread and up to 10% in tea bread. A blend of 1 part HQCF to 4 parts wheat flour was rated well by 1,497 senior high school students. The Ghana Cassava Industrialisation Partnership Project of CSIR-FRI held four workshops on high-quality cassava chips, in Kpasa, Aziedukope, Kintampo and Asebu. CSIR-FRI also has a document, "Procedures for establishment of cassava flour distribution centres" (title only, not read). A current HQCF price in Ghana cedis was not found; an old-cedi figure and a regional US-dollar figure turned up, but they are not used here. Visit three bakers in Takoradi and ask what they pay for wheat flour and what they would pay for HQCF.

Fault-finding in HQCF (course guidance)

Check yourself

1. Name the twelve steps of HQCF in order, or at least eight of them.
2. Why must roots be processed within a day or two of harvest?
3. How much HQCF is acceptable in sugar bread and in tea bread in the Ghana study?

Competency standard

Range. Starch, tapioca pearls, attieke, agbelima and composite bread. Evidence. Costing sheets; product samples; oral questions; logbook.

How to cost a recipe (the method for every product)

1. List every input and its quantity for one batch: roots, starter, oil, water, fuel, labour, packaging.
2. Multiply by its price. Prices in this unit are examples; replace with your local prices.
3. Add them for total cost.
4. Weigh the good output (not the weight you started with).
5. Cost per kg = total cost ÷ output kg.
6. Revenue = output kg × selling price.
7. Profit = revenue − total cost. Margin % = profit ÷ revenue × 100.

The Kumasi study of 46 gari producers reported a profit margin of 22% and return on capital of 29%. Use it as a sense check: a margin far above that in your sheet probably left out a cost.

Starch (wet process)

Small-scale starch: wash, peel, rewash, rasp, sieve to remove fibre, settle, purify by washing, dry in the sun or a dryer, and mill. Starch left to settle for more than about 10–12 hours ferments and smells, so do not leave it overnight. Two cottage systems reported starch recovery of 65% and 76%, depending on the rasping; the summary read did not say what the base of the recovery was, so do not use it in your costing. The Ayensu Starch Company at Bawjiase was an export factory; its present status is not verified.

Costed recipe: starch (example numbers). 1,000 kg of roots at GH¢0.90 per kg; labour 4 people for 1 day at GH¢50; fuel or dryer cost GH¢30; 8 bags of 25 kg at GH¢6. The yield is an example of 20% (200 kg) and is not verified; measure your own.

If starch sells at GH¢8 per kg (example): revenue GH¢1,600, profit GH¢422, margin 26.4%.

Tapioca pearls

Tapioca pearls are made by passing moist starch or flour through a sieve under pressure, rolling the lumps into balls (in a cloth bag or in rotating pans), gently steaming the surface so it sets, and drying first below 40 °C so the pearls do not gelatinise further. Small-scale Ghana practice and equipment were not found, so treat this as an experiment.

Costed recipe: tapioca pearls (example numbers). Start with 50 kg of your own starch at the cost from above (GH¢5.89 per kg = GH¢294.50). Labour 2 person-days at GH¢50 = GH¢100. Steam fuel GH¢10. Output of 48 kg (an example loss of 4%), packed in 48 bags at GH¢0.60 = GH¢28.80. Total GH¢433.30; cost per kg GH¢9.03. At GH¢12 per kg (example), revenue GH¢576, profit GH¢142.70, margin 24.8%. The thin margin tells you something: if the pearls do not sell above their cost, stay with starch.

Attieke

Attieke comes from Côte d'Ivoire and is also eaten in Ghana; the link to the Nzema area is not verified. The Ivorian technical sheet gives these steps: peel and wash; grind with 5–10% starter and a little water, plus about 0.1% palm oil; ferment about 12–15 hours; press to about 52% moisture; crumble and granulate on a mesh; dry briefly in the sun; remove fibre; steam for 20–25 minutes. A study of attieke found that fermentation cut total cyanide by about 30–50%, pressing by about 20% and the final steaming by about 15%. A Ghana or Nzema version was not found.

Costed recipe: attieke (example numbers). 100 kg roots at GH¢0.90 = GH¢90. Starter from the last batch: no cost. Palm oil 0.1 kg at GH¢40 = GH¢4. Labour 3 people for 1 day at GH¢50 = GH¢150. Fuel for steaming 20 kg at GH¢1 = GH¢20. Packing 30 bags at GH¢0.50 = GH¢15. Total GH¢279. Output of 55 kg (an example). Cost per kg GH¢5.07. At GH¢8 per kg: revenue GH¢440, profit GH¢161, margin 36.6%.

Agbelima

Agbelima is a fermented cassava dough from the Volta Region and the Ewe people. Roots are peeled, washed, grated and pressed, then fermented with a traditional starter called "kudeme" for 24–48 hours in studies. Lactic acid bacteria, with Lactobacillus plantarum dominant, and cyanide falls substantially. How kudeme is prepared and Volta-specific practice were not found. Ask an agbelima maker for the starter and watch before you make it.

Costed recipe: agbelima (example numbers). 100 kg of roots at GH¢0.90 = GH¢90. Labour 2 people for 1 day at GH¢50 = GH¢100. 20 bags at GH¢0.50 = GH¢10. Total GH¢200. Output of 60 kg (an example). Cost per kg GH¢3.33. At GH¢5 per kg: revenue GH¢300, profit GH¢100, margin 33.3%.

Cassava in bread

Cassava "tempura" bread (called "tempra" in Ghana) was not found as a documented Ghana process, so do not teach it as a recipe; its status is not verified. What is documented is composite bread with HQCF: up to 20% HQCF in sugar bread, up to 10% in tea bread, and a 1-to-4 blend rated well. Make small trial loaves with a baker, keep the recipe, and let customers judge. For the blend arithmetic see the exercise in Unit 3.

Peels and waste

Peels are a by-product. In a Ghana on-farm trial with Djallonke sheep, sun-drying peels removed cyanide better than ensiling them; ensiling raised protein and growth but also mould. A safe inclusion rate for goats and sheep was not found. Course rule: feed only dried peels, mixed with other feed and never fresh or in large amounts, and ask a vet or extension officer (not verified). Dry peels can also be mulch.

Check yourself

1. How long can starch settle before it starts to ferment and smell?
2. What are the three main steps of the attieke process that reduce cyanide?
3. Write the formula for cost per kg.

Competency standard

Range. Gari, HQCF, starch and dry products in sacks and retail packs. Evidence. Packed samples; storage-trial sheet; label draft; compliance checklist; oral questions.

Packaging

For gari, IITA advises plastic-lined woven sacks of 25, 50 or 65 kg, sealed, stored on pallets in a cool dry place, and says gari keeps up to a year. The Codex gari standard says the sacks must be clean, sturdy and strongly sewn or sealed. For retail packs, an impulse sealer runs at about 100 packs an hour and a bag stitcher needs a 2 kVA generator and runs at about 1 bag a minute. Prices of Ghana pack materials were not found; get quotes from at least three suppliers.

Shelf life: test it, do not guess

IITA's "up to one year" is for gari in sealed sacks stored well. Your product, your pack and your store may differ. A shelf life of attieke, agbelima, HQCF and starch in Ghana was not found. So test your own.

Labelling

The Codex gari standard says the label name must be "gari". For non-retail containers it requires the product name, a lot identification, and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer. It also points to the general standard for prepackaged food labelling, CXS 1-1985. Ghana FDA label rules (font size, net weight statement, allergen words and similar) were not found in this research; ask the FDA for its labelling guidance before you print.

A first label checklist (course guidance built from the above).

The FDA charges GH¢200 per product per variant for pre-registration label evaluation, so get the wording right first.

The FDA path (step by step)

The FDA registers both the facility and the product. The small-scale route is the Progressive Licensing Scheme (PLS), in three stages, level 1 pink, level 2 yellow and level 3 green, scored on a GMP inspection. It is reported to be for businesses with 1–5 people working directly in production; this was not verified against the FDA's own page.

Documents for product registration of a locally made food:

1. Business registration certificate.
2. A certificate of analysis for each product and variant.
3. The product label.
4. The facility fee.
5. Samples (two units or mock-ups with a model label).
6. Claims substantiation, if you make claims.
7. Documents bound together; all completed within 3 months.

A facility licence comes first: a cover letter, forms, the business certificate and a layout of the premises. The FDA's Western Region office trains food vendors for permits.

FDA fees (L.I. 2481, 2023):

An older FDA page shows product registration at GH¢150, 450, 600 and 900 for cottage, small, medium and large, and a consultant lists different figures again. These do not match the 2023 schedule. Treat the 2023 schedule as the best source and confirm every fee with the FDA before you pay. How the FDA decides who is "micro" or "small" was not verified.

The GSA

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) lists 3,356 Ghana standards, including one for "cassava chips"; the gari and cassava flour standard numbers and limits were not found. Contacts named in a GSA bulletin are gsadir@gsa.gov.gh and gsanep@gsa.gov.gh. The Ghana Cassava Centre of Excellence, signed at Techiman North in August 2023, planned to write codes of practice for gari, flour and other products. Ask both before you claim to meet a Ghana standard.

Check yourself

1. What must a non-retail gari container carry on its label under the Codex standard?
2. When may you print an FDA number on your label?
3. How do you find out your product's shelf life?

Competency standard

Range. A group of 5 to 10 members running a mechanised gari line, with HQCF or starch as a side product. Evidence. Monthly costing sheet; group rules; sample books; oral questions; logbook.

What studies say about the money

A Kumasi study of 46 gari producers found a profit margin of 22% and a return on capital of 29%; the main constraints were seasonality and the cost of cassava. An older study (Quaye 2009) found benefit-cost ratios of 0.95 to 1.10 for small-scale processing, depending on place, which is almost break-even. In Koforidua in May and June 2024, a cassava shortage pushed the price of a 20 kg blue bucket of gari from GH¢38 to GH¢45, and traders struggled. No current Western Region price for cassava or gari was found. All prices in this unit are examples. The lesson: the margin is real but thin, and it can vanish when roots get dear.

Fixed and variable costs

• Variable costs change with how much you make: roots, fuel, packaging, casual labour.
• Fixed costs are there even if you make nothing: machine wear (depreciation), rent, licence fees, insurance, permanent staff.

Depreciation (straight line). Depreciation per year = (cost − salvage value) ÷ useful life. For a GH¢8,000 grater (the listing figure; Source: Jiji-Search) with an example salvage value of GH¢1,000 and an example life of 5 years: (8,000 − 1,000) ÷ 5 = GH¢1,400 a year, or GH¢116.67 a month.

A worked monthly costing (example numbers)

A group of 5 workers makes 1,000 kg of gari in a month over 8 production days. Roots needed at 4 to 1: 4,000 kg. Fuelwood at the improved-stove level of the SNV baseline: 52 kg a day × (1 − 0.30) = 36.4 kg a day.

(The example margin of 31.9% is higher than the Kumasi 22%. Real life is tighter. If your sheet gives more than the study, look for a missing cost such as transport, rent, repairs or your own time.)

Break-even. The price at which profit is zero equals the cost per kg: GH¢6.13. Below that you lose.

The books a group must keep

1. Cash book. Every receipt and payment, dated, with who gave or got it.
2. Stock book. Roots in, products out, closing stock, and the batch code.
3. Sales book. Date, customer, product, quantity, price, whether paid.
4. Work-day book. Who worked which day, signed.
5. Batch records (Unit 1) and maintenance records (Unit 2).
6. Equipment register. Each machine, its cost, who bought it, date.

Under Ghana's Revenue Administration Act, records are kept in Ghana for at least six years from the end of the year of assessment or VAT period, and longer if there is a dispute. Keep every receipt in a box or folder by month.

A group that lasts

Documented group examples in Ghana: a centre at Alloapkoke in Ellembelle, Western Region (reported September 2020) making gari, starch, cassava dough and flavoured gari mixes (gari-wheat, gari-soya, gari-groundnut and gari-ginger), set up with Christian Aid, the EU and the Zochonis Charitable Trust; its present status is not verified. A ten-member women's cooperative in Jamam bought cassava from farmers and sold gari. In Nigeria, cooperative women gari processors in Ogun State had a benefit-cost ratio of 1.46, a foreign example only.

Models a group can use (course guidance, drawn from the examples above): share one machine and charge each member a fee; buy roots together to cut price and transport; sell under one brand with one FDA registration so the registration fees are shared.

A fair profit rule (an example). Many groups split profit three ways: by work done (days worked), by capital put in, and a reserve for repairs and the next season. For example, 50% by days worked, 30% by capital and 20% to the reserve.

Registration, tax and help (outline; Level 3 goes deeper)

• A sole-proprietor business name costs GH¢130 to register, renewal GH¢70 a year. Cooperatives are not registered at the Office of the Registrar of Companies; they need an organisational tax identification number from GRA. The Department of Co-operatives route is not verified.
• Businesses with income only from their business and turnover between GH¢20,001 and GH¢750,000 can pay 3% of turnover under the Modified Taxation Scheme, if not VAT-registered; the ceiling was raised from GH¢500,000 by Act 1178 of August 2026, although GRA's own page still showed the old figure on 8 October 2026. Check with GRA.
• The Ghana Enterprises Agency has Business Advisory Centres in Takoradi, Shama, Effia-Kwesimintsim, Mpohor and Ahanta West. GIRSAL gives guarantees for agricultural loans through partner lenders.

Check yourself

1. What is the difference between a fixed and a variable cost? Give one example of each.
2. Why are two people needed to handle cash?
3. How long must business records be kept in Ghana under the Revenue Administration Act?

Competency standard

Range. A group enterprise in Akwidaa, Takoradi or a nearby Western Region community. Evidence. Location score sheet; business plan page; marketing materials; oral questions.

Locations that give good returns

• Close to the farms. Roots start to spoil within 24–48 hours of harvest. Every hour on the road costs quality.
• Clean water and drainage. Water for washing, and a place for wet-area waste to go (soakaway and catchment pit; Source: IITA-Gari and Graphic-WR).
• Power. Mains power, a reliable generator or solar panels for the machines.
• A sheltered clean building with separate wet and dry areas, an idea from IITA's factory layout.
• Road and market access to Takoradi, Axim, local schools, bakeries and chop bars.
• Rent and permit. Ask the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly or the District Assembly about the business permit.

The Western Region has a record of training: a three-month MoFA programme trained about 150 gari and dough processors, machine operators and agricultural officers from Shama, Wassa East, Ahanta West and Sekondi-Takoradi, mostly women. Akwidaa-specific and Jomoro-specific cassava centres were not found.

Small business ideas and ingenuity

Markets. Bakers (HQCF), schools and chop bars (gari), supermarkets, starch factories (likely buyers, course guidance, not from a source). Specific Takoradi buyers were not found; learners must map their own (homework).

Market yourself

• WhatsApp Business. Make a business profile with your name, address, hours and products, and use automatic greeting and away messages. Share photos of your clean line (with permission), your price list and your sample packs.
• Google Business Profile. Set up a free profile so people searching nearby find you. Verification can be by phone, email, video call or a postcard, which can take about 14 days.
• Signs and packaging. A clear sign at the roadside, a clean uniform apron and a clear label make a strong first impression.
• Samples and referrals. Give a 500 g sample to every baker, school cook and shop. Ask happy buyers to tell two others. Leave a price list.
• Portfolio. Keep photos of the line, the batch record, the test result and the packed product. Show buyers on request.
• Honesty. Never claim an FDA number, a GSA mark, a laboratory result or a certificate you do not hold.
• Price list and terms. Write prices, minimum order, delivery cost and payment terms (mobile money or cash).

Accessibility

The Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) is the law on disability rights; reports say public facilities still do not follow it fully. Reports said the Assemblies' disability share would rise to 5% from 2026; this was not verified for this book, so ask your District Assembly about help for disabled entrepreneurs.

Tasks and adjustments (course guidance; no Ghana source on gari work by disability was found):

• Workable for many people: sorting roots, washing, sieving seated at a table, weighing, bagging, sealing, labelling, bookkeeping, phone sales and customer service.
• Less workable without changes: carrying sacks, peeling for long hours, standing at the roasting pan and feeding the grater.
• Adjustments that help: a seated table at a comfortable height, lighter loads and a trolley, a stool by the pan, a step-free path, large-print and picture instructions, written or sign signals for people who are deaf, a light that shows when a machine is on, clear floor markings, and a buddy for the heaviest jobs.
• Machines. Anyone who runs a machine must be trained and able to stop it safely; the decision is about the task and the training, not about the person.
• Training. Give training in a way each worker can follow; the Labour Act asks for training suited to the worker.

Check yourself

1. Why should a cassava processing site be close to the farms?
2. Name two things you may never put on a label unless you hold the document.
3. Give two adjustments that let more people work safely in your enterprise.

1. What is the Codex maximum moisture for gari?
2. Does the Codex gari standard set a numeric cyanide limit?
3. Name three steps that remove cyanide from gari, and say what you must never do to them.
4. A 100 g sample dries to 87 g. What is its moisture, and does it pass 12.0%?
5. Why is roasting usually the bottleneck of a small mechanised gari line?
6. What must you use to push roots into a running grater?
7. Pressed gari mash is powdery and the finished gari is floury. What went wrong?
8. How many steps are in the IITA HQCF process, and which step can chipping replace?
9. Roots have 32% dry matter. What is the most flour at 13% moisture from 500 kg of roots?
10. What are the main steps of attieke and how long should the roots ferment?
11. When may you print an FDA registration number on a label?
12. A month's costs are GH¢4,000 for 500 kg of gari. What is the break-even price per kg?

Best next reads: the IITA illustrated guide "Producing gari from cassava"; the Codex gari standard CXS 151-1989; the FAO "Save and Grow: Cassava" guide; the FDA fee schedule and registration pages; the CSIR Food Research Institute cassava documents on processing and flour distribution centres. The IITA guide is copyright IITA; this book paraphrases it with citation and does not copy its text or pictures.

What this module does not cover: a laboratory cyanide analysis; a cyanide test kit supply; a Ghana Standards Authority certificate; the FDA registration itself; machine fabrication; formal cooperative registration; a Ghana cassava price list. Level 3 covers establishing the business, bookkeeping and growth.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.