{Farmers in the Southern Province of Rwanda have commended President Paul Kagame for his role in the establishment of a cassava Plant which contributes to their socio-economic development. }
During the celebration of Cassava Farmers Day which took place on 20th February 2015 at Kinazi Cassava Plant, Farmers confirmed that the Plant has had positive impacts on their lives.
This website has learned that work to build Kinazi Cassava Plant started after President Kagame directed concerned institutions to look for a factory that can process cassava produce available in large quantities in the Southern Province.
The Plant processes cassava from the Districts of Ruhango, Nyanza, Kamonyi and Gisagara but in the near future it will start processing cassava from other districts.
Nyabyenda Viateur, 55, one of the farmers said since the establishment of the Plant, citizens’ lives have significantly improved.
He said he is able to earn between Frw 3 million and Rwf 4 million annually depending on the harvest.
In 2014, Nyabyenda harvested 73 tones of cassava crop that generated about Rwf three million.
“The factory has played an important role to our lives. We have been producing cassava in traditional way and we used excessive energy but when it came to the income we found that it was less comparing to the energy we utilized.” He said
But, Nyabyend added “Today when I harvest, I bring the crop here, they weight it and pay me according to the harvest that I have brought”
As a farmer, Nyabyenda thanks President Kagame saying “He saved us from using excessive energy because when you compare the amount of money we get and how we used to benefit from cassava farming you will see that the plant has dramatically increased our financial status.”
The Director of Kinazi Cassava Plant, Runazi T. Robert says they receive between 40 and 70 tones of cassava on daily basis. In 2014, the Plant generated about 18,000 tones of manioc flour while in the beginning the Plant used to produce 6,000 tones annually.
Runazi says by June this Year Kinazi Plant will start producing cassava Starch commonly known as, Amido, which is a valued raw material for producing many kinds of modified starches for food applications.
Currently the Plant works with about 5,640 farmers grouped in eight cooperatives while the whole area counts about 55,000 farmers most of them still reluctant to bring their harvest to the factory.
However, Runazi said they will continue to mobilize and sensitize them to join others in cooperatives as far as the plant still needs more cassava to produce more flour.
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