Cassava peels as goldminne - THE BUSINESS PACKAGE

Breaking

Friday, December 20, 2019

Cassava peels as goldminne


Cassava production and processing in Nigeria generates large quantities of hazardous wastes and residues. Aside from the environmental hazards, such wastes contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An innovative climate-smart intervention in Nigeria is to re-use the cassava peels in animal feeds. This reduces the demand for maize for feed, creates new business opportunities from waste, reduces the hazards of the waste and reduces GHG emissions.

Globally, GHG emissions from food processing and post-harvest wastes contribute significantly to climate change. According to FAO, food loss and waste accounts for about 4.4 gigatonnes of GHG emissions (4.4 Gt CO2 eq) per year. If food loss and waste were its own country, they say, it would be the world’s third-largest emitter after China and the United States. In fact, food loss and waste generate more than four times as much annual GHG emissions as aviation and is comparable to emissions from road transport.

GHGs from agricultural wastes come from various sources, including farms, electricity and heat used in processing, energy used to transport, store and cook food, decaying wastes and from land-use change and deforestation associated with producing food that is ultimately lost or wasted. Cutting waste offers promising ways to cut GHG emissions.

Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, producing some 57 million tonnes of tuberous roots a year (FAO). Cassava is a major food source and provides livelihoods for many households. Processing it also results in large amounts of waste in various forms, including solid and liquid residues that are hazardous in the environment. The most important biological wastes derived during cassava processing are cassava peels and the liquid effluent squeezed out of the fermented mash. In addition to peels, stumps and undersized or damaged tubers are discarded during processing, and together these account for up to a third of total weight of tubers processed. The peels are usually dumped on land or in water bodies and left to rot, leading to health and environmental hazards. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) estimated about 14 million tonnes of cassava peels are generated in Nigeria annually. Its research suggests that these peels could be used to increase the availability of animal feed while reducing GHGs.

In 2015, CGIAR scientists developed low-tech ways to rapidly transform wet cassava peels into high-quality, safe and hygienic feed ingredients. The process is simple and can be carried out by small-scale processors, more than 80% of whom are women. This transforms cassava waste into a valuable feed resource, generates new incomes, creates jobs and improves well-being by cleaning up the environment. It also helps reduce GHG emissions around cassava processing centres.

The results of this research and testing with the private sector are now moving into application, with innovative processing technology converting fresh peels into high-quality cassava peel mash for use as livestock feed (ILRI). Cassava peels are also being transformed into biogas that can be used as an alternative energy source – reducing emissions from fossil fuels.

While climate-smart agriculture is often considered a priority for farmers and producers as they grow the food we need, we must be sure not to overlook all parts of agricultural value chains; opportunities to reduce GHG emissions can be exploited in unexpected places.

This article was created through a CTA-led process to document and share actionable knowledge on 'what works' for ACP agriculture. It capitalises on the insights, lessons and experiences of practitioners to inform and guide the implementation of agriculture for development projects.

Location:

Harnessing synergies of crop-livestock integration for climate-smart agriculture

by  ,  and 

Integrated crop-livestock systems that provide synergies towards more resilient climate-smart agricultural production systems are possible despite the recognised competition between crops and livestock enterprises. To make this work, it is necessary to understand the trade-offs and capitalise on the opportunities provided through integration.

Policy networks reinforce climate-smart agriculture in Jamaica

by  and 

Amidst growing impacts of climate change, a threat to food security and livelihoods, Jamaica is using policy networks to scale-up climate-smart approaches helping farmers to be resilient and productive in extreme weather events.

Seed fairs: an innovative climate-smart practice to obtain stress-tolerant seeds

by  ,  ,  and 

A major concern for smallholder farmers at the start of each season is to choose and source seeds, and with the advent of climate change, this is more critical than ever. As part of a CTA-led initiative to help farmers counter drought and other extreme weather events, seed fairs are being organised in Zambia to improve access to quality seed of stress tolerant maize varieties for smallholder farmers.

Realising climate gains from smallholder chicken farming in Africa

by  and 

There is hardly a document on African climate change issues that does not portray livestock husbandry in a negative light - responsible for emitting substantial quantities of greenhouse gases. While it is true that some livestock play a role in generating greenhouse gases, this is not the case across the entire sector. Chickens are among the few domestic animals that have a low environmental impact and carbon footprint, and research is moving forward to develop climate-smart poultry production for African smallholders.

BE SURE YOU DON'T MISS OUR LATEST UPDATES.

Select an element on the page.

2 comments:

  1. In the event that you are keen on wooden model boat building, have confidence that there is not any more fulfilling interest.this content

    ReplyDelete