The IITA-led Zero Hunger Project’s partnership with FGN/IFAD-VCDP is already yielding commendable results with the local production and installation of a complete stainless steel versatile wet hammer mill machine at the FGN/IFAD-VCDP Assisted Cassava Processing Centre in Kwande Local Government Area, Benue State. The team carried out the installation during a five-day capacity development event held at UDECO Fabrication Workshop, Makurdi.
The intensive training involved 12 youth (including women) from three companies across the State. They learned how to source materials and fabricate the wet hammer mill using stainless steel. This innovation was developed to enhance cassava processing and can process fresh cassava tubers and dry cassava chips for food and cassava peel for animal feed.
The trainees successfully and satisfactorily fabricated the mill under supervision from IITA Post-Harvest Specialist Peter Kolawole. Compared to the previously used grater, which would ideally grate 2 tons of cassava per hour, the wet hammer mill is more durable and efficient, processing 4 tons per hour under the same conditions.
The mill also meets all standards for food-grade processing machines regarding the quality and type of material used. After the mill was fabricated and tested, it was delivered to FGN/IFAD-VCDP and installed at its Assisted Processing Centre in Kwande.
According to Kolawole, the rationale for training fabricators on wet hammer mill production was borne out of the mechanization needs assessment survey conducted by the Zero Hunger Project and to support cassava processing to achieve zero hunger in the State. He also highlighted the need to create value for cassava peel by making it easier to convert to animal feed instead of indiscriminate disposal, resulting in environmental pollution. Kolawole further disclosed that the machine was an IITA model, and it was necessary to train local fabricators in line with the “do it yourself” philosophy for continuity and sustainability.
Closing out the workshop, a trainee, Sughter Atom, expressed his appreciation to IITA and VCDP for the opportunity to achieve such a massive feat in such a short time. “I have learned what I didn’t learn in five years at the university within five days. I now feel like an engineer for the first time. Thank you all for the upgrade,” he concluded.
Contributed by Oyewale Abioye
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