A little more than a year ago, farmers and their families in Mbuvo were resigned to being perennial recipients of government food aid as their parched fields withered even further under an unrelenting sun.  The rains had failed them yet again.

Located 174 km south-east of the capital city Nairobi, in the vast and semi-arid Kathonzweni division in Makueni County,  poverty is endemic among the estimated 1 million residents, with 73.5 percent of the population living below the poverty line. According to the 2005 Makueni District Strategic Plan, the most affected groups included people with disabilities, female headed households, the unemployed and semi-skilled casual workers, AIDS orphans and widows.

However, the humble Cassava root is set to revolutionise Mbuvo’s economic and social landscape thanks to renewed interest in the commercial potential of the Cassava root both as a cash crop and as a buffer for household food security and nutrition.   

Long-favoured by African peasant farmers for its resilience and as an insurance against famine, Cassava is currently receiving renewed attention for commercialization. Exploiting the crop’s unique characteristic for thriving in poor soils and low rainfall conditions, Cassava has been identified as one of Africa’s subsistence crops that hold the key to poverty alleviation. It also offers smallholder farmers a measure of flexibility because it can be cultivated as both a subsistence and cash crop.  In addition, its perennial characteristic allows it to be harvested for more than two seasons thus widening the harvesting window during famines.

“Cassava for ugali, food and money”

According to Mr Joseph Mutuku Masyuko the chair of the 460-strong Mbuvo Commercial Village, when he invited the Cassava Village Processing Programme team from Farm Concern International to make a brief presentation in the middle of a public baraza last June, neither he nor the villagers who were present ever imagined that barely eight months down the line, they would be taking charge of their destiny to mobilise the local economy and turn back the tide against poverty and hunger.

Mr Masyuko, who is also the Mbuvo Assistant Chief, recalls that after the presentation, it did not take too much to convince the villagers to organise themselves into the eight Commercial Producer Groups – the precursor to the Commercial Village, and it was not long before he and his committee were inundated with demands for the Cassava cuttings.
“Suddenly, there just were not enough cuttings to go around,” he adds, “necessitating a partnership with both Farm Concern International and the Ministry of Agriculture’s improved varieties for the initial Cassava cuttings to put into the ground.” 

The result was an initial 32,315 cuttings bought from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Katumani at a cost of KSh 64,630/- and planted on 15 acres of land and although the rains failed them yet again at the end of 2010, the Commercial Village is already mobilising its entire membership to plant at least two acres each of Cassava.
“If 300 members plant two acres each, the result is 600 acres,” says Mr Masyuko, “Our target for 2011 is 616 acres which translates into 16,016 tonnes.”

Where is all this Cassava destined for, considering that it is a highly perishable commodity with a shelf life of not more than 24 hours after it has been lifted out of the ground?
Committee members Mrs Franscisca Wambua and Mrs Rose Matheka say that while some of the Cassava will end up on the plates of hundreds of families in the vicinity, the most exciting thing is that it will be available for longer periods because the farmers will be encouraged to chip and dry their harvests before storing it.  In this form, it will keep fresh for up to nine months.  In addition, they are eager to learn how to make nutritious vegetable dishes from the leaves of the plant.

A second diesel-powered chipper has already been commissioned, and due to its unique design – mounted on wheels – it can be moved around the villages either by pushing or pulling, meaning that with prior planning and scheduling, farmers need not travel long distances with heavy loads of the crop seeking to have it chipped. For women this innovation will greatly free their time to engage in other activities requiring their attention and participation. The farmers in Mbuvo now have two chippers – the earlier model, while smaller and lighter is not mounted on wheels.
“Dry Cassava chips are ready for milling into nutritious flour for porridge or ugali, or to be sold to animal feed companies as a good substitute for maize,” they explain.  “This translates into more money for our pockets, better health for us, our children and a better standard of living!” Young men and women can also look forward to a surge in village level employment opportunities as the commercialisation of Cassava takes off.

The Mbuvo farmers have already attracted the interest of bulk buyers looking for industrial quantities of Cassava, giving renewed meaning to their 2011 motto “Cassava for Ugali, Food and Money”.  The industrial buyers are attracted by the village-level value addition process that involves cleaning, chipping and drying which greatly reduces their production costs at their plants.
One industrial buyer has already approached the Mbuvo Commercial Village with an offer to supply the cuttings that will produce the targeted 16,016 tonnes in 2011 alone.  In addition to animal feeds, Cassava chips are used to produce ethanol (a fuel substitute for petroleum), sugar syrups and adhesives amongst many other uses.
In Kenya, cassava is grown on more than 90,000 hectares with an annual production of about 540,000 tonnes. Cultivation is concentrated mainly in Western (60%), Eastern (10%) and Coast provinces (30%) respectively.
Next Steps
The members of Mbuvo Commercial Village have reason to be proud of their achievements.  Their focus is on savings and sustainable investments rather than taking the much touted credit route to grow their wealth.  In just eight months of their existence they have opened a bank account and saved KSh 35,000/- , and they have set their sights on raising KSh 500,000/- to buy a tractor which they will use amongst themselves to increase their acreage for Cassava and a further 600 acres of Green Grams with a targeted production of 332,640 kgs.
“We will make sure we have stored our collective harvests, to release onto the market when the scarcity begins, and fetch even better prices into the bargain,” says Mr Masyuko.
The idea is to diversify their range of crops for commercial purposes as well as to secure household food security and nutrition.

According to Mr Masyuko, members are being mobilised to contribute KSh 1,000/- towards the tractor kitty in addition to their annual contributions of KSh 500/- each.  They have also agreed to raise a further KSh 1,000,000/- by offering 50,000 shares at KSh 20/- each.
They are keen on constructing a Cassava drier to accommodate the anticipated volumes from the bumper crop of Cassava later in the year as well as eventually installing a fruit processing plant to take advantage of the annual mango season.

The Mbuvo Cassava Village Processing Project (CVPP) is part of Farm Concern International’s interventions to support thousands of smallholder farmers in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Malawi who are organised into Commercial Villages that form trading blocs for agricultural commodities.
Organising smallholder farmers into Commercial Villages enhances the communities’ capacity to utilise available resources for commercial gains and to engage themselves in market-led production or processing activities. Since the Commercial Villages are strategically linked to buyers, this action is transforming typical African villages into commercialised entities that operate as business units – turning villagers and neighbours into formidable business partners. 
The Commercial Village Model enhances value chains and value networks for various products to increase the participation of various smallholder and poor communities along marketing channels.