Sarah Adong Dreams Came to Life, Thanks to the Opportunities Created by The Flash Dryers Installed in Uganda

24 year old mother of 3, Sarah Adong at the factory

Adong is 24 years old and a single mother with three children.  Currently, she works as a peeler at Adyaka Wholesalers Limited, a cassava flash dryer factory in Apac district. In a day, she earns between 4000 to 5000 Uganda shillings.  The factory employs various laborers including 10 women peelers for its day to day operations.  “The life changing moment of my life was when I was taken on for this job at the cassava factory. I know my future is brighter now, for I am able to make money.” With this employment, Adong is assured of a daily meal for her and the children. But being young, thrilled at her first job and seeming inexperienced with handling money, Adong has a plan. “I intend to join a community generating income program to guide how I will spend my earnings. I now have responsibilities around food supplies and school fees for my children. And for safety purposes, I also have to save up some of my earnings for emergencies that could arise.”

Adong, after peeling, carries the roots to the washing area 

She feels rather relieved that she is not yet tied down by demands for school dues. Her eldest child is in primary one, the second is in baby class and the youngest is still at the breast. “Fees is not yet as demanding because my children are still quite young. This gives me the opportunity to plan accordingly and save up as much as I can for their tuition and scholastic materials.” Says a smiling Adong.  Aside from her responsibilities, Adong has even much bigger plans.  “My dream is to one day own a business of my own and become an influential woman in society. This clever idea (being in a group) provides me with hope.” She added. 

Born in Lira district, Adong is the second to the last of 6 siblings. Due to poverty and its related challenges, she was forced to leave their birth home 3 years ago in search of a job to have a better life. That is how she ended up in Apac district. Her life in Apac is however challenging, and being a single mother with no assured income to survive on, her dreams seemed hopeless for some time.  But now, employed and earning, many of her dreams are coming to life including that of looking after her younger sister. “Growing up as orphans was very challenging especially for me and my two sisters. We were under our elder step brothers and life was not smooth. When I got to 21, I moved out of home to try and make a living. It was however hard leaving my little sister (our last born) behind. Now that I have a job, I plan to bring her here and help her get a job as well.” She adds “I know that by the end of the year, I will have saved up enough money to and go get my little sister and give her hope in the future she seems to have given up on.”

Adong’s story is one relatable to many youths in Uganda out there that are faced with life’s challenges and are looking for a better life through employment. For Adong, her dreams are coming to life, thanks to the Cassava Adding Value for Africa Phase II (CAVA II) Project that has extended such opportunities to the youth and other people through beneficial community projects.  The CAVA II Project facilitated the successful installation of the two cassava factories of Windwood Millers  and Adyaka Wholesalers Limited in Lira and Apac districts respectively. Each factory needs about 16 tons of Fresh Cassava Root (FCR) per shift which is dried into 4 tons of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) per shift.

CAVA II is implemented in five African Countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) through the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, (NRI). 

.: Project Director’s Commends Progress in Uganda and...

.: Project Director’s Commends Progress in Uganda and...: The Cassava Adding Value for Africa Phase II Project (CAVA II) team in Uganda and Tanzania recently hosted the Project Director, Professor ...

Project Director’s Commends Progress in Uganda and Tanzania

The Cassava Adding Value for Africa Phase II Project (CAVA II) team in Uganda and Tanzania recently hosted the Project Director, Professor Kolawole Adebayo accompanied by the Project Communication Assistant Mrs Halimat Badmos-Okunlola. The aim of the visit was to supervise the implementation and progress of the project activities and provide technical backup in both country of operations.

In Uganda, the Project Director visited the new cassava processing factories of Windwood Millers Limited and Adyaka wholesalers Ltd whose acquisition of flash dryers were facilitated by the CAVA II project in Lira and Apac Districts respectively in Northern Uganda.

Windwood millers flash dryer fully operational in Lira

Prof. Adebayo congratulated the two investors on the progress made in making the flash dryers fully operational. He encouraged them to keep the good work going and pledged that CAVA II as a project would continuously guide them to make sure that as leading processors of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) in Uganda, their product meet up with the market requirements to maximise profit.

Adyaka wholesale flash dryer fully operational in Apac

Also, the Project Director graced farmer field day organized by a CAVA II beneficiary, Mr. Akutu Augustine. The farmers field day had in attendance over 150 participants among other prominent dignitaries including Hon. Musa Ecweru, the Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees at the Office of the Prime Minister. Mr Akutu Augustine through the CAVA II has become a prominent cassava farmer who has progressed and made millions of Uganda Shilling in cultivating cassava.

L-R CAVA II Project Director, Mr Akutu Augustine, Hon Musa Ecweru and CAVA II Uganda Ccountry manager

Mr. Akutu appreciated the CAVA II project for making him able to successfully impact on the lives of the smallholder cassava farmers in Uganda by giving them certified planting materials to plant on their farms. Prof. Adebayo applauded and appreciated the entire CAVA II Uganda team and urged them not to relent their effort to ensure smooth operations of the project in Uganda.

Project Director with TFNC Director

However, in Tanzania, Prof. Adebayo visited the Cassava Processing Groups (CPGs) and SMEs working with the CAVA II project. His visit was to Muungano CPG located at Mtangalanga, Ukombozi CPG located at Mahuta, Jitegemee B at Mbawala and Kizapala CPG located at Mkuranga. The CPGs disclosed during the visit their level of collaboration and support given to them by the project in training them to produce quality cassava flour and linking them to ready market to sell their products.

PD with Kizapala CPG in Mkuranga, Tanzania

Through this trainings and market linkages, they have been able to improve the quality of their product. Samples of their HQCF was tested by a Canadian researcher and confirmed the best in the whole of Tanzania. They have also been able to expand their production and make more profit to improve their standard of living. They appreciated the visit of the project director and look forward to more support in the future.

Rum-Zahrain processing unit at Mtendachi village was visited by the Project Director. Rum-Zahrain is owned by Mrs Rukia Liumba who with support from CAVA II, was able to acquire processing equipment, installation of solar house with all equipment’s including (60 racks, fans and solar panels). The solar house with 60 racks have the capacity of drying 600kg of grits which is equivalent to 2.4 Tons of fresh roots per day. “Now am very happy through the support of solar house from CAVA II project, I can now expand my business and process more than 10 tons of fresh roots per week”. Rukia Liumba.

Project Director with Rukia Liumba at her factory

The Project Director’s final visit was to Mercibel processing unit located at Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam. Mercy Silla is the Director/Proprietor of Mercibel processing unit and a retired Financial Administrator at the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC). Prior retirement, she had developed interest in cassava farming and taught of it as a retirement plan. Immediately she retired, she approached CAVA II Tanzania team on how to start. She was trained and now a proud owner of a cassava factory. Her product is all over the shelves of supermarkets within her area.

CAVA II Tanzania country manager with Mercibel cassava flour

            Prof. Adebayo appreciated the effort of the CAVA II Tanzania team led by the Country Manager, Mrs Grace Mahende and urged them to continue the good work to achieve the project target at the end of the project year.