making Garri 1

GARRI is processed from freshly harvested cassava tubers. A fermented, gelatinous flour, it
is the number one staple carbohydrate food item in Nigeria and in some other countries of
Africa. Garri can be exported to earn foreign exchange most especially in those countries
where the concentration of African ethnic blacks is very high e.g. the USA, European Union
etc. Nigeria’s population is exploding and this has positive effects on the demand for most
staple foods especially garri. Although garri can be chewed raw and swallowed it finds its
greatest use when soaked in hot water, pounded or turned and afterwards eaten with any of
the various types of nourishing soups often prepared for the purpose.
Garri Market: Nigeria, with the output of not less than 40 million metric tonnes (MT) per
annum of cassava tubers is the world’s largest producer. But despite this, Nigeria is not
even mentioned as one of the exporters of processed cassava products. The simple reason is
that most of its cassava roots output is consumed locally. This is done directly by
processors of cassava chips, pellets, flour, starch, glucose, adhesives etc and indirectly
by textile, pharmaceutical, food etc industries. There’s therefore a large and continuous
demand not only for cassava tubers but also its derivatives.
Despite its domestic production, garri prices are not in any way coming down. The high
prices are attributable to high demand for garri as a result of increasing population,
general inflation in the country, export of the product and the vagaries of weather. The
last factor directly affects the output of cassava tubers in the year. In spite of all these
and other inhibiting factors, the demand for garri keeps rising in our homes and eateries of
all sorts. Because of our rapidly expanding population, urban and industrial centres, anyone
who goes into the commercial production of garri especially now that the various tiers of
government are laying greater emphasis on agriculture than was the case in the past (with
cassava as the arrowhead), will make a lot of money for himself. This is because with the
governments’ food security initiative and the unrelenting drive for the provision of agric-
based raw materials, cassava tubers will be abundantly available for processing garri and
other cassava products.
In addition, the investor can be sure of a steadily rising demand in the local market. Garri
has great export potential when sold in a better organised and packaged manner and greater
volume than is being done presently whereby small quantities are packaged and sent overseas
to some of the Africans there that are hungry to taste home food products. Available
evidence points to the fact that many of them will readily pay for this and other ethnic
food items they can lay their hands on.
Raw Materials: The main raw material for garri processing is the cassava tubers. Cassava has
been a major food crop in Nigeria for over a century. It has many varieties and these are
grouped into two types (bitter and sweet) for economic convenience. The fresh bitter types,
which contain hydrocyanic acid, are processed into garri, chips, pellets etc. These are 100%
locally available in all of the 36 states of the country. A feedback from many parts of the
county indicate signs of on-coming abundance of cassava harvest resulting from the
cultivation done in the last two years. For more information on this and every aspect of
cassava, ask for this writer’s hold-me-by-the-hand, step-by-step guidebook entitled The
Untapped Investment Opportunities In Cassava Cultivation, Processing And Exporting.
Availability and continued supply of cassava tubers are very crucial for the success of a
garri-processing venture. For this reason any serious-minded investor is advised to put in
place a mechanism to ensure these by incorporating into the project the establishment of his
own cassava farm no matter how small it is. He can also get into forward purchase contract
with small holders to grow for him.  Because harvested cassava does not store well for long
after their harvest, the project of necessity has to be located near the supply source of
cassava tubers in order to avoid their deterioration and hence the quality and quantity of
the processed garri. Also this will help reduce the cost of transportation and this will
directly affect the profit margin of the project at the year-end.
Machinery And Equipment: The village method of manually processing garri is considered
relatively unhygienic, crude, un-economic, time-consuming, tedious, unduly labour-intensive
and incapable of producing enough from the available tubers to feed the teeming population
and for export. For these reasons, the plant being contemplated here is a radical departure
from the traditional method. It is mechanical and utilises the machinery and equipment
fabricated and tested locally to be functioning effectively and efficiently. Fortunately,
there are many good fabricators that can give the investor plants of any desired capacity.
For a comprehensive list of these, you can order for a copy of The Directory Of Industrial
Machinery Fabricators And Suppliers In Nigeria.