The national representation of the World Food Program (WFP) in Congo is organizing on December 16 and 17 in Brazzaville, in partnership with the Regional Center of Excellence against Hunger and Malnutrition (Cerfam) and the Center of Excellence of China, a workshop of exchanges and learning on improving the cassava value chain: the case of the Republic of Congo.
Organized as a webinar and face-to-face within the framework of South-South cooperation, this workshop allows participants to discuss innovative solutions for transforming cassava into derived products and their commercialization by the population. According to the deputy director of the WFP office in Congo, Ali Ouattara, this UN agency is interested in the development of the cassava value chain, in order to contribute to the implementation of the Congo National Development Plan, through the axis of diversification of the economy.
Constituting the staple food of the Congolese population, cassava is cultivated by nearly 98% of farmers. Due to the lack of development of the value chain, the product barely covers around a third of the country’s food needs.
“We intended to be able to organize this workshop to share experiences with other countries, to see how we can develop, produce, market and transform cassava so as to act on all its segments of the value chain”, he explained.
According to WFP’s acting representative in Congo, the issue of market opportunities is often a bottleneck for the development of value chains. Thus, the contribution of this agency to this segment is at the level of purchases from processors to ensure food assistance for the vulnerable population and children in school canteens. “It is in the impetus to ultimately set up real industrial transformation systems that PAM-Congo is investing. This state of affairs will not only contribute to food availability to reduce food imports in Congo where food needs are 70% covered by imports ”, suggested Ali Ouattara.
The Director-General of Agriculture, Paul Raphaël Ongouala, for his part, indicated that this workshop was timely, especially since it will allow participants to discuss important themes. He also recalled that the development of value chains falls within the area of human rights advocated by the United Nations which recommend, among other things, access to healthy, balanced and adequate food.
“Aware of this challenge, WFP has implemented, with the support of multiple partners, including China (…) to support the Republic of Congo in achieving this objective, by reducing the volume of post-loss harvesting and diversification of cassava-derived products ”, underlined Paul Raphaël Ongouala, urging participants to seize this opportunity offered to them through this workshop.
Note that the exchange and learning workshop on improving the cassava value chain, case of the Republic of Congo, comes after two missions organized in the department of Bouenza within the framework of South cooperation. South and triangular in Congo. On this occasion, Cerfam facilitated the mobilization and deployment of experts from Côte d’Ivoire and Benin to train Congolese artisans and farmers. This in the manufacture of equipment for processing cassava into derived products such as attiéké and gari which were recently the subject of an exhibition in Madingou.
