Report 28. Increasing the marketability of manioc and breadfruit products by improving processing techniques

The Haiti Productive Land Use Systems (PLUS) Research Project continued and expanded the work of the Haiti Agroforestry project. It was intended to encourage Haitian farmers to plant trees as part of an overall plan by USAID to curb the devastating erosion which was washing the top soil into the sea. This project also investigated the effects on other crops as a result of tree planting. ; The perishability of fresh manioc roots and breadfruit places constraints on the marketing of these products. This study was made to investigate processing techniques to reduce these constraints. MANIOC: The primary objective of this consultancy was to test the commonly held belief among manioc processors that the traditional manioc flatbread (kassav in Haitian Creole) cannot be made from dried manioc chips. As a result of this perception and other economic factors, manioc production and kassav processing are done on a very small-scale which constrains the development of urban markets for the product. Proving that the kassav could be made from dried manioc will allow the development of alternative marketing channels for manioc. The study accomplished this objective. The consultant had traditional bakers produce kassav from manioc meal that had been removed from a traditional bakery, dried, then rehydrated and returned to the bakery. The results from a sensory evaluation of the product by a panel of Haitians demonstrate clearly that the product is tasty and accepted by Haitian people. The consultant also showed that kassav could be made from manioc meal made from dried manioc chips. This means that farmers could produce manioc chips, dry them and then ship them to cities whenever transportation is available (because the dried chips store well) and that meal made from such chips can be used to produce kassav. Concern over the levels of cyanide in manioc products led to testing cyanide levesl. Cyanide content in commercially available kassav ranged from 2.9 mg 100/g to 3.4 mg 100/g, while kassav made from dried manioc chips which ...