A Business Entrepreneur has indicated that cassava starch has gained huge demand on the international market, and urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the ready market.

She Madam Priscilla Fiati, a Business Development Manager at the Torchbearer International Agricultural Science and Technology Group (TIAST Group), noted that China alone imports over three million tonnes of cassava starch every year, worth 30 billion dollars, and expressed the hope that Ghana could be part of the value chain which could help create more jobs and alleviate poverty.

Madam Fiati made the remarks when addressing participants at the ongoing sixth Agricultural Industrialization Conference in Takoradi under the theme, "Financial and Technological Support for Agricultural Processing", organised by the TIAST Group in partnership with the Stanbic Bank.

She indicated that her outfit had secured a ready market of over 600,000 tons order per year to assist producers in selling all their processed goods on a weekly basis, saving them the headache of finding buyers for their processed products and therefore called on Ghanaians to take advantage of the huge opportunity in the production of cassava.

She pointed out that TIAST Group was ready to provide full technology set up for factories, provide on time factory support to its partners or clients, provide on-site technical engineers to facilitate an effective, efficient and smooth running of the factories, provide timely and professional maintenance services and also train all the local technical operators on site to have the requisite technical know-how.

Madam Fiati recounted that on September 9, 2020 the TIAST West Africa successfully signed an MOU with the Stanbic Bank to invest 70per cent – 80per cent of the total financing needed for the factory projects to cover the equipment, installation, training, civil and steel structure works, water treatment system and the full factory set up accompanied with other added benefits.

She said agriculture in Ghana and Africa had great potentials and a bright future, but was however confronted with challenges which include, the reluctance of financial institutions to invest in agriculture due to security reasons and farmers engaging in subsistence farming to produce raw products for local consumption which earned them little money.

She added that there was also inadequate technology for efficient production, lack of value addition to products and worst of all no assurance of a ready market.

Madam Fiati announced that her outfit was presenting special projects giving everyone the opportunity to own a processing plant with a guaranteed ready market for their processed products, technology and technical support as well as financial lease.