Oti Region Farmers Grapple with Cassava Chip Glut & Scarce Buyers

Thousands of cassava farmers in Oti Region are facing crisis as their processed cassava chips have piled up with no buyers, causing significant financial losses. The chips processed with peels intact, are now deemed unsuitable for cassava flour production, exacerbating the issue. A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), to some communities sighted some sacks of cassava chips lined up under mango trees and heaped by the roadsides gathering dust highlighting the plight of farmers. Madam Comfort Babijome, a farmer at Gyato Chayo, a farming community in Krachi Nchumuru District, revealed that, a bag of cassava chips was now selling for less than GH¢100, a stark contrast to the GH¢350-400 a year ago. Mr Kasim Kwame Abubakar, a cassava farmer from the Sibi community in the Nkwanta North District, is pleading for government support as his processed cassava chips are going to waste. Mr Abubakar’s story is not different from farmers in Krachi East, who are struggling to find buyers. “We need the government to help us find markets or provide alternative solutions.”