Wednesday 11/1/2023 –It’s somber as AfrII, partners and donors grieve with the family of prominent passionate cassava entrepreneur, Mr. Sam Opiyo who died yesterday in hospital in Apac district in Northern Uganda.  Mr. Opiyo, was one of many farmers discovered in 2010 by AfrII during implementation of phase one of the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA) project. He was, from then up to the time of his death, a key champion of industrialization the crop. The CAVA Uganda project imparted skills and knowledge to Opiyo and other target beneficiaries in cassava farming and commercialization for improved livelihoods. CAVA also facilitated the successful installation of Opiyo’s multi-million-dollar investment of a High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) processing factory- Adyaka Wholesalers Limited in Apac, a state of the art technology that processes wet cassava mash into HQCF within 3 seconds making it ready for human and commercial use.

Opiyo was also a celebrated certified Cassava Seed Entrepreneur (CSE) with over 500 acres of clean cassava gardens in Apac. He was supported by AfrII and Government’s joint Cassava Seed Systems (CSS) project to grow his cassava business. His knowledge in cassava farming and management won him several contracts with the governments Operation Wealth Creation initiative to supply clean cassava planting materials to farmers in Northern Uganda.

Mr. Opiyo at his cassava factory shows off his certificate of recognition as a certified Cassava Seed Entrepreneur (CSE).

Brief highlight on the CAVA Project

The CAVA Project concluded its second phase in 2019 following successful implementation in 5 African countries of Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Tanzania. Specifically, CAVA Uganda impacted over 1 million beneficiaries directly and indirectly i.e. smallholder cassava farmers, Community Processing Groups (CPGs), and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises along the cassava value chain in Central, Eastern and Northern Uganda. For example, through the project linked cassava processors and SME’s to emerging HQCF markets in the pharmaceuticals, breweries, composite flour millers, biscuit, yogurt, sausage, paperboard and bakery industries.

The CAVA project was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Natural Resources Research Institute-University of Greenwich-UK.