Cuts on fingers and waist pain are common among, gari makers, especially in rural areas.

The cumbersome use of metal sheets with multiple holes made with nails to grate cassava takes people hours to mash a pan of cassava.

All that is set to end with the design and manufacture of energy efficient mini grater by Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

“We use nails and wood to manufacture the grater. Sometimes, the grating can lead to bruises and sometimes cuts on the fingers; we feel waist pains after every session," says Regina Yevenu of Adumkrom in the Ashanti Region.

A study published in the journal of Agroalimentary processes and technologies 2012, found that corrosion stands as a source of food contamination due to the migration of metallic particles.

Deborah Pandoh of the Technology Consultancy Centre of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, set out to find a solution.

She started working on a mini cassava grater five years ago as part of her Master’s thesis.

“I had to investigate the head of the grating machine, so I worked on the tooth size, tooth space and the tooth angle. It was aimed towards promoting interchangeability of the teeth to get a better quality of mash when you grate cassava for gari,” she said.

The mini cassava grater can process 200 kilograms of cassava per hour. It is made of stainless steel which makes it safe.

“Since gari needs little processing after it’s made it’s important the parts are safe. “The parts are easy to change and it’s very efficient and easy to clean because it does not rust,” Deborah added.

The grater is powered by 0.75 horsepower or 0.55 kilowatt motor.

“Now the women don’t complain of difficulties,” said Benjamin Tei Kwame, Assembly member for Adukrom.

The mini cassava grater is helping people of over 30 rural communities. 

The project which is a collaboration with the Olin College in the United States, focuses on affordable food processing machinery in deprived communities.

“We have perfected the design and the technology has been proven to work on the field.

"Now the next stage is to scale up production of the equipment. We are aiming at starting from hundred to thousand,” said Prof Samuel Sackey, Director of the Technology Consultancy Centre.