Faso Attie`ke` is a women’s association of more than 400 members from Ouagadougou specializing in producing cassava flour (Attie`ke`). The association is increasing women’s income by diversifying products and using improved technology. It obtains cassava paste as a raw material within Burkina Faso, from members’ farms and other farms as well. It also sources cassava from neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire.
The association is one of the beneficiaries of the SWITCH Africa Green programme through a project known as “enhancing resource productivity and environmental performance of MSMEs in Burkina Faso through the concept of industrial symbiosis.” The project was implemented by Africa Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production and Women Environmental Program Burkina.
Fresh cassava is difficult to get as it usually gets spoiled in transit. It is, therefore, sourced in the form of cassava paste. This raw material is then put through a press and wastewater is collected. The cassava is then put in a sieve and dried, after which powder and fibre are extracted. The association extracts between 4 and 5 kg of fibre per day from daily production of about 1,000 kg. The final product represents about 90% of the raw material.
Through SWITCH Africa Green intervention, the association was trained on industrial symbiosis. This enabled it to cooperate with other trained enterprises to generate solutions for the wastewater. As a result of the training, the enterprises gained knowledge on the benefits of waste exchange as well as how to create linkages with other enterprises in the sector and who either were waste producers or consumers. Since Faso Attie`ke` generates Amidon (starch from cassava) which is a valuable waste, they hoped to get an enterprise interested in it as this would increase their revenues.
“We really appreciated the networking offered by SWITCH Africa Green following the training,” says Florence Bassono, the managing director of Faso Attie`ke`. “They made a list of the companies that were still producing waste and the companies that could make use of that waste. It really is a circular economy, and nothing is wasted.”
Industrial symbiosis is a process that involves the exchange of energy, materials, water or the byproducts of any of those in a circular manner where one industry feeds off the waste of another.
“Burkina Faso is situated in the heart of West Africa and we are key players when it comes to the economic development of all the countries and with our organization, we play a very important role especially when it comes to the green economy,” Florence concludes.
