The Cooperation Officer of the European Union to Liberia, Ms. Geetrui Louwagie (PhD), engaged in an interesting interaction with Lydia’s Field Enterprise during a recent project site visit in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. Lydia’s Field Enterprise is a privately owned integrated cassava production and processing facility. The business, which has 35 employees, has been in operation since 2021 and processes cassava into gari, super gari, and good grade cassava flour.
At the time of the visit, Lydia’s Field Enterprise together with two other enterprises in the county were undergoing training in the processing of various cassava products including high quality cassava flour, cassava chips and foods, and industrial grade starch production.
Mr. Daniel Sackie, the CEO of Lydia’s Field Enterprise, in his interaction with the EU representative, expressed his delight in the support his outfit has thus far received from CASTRAP. He indicated that assistance such as training on business development and good agricultural practices, the provision of improved cassava-cutting tools for the farm, and efforts to help the enterprise access external funding to expand its operations had all significantly aided in the expansion of his business. He also said that the project had made it easier for the National Standards Laboratory (NSL) to test its products, and he expressed the hope that soon the enterprise’s products would be certified to further increase their marketability.
Mr. Daniel Sackie urged the project to continue to support the business improve the product’s quality and marketability, particularly in the area of packaging. He emphasized that demand has never been a problem, even under the current business model for marketing its goods. Yet, it is hard to state that product quality is consistent given the manual nature of the existing packing methods. In order to improve the enterprise’s price, marketability, and attractiveness to the high-end market, he petitioned the project for assistance in simplifying the steps required to develop and implement a suitable and advanced packaging system.
During the visit, Ms. Louwagie learned about Lydia’s Field Enterprise business model, its history, how it funds its operations, as well as its long-term goals.
