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When Ebenezer Obeng-Baffoe started farming in 2015, with oil palm, coconut, avocado and mango as his main crops, he certainly didn't know that he would be at the head of an empire specializing in the production and processing of the orange-fleshed sweet potato.  

The story of this unusual success began with a simple request for help from the Crop Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) so that Ebenezer could manage weeds in his plantations. " Ebenezer Obeng-Baffoe approached the institute to ask for a plant that would help him control weeds in his plantations, and we suggested the orange-fleshed sweet potato," relates Dr Kwadwo ADOFO, Researcher and Plant Breeder at the CSIR Crop Research Institute. The CSIR Crop Research Institute is home to the Regional Center of Excellence for Roots and Tubers, which developed this variety of sweet potato and, with the support of the West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), has been able to promote it on a large scale and ensure its wide distribution to the local population.

Following the experts' advice, the agripreneur planted the sweet potato and then realized that this variety had an impressive yield - from six (06) to twelve (12) tons per hectare. "Beyond the fight against weeds, werealized that the yield of thesweet potato variety was excellent. But there was themarketchallenge of selling the raw product," says Obeng-Baffoe.

It was then that the idea of processing sweet potatoes germinated in the agripreneur's mind. The seeds of the Casa de Ropa enterprise were sown. In 2018, after a few years spent processing the sweet potato harvested from his small-scale plantations, Ebenezer decided it was time to move up a gear.

Thanks to the "One District, One Factory" initiative of the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, Obeng has been able to set up a sweet potato processing company called Casa de Ropa. This initiative aimed to encourage local economic development by providing industrial infrastructure for local entrepreneurs. He obtained a USD 2.7 million loan to set up his sweet potato processing plant. The agripreneur's impressive infrastructure, erected in the Gamoa district just outside Accra, comprises a vast farm with artificial ponds and a modern irrigation system, as well as a fully-equipped factory for processing the product.

Today, Casa de Ropa is a thriving company that transforms sweet potatoes into a variety of products, including chips, bread (sliced and for burgers), pizza, doughnuts, various pastry products, potato chips, etc., all based on sweet potatoes. " Today, Casa de Ropa cultivates over 660 hectares of sweet potatoes, far more than any other crop. The sweet potato has taken over from the company's original plan. Ninety percent (90%) of our business is based on sweet potato production and processing," says Obeng Baffoe.

Just three years after its creation, in 2021, "Casa de Ropa's enterprise value was estimated at 26,000,000 USD, more than five times its initial value", Obeng-Baffoe reports.

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In addition, over 150 employees work for the company. Employees are members of a social contribution system, which guarantees them a retirement pension.

What's more, before the plant was installed, the surrounding population was heavily dependent on felling and burning trees to make charcoal, which was then sold to earn income.  

" It's thanks to our intervention, by offering themother alternatives and jobs, that people have stopped this practice that was destroying the environment," asserts Casa de Ropa's boss.

" Without theintervention of theCSIR crop research institute, we wouldn't be talking about sweet potato processing and all its benefits for the people of Gamoa and the surrounding area," admits the manager, proud of his achievement.

For Dr Kwadwo ADOFO, it's a success to be credited to the PPAAO implemented by CORAF, which has encouraged the promotion of this orange-fleshed sweet potato technology, now enjoyed by thousands of people in Ghana.