Abstract:
High yielding cassava varieties were developed over the years by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) research station in Mtwapa, Kilifi County several which have improved the yield from three tonnes per hectare to five tones per hectares. The Sustainable Development Initiatives Centre (SUDIC) linked with a farmers group in the Tezo area of Kilifi County by the name Basi Mwangaza. The aim was using cassava tubers (toxic cassava) and cassava peelings as waste from cassava to produce
ethanol which was to be used as a biofuel which would then be a substitute for fossil fuels. Ultimately, this would be a less polluting fuel and thus mitigate against climate change and other negative environmental impacts associated with the transport industry exhaust. A shortage in the sources of fuel and increased environmental degradation has necessitated the search for biofuel for use in vehicles and machineries. Karembo and Siri varieties produce higher percentage ethanol while Nzalauka and Shibe produced relatively lower percentages of ethanol in all method used. Ethanol extracted from the
cassava tubers is roughly twice the percentage of that extracted from the cassava peelings. The use of cassava ethanol as a second-generation bio-fuel provides a starting-point for improvements in cultivation and adoption of cassava and improving food security.
