Introduction Garri, a staple food in West Africa made from cassava, traditionally requires extensive manual labour during the frying stage. This project developed a semi-automated solution to: - Reduce physical strain on operators - Improve production consistency - Increase output capacity - Maintain traditional garri quality characteristics. Materials and Method Garri production whether manual and semi- automated involves several key steps: Peeling and washing cassava, grating it into pulp, fermenting, dewatering, frying, sieving and finally bagging the product. Semi- automated method involves use of machine for some stages such as: grating, dewatering and frying while manual method requires hand tools and labour. Result The semi- automated techniques is more efficient and less time consuming than the traditionally operated method of producing garri, in terms of productivity the semi- automated does not requires much labour and the output is higher compared to traditional method. Lastly, the quality of the garri produced through semi- automated techniques is higher than the traditional method. Conclusion The semi-automated garri frying machine successfully addresses key challenges in small-scale garri production while maintaining product quality. The design offers an appropriate technology solution between fully manual and industrial-scale automated systems, making it suitable for small business adoption. Keywords: Garri, Grating, Efficiency, Quality, Frying machine, productivity.
Aderonmu Yusuf Oladayo, Adeleye Olumuyiwa Sunday