Fruit, Palm Oil and Rice Processing Plants in Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau is a small country with a low-lying Atlantic coast, crossed by rivers and coastal waterways and including the Bijagós archipelago. Bissau is the capital and the main seaport, on the Geba River. Cashew nuts are the main export, and the fleshy cashew apple that carries the nut is a by-product that can be pressed for juice. Tropical fruit is among the country's agricultural products, palm oil is produced, and rice is a major crop and staple food.

For processing, fruit is one clear opportunity: cashew apple and mango can be pulped, pressed and pasteurised, or concentrated, or sliced and dehydrated to avoid waste when harvests are seasonal. Palm fruit is boiled and pressed. Paddy comes in wet and is usually parboiled and dried before milling. One drying system may be able to serve several of these crops through the year.

Cooperatives, village processing groups, small food companies and exporters of dried or concentrated products are the likely users. Because rivers and coastal waterways carry much of the transport, supply routes will shape where a plant can sensibly be sited, and compact, adaptable equipment is easier to match to a seasonal supply than one large facility.