The Value Chain
Our activities include input supply, production, processing, packaging, marketing, and distribution of various tropical flours under the Oba Tobi brand name in Nigeria. SME's in this part of the world are critical for food security and employment, linking smallholder farmers to local, regional, and export markets.
Grower
Our farming methods are anchored on ancient agricultural values such as the intercropping.
Processor
In Nigeria, rural women control majority of the activities involved in traditional flour processing.
Packager
Value addition at raw material source
Distributor
We sell wholesale product directly into farmers markets, and we sell to retail in branded packaging.
Our Flours
West African cuisine utilizes several distinct types of flour derived from dried yam, cassava, & plantain, often processed through fermentation, sun-drying, or milling to achieve specific textures for traditional "swallow" dishes like Amala or Fufu. At Abodunde Farms we process dried cassava, yam and plantain into 100% natural flour, with no additives.
African yams are the foundational starch for sub-Saharan civilizations. Today, West Africa remains the global heart of production, accounting for over 90% of the world’s harvest.
The importance of cassava to West Africans is epitomized in the Ewe (a language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin) name for the plant, Agbeli, meaning "There is Life”.
In the Yoruba language of West Africa, the saying, "Ogede n’ n’idi, o n’ n’ omo," likens the plantain’s ability to sprout new shoots from its base to a family’s continuity and prosperity.
Garri, is produced from cassava tubers, which are peeled, washed, and grated into a mash. This mash is allowed to ferment, dewatered and sieved into small, consistent grains. Finally, the sieved grits are fried in a dry pan. The product can also be mixed with a small amount of palm oil for a yellow, vitamin A-fortified variant.
Garri is a high-energy, nutrient-dense West African staple, providing essential minerals like magnesium, copper, and iron. It promotes digestive health, aids in weight management due to high fiber, and is a rich source of vitamin C.
Yam flour, popularly known in Yoruba as Elubo Isu (or Amala Isu), is produced by peeling, slicing, parboiling, and drying white yams. The dried yam, called gbodo, is milled into a fine, light-brown flour. This flour is stirred into boiling water to create a dark, smooth, and soft dough-like meal.
This flour is often recommended for aiding digestion, promoting heart health, and managing diabetes (when consumed in moderation). It is also high in antioxidants.
Plantain flour, known in Yoruba as Elubo Ogede (or Amala Ogede), is derived by peeling, slicing, and drying unripe (green) plantains. The dried plantain is then milled or ground into a fine, light flour, which is cooked in boiling water to create a soft, dough-like meal.
Like the yam and cassava varieties, this flour is known as a healthy, high-fiber, gluten-free alternative to other starches used in baking, and is often recommended for managing diabetes due to its lower carbohydrate level compared to yam flour.
Cassava flour, known in Yoruba as Elubo Lafun (or simply Lafun), is produced by peeling, washing, and fermenting cassava tubers, followed by drying and milling them into a fine, white, or off-white powde. When mixed with boiling water, this flour creates a smooth, light-colored, and soft dough-like meal commonly known as Amala - Lafun or Cassava Fufu.
It is a natural gluten-free, grain-free, and nut-free alternative to baking flour. This flour also supports gut health and can aid in managing blood sugar levels.
Cassava flour, yam flour, and plantain flour are all popular, gluten-free staples in West African cuisine, used primarily to create "swallow" (or fufu), but they differ significantly in taste, texture, fermentation, and nutritional profile.
The Cassava plant root is known as "The Bread of the Tropics".
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Preparing Cassava flour in Central America, 1909.
Cassava was unknown to the Old World before the discovery of America. There is archaeological evidence of two major centers of origin for this crop, one in Mexico and Central America and the other in northeastern Brazil.
Portuguese settlers found the native Indians in Brazil growing the cassava plant and Pierre Martyr wrote in 1494 that the "poisonous roots" of a yucca were used in the preparation of bread.
It is believed that cassava was introduced to the western coast of Africa in about the sixteenth century by slave merchants where it quickly became an important crop.
Cassava is the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics, after rice and maize. Today, Nigeria accounts for 20% of total global output.