….cassava value chain can serve as Nigeria’s economic mainstay

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – FOOD security remains critical in boosting and sustaining Nigeria’s economic growth and development, but for this to happen, farmers under the auspices of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, NCGA, weekend, called on President Bola Tinubu, to focus on massive cassava production and milling to trigger generation of billions of dollars as foreign exchange for the economy.

Speaking on the need for development of a ‘Cassava Production Agenda’, former National President, NCGA, Segun Adewumi, at the Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria, FACAN, Roundtable tagged ‘Dialogue on Building a Stronger Economy through the Agro-commodity Value Chain’ said Nigeria remains the world’s largest producer of cassava and the industry has a potential of generating billions of dollars and creating massive employment via the value chain.

Adewumi also pointed out that cassava has some very major industrial derivatives that include Ethanol, Industrial Starch, Cassava Flour, Glucose Syrup, Sweetener, and others.

However, he said these products are raw materials for numerous industrial items with limitless domestic and export market potentials.

He said: “This is to say that Cassava can trigger massive Industrial Revolution in Nigeria to the extent that every Nigerian village will have a viable Cassava Industry.

“If we use Cassava to derive these products, we shall save N3 trillion from our import bill annually. I believe this amount is very significant to our economic well-being as a country.

“We can see that cassava processed into various derivatives can reduce our import bill by N5 trillion in the first instance. Massive production and milling of cassava into various derivatives for export will trigger Industrial Revolution that will earn Nigeria billions of dollars and restore our dignity as a nation.

“We can consider the zeal with which Malaysia that took palm seeds from Nigeria transformed palm produce into an economic crop that generates more than twice what Nigeria earns from her oil. We can also consider how Ireland, net importer of dairy products, now export 90 per cent of the dairy it produces. With this pattern of zeal backed by a strong political will, Cassava can be made the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.”

Meanwhile, on the Cassava Bread Project that was initiated by former Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the former NCGA boss said that, “Beyond the value of the derivatives imported annually, there is a very important industrial product that will not only reduce our import bills on white wheat but will largely support the food security concerns of the government.”

He also suggested that for the Cassava development programme for Nigeria it has to divided into two; Agenda for Cassava for food security and Cassava for industrial use.

However, he pointed out that, “In Nigeria, Cassava cannot penetrate the World market because the practice of agriculture in Nigeria is still in the crude form.

“Some southern States that have a farming population of over 2 million do not have up to 10 serviceable tractors for the use of their farmers. Besides, it is rare to find a contiguous tractor-able farmland of 100 Ha anywhere in the southern States, where Cassava is the main crop.

“Until recent times Cassava was never seen as a cash crop by the average farmer but was used for inter-cropping to support the food need of the family in the off season period of yam.

‘It was also a means by which the women generate emergency funds by turning Cassava into a local food for sales, especially when the funds are required for School fees of their children.

“When the awareness of the cash crop status of Cassava came, it led the local farmer to increase Cassava production but what resulted was a glut in the market of cassava.

“The glut was cost of production related in that the cost at which cassava is produced surpassed the industrial value of the cassava.

“Added to this predicament is the cost of transporting the cassava to the mill where it will be processed into chips and pellets. Please take into account, the fact that cassava will begin to lose its starch content 24 hours after harvest if not processed.

While speaking on the Agenda for the Production of Industrial Cassava, he asserted that, “Over 24 mega factories that process Cassava in Nigeria, I cannot see more than one that have over 60 per cent regular cassava feed stock all the year round.

“Most of the other factories operate at less than 10 per cent of their installed capacities. This is because the cassava supply issue was not properly addressed before the factories were established.”

On his recommendations to solve problems in the Cassava industry, especially on peasant stakeholders, he said, “The solution is to take the market to the farmers and the Garri Processors right in the rural areas. This can be done as follows; Set up a mega Garri factory in every Senatorial District of the Garri producers States.

“Enroll about 250 Gari Processors each of whom will be allocated a Garri frying pot in the mega factories; Each Garri frier is an entrepreneur who may have at least three assistants to work with her; The Processor buys raw Cassava and processes it into Garri with the facilities at the mega factories. At the end of every day, the authority at the centre weighs the Garri produced by each Processor into a storage facility; Payment is made to the Processor daily, weekly or monthly as it is arranged; Garri production will be supervised by health officers to ensure that the products meet the NAFDAC standard.

“Garri will be packaged into different sizes in bags and sachets and would be evacuated to the Garri depots in the cities for sales; and Garri sales depots will be created in the urban cities where Garri will be distributed to the markets, supermarkets, hotels, schools and IDP camps and for export.”