Nigeria government support cassava processing project

Nigeria is the world's leading producer of cassava. Dr. Martin, Special Technical Adviser of the Ministry of Agriculture of Nigeria, said about cassava development and utilization: “In Nigeria, cassava will become oil and natural gas.” Agriculture Minister Dr. Adsina once pointed out that “in Nigeria, people will be expected to see cassava instead of wheat to used as a cash crop to make bread, cakes, biscuits and other products."

Although the Nigeria government is optimistic about the development prospects of cassava, few Nigerians believe that cassava will become an important material such as oil. Nigerian businessman Emeka said, "There is no doubt that cassava is very important in Nigeria, especially for general person. As far as I am concerned, garri is also every day, the staple food to eat. But what is the production of cassava in the world? How many countries in the world value cassava, whether as a primary agricultural product or a processed product, can cassava be profitable like oil?"

But Dr. Martin said, “Profit is possible because the Nigeria government is launching a project based on cassava varieties and technologies that can achieve a one-hectare profit of $500. The increase in cassava production efficiency will bring investment.”

He added, “The government is working hard to develop the scale production of cassava and develop the supply chain for road, energy, water and service end users. To make Nigeria the world’s largest producer and processing country for cassava, the government will take measures as much as possible. Improve production efficiency, such as mechanization of production, control of soil erosion, and mechanization of harvesting."

Minister Adesina’s attitude is very optimistic. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, with an annual output of about 40 million tons. Nigeria needs to increase its processing capacity to cope with the growing global market.

The Minister stated that “domestic cassava processing is a “very profitable cassava industry chain project.” He also revealed that the import tariff on wheat will be used as a cassava bread development fund (CBDF) to finance the cassava project. Nigeria is imported from the United States in the world. The country with the largest amount of wheat produces about 635 billion naira (about 4.2 billion U.S. dollars) in wheat imports per year, but fails to make full use of its dominant crop, cassava, to process more food by-products such as flour, starch and sweeteners. Etc. If you can replace 20% of imported wheat with your own tapioca, the country will save 254 billion naira (about $1.7 billion) in wheat imports each year."