For several years down the line, Nigeria has been seeking ways to gain from its cassava production, a crop the country is the largest producer.
Africa’s biggest economy churns out 63 million metric tons of cassava tubers in 2021, according to data from the Food and Agricultural Organisation, which accounts for one-fifth of global production, a PwC report said.
This position puts Nigeria in a strong competitive advantage that can be tapped for an astounding economic impact. Achieving such a prospect is possible if quality issues and technological gaps undermining the value chain potential are addressed.
Efforts by successive governments and the private sector are thickening to ensure the local cassava value chain is developed and tapped for economic prosperity.
The biggest challenge confronting farmers is low yield per hectare. The yield per hectare for the tuber in the country has remained low, and opportunities across the cassava value chains are yet to be harnessed.
According to FAO, the country’s average farm yield of the tuber is seven metric tonnes (MT) compared to Ghana’s 22.5MT per hectare and Indonesia’s 26.6MT. Experts say that some of the limiting factors to increased productivity in cassava production are poor weed control and high cost of farm inputs.
Cassava leaves and roots are sources of valuable derivatives, including flour, food, ethanol (alcohol), animal feed, starch, a few biodegradable products, glucose syrup and sweeteners.
These products are also raw materials to numerous industrial items with limitless domestic and export market potentials.
If adequately harnessed, cassava can trigger an industrial revolution in Nigeria, empowering even rural dwellers who substantially farm the crop, according to the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA).
It will also precipitate the establishment of various cassava-based industries, the association said.
It is imperative to explore the economic value of cassava products. The global market value of ethanol stood at $99.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass $162.12 billion within the next decade.
The market size of starch was $59.31 billion in 2022 and projected to hit the $87 billion mark before 2030. Also, cassava flour, which is said to be rich in fibre and protein, is gaining traction globally as its uses expand in the kitchen and pastry industry.
Considering the global valuation and profiles of cassava derivatives, if optimized for maximum productivity, Nigeria’s cassava value chain should be able to raise the GDP level by at least N10 trillion, generate millions of jobs for the economy and improve the country’s food security position, according to NCGA.
Although cassava is largely processed for food in Nigeria, it has been increasingly used throughout the world in textile, food, pharmaceutical, and biochemical industries.
A recent PwC report shows that the country has a supply- demand gap for high-quality cassava flour of about 485,000 MT and a gap for cassava starch of about 290,000MT.
Owing to these gaps, Nigeria industries have continued to import starch, flour and ethanol in large quantities that are by-products of cassava as they claim that not much local starch and flour meets their standards, saying that the market has failed to constantly supply high quality cassava starch and flour.
As a matter of fact, around 97 percent of the ethanol used locally is imported. This puts pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves, money that could have been saved if the country could tap into the opportunities in cassava production.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had in 2021 said the country’s cassava-by-products import value stood in the region of $580 million.
More importantly, initiatives targeting the use of cassava flour as a composite of wheat flour have seen several setbacks. The government mandated wheat millers to substitute five percent of wheat flour for cassava flour as far back as 2022.
It was later raised to 10 percent. However, the millers were unable to access sufficient quality cassava domestically to process into standard flour that meets their customers’ purchase criteria.
