*Cassava Growers, Processors sign MoU
In a move to launch cassava into greater significance in the country, and boost its revenue generation potential, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has begun a major intervention through a partnership with critical stakeholders towards developing a blueprint to facilitate the development of Nigeria's cassava value chain on a sustainable basis.
As a first step, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Abuja n Thursday between the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association and Large Scale Cassava Processors, to guarantee steady off-take and processing of cassava in the country, going forward.
The signing ceremony was the climax of a meeting at the behest of the CBN, which was attended by governors of major cassava-producing states.
In his address on the occasion, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the importance of cassava as an agricultural commodity cannot be overemphasized as participants during the Fourth International Cassava Conference held in Cotonou, Benin Republic in June 2018 agreed that it is currently the fourth most important food crop in the world, after maize, wheat and rice and is grown on over 24 million hectares in 105 countries in the world with Nigeria as the leading producer.
According to him, cassava represents one of the most important economic crops in the world, adding that today, the world market for the commodity is one of the most dynamic with the volume of production and foreign trade growing steadily.
He noted that Nigeria is the largest producer ; producing about 53.0 million metric tonnes (MT) in 2018 but with a very low average yield of about 7.7 MT per hectare as compared to 23.4 MT and 22.2 MT per ha in Indonesia and Thailand respectively.
Statistics, he noted, however, show that out of the 53.0 million MT of cassava produced in Nigeria annually; more than 90 per cent is processed into food for human consumption whereas a significant industrial demand exists for the output of processed cassava, primarily as substitute for imported raw materials and semi-finished products.
"We are particularly interested in the cassava value chain because it is in line with President Muhammadu Buharis economic diversification programme for Nigeria. This is because economic diversification is an essential tool for national development and we are leaving no stone unturned towards repositioning Nigeria on the map of the world not just as the leading cassava producer but a processor as well.
"Compared with any other country of the world, Nigeria has one of the best climate and land resources to produce and process sufficient cassava; good enough; not only for consumption but also for industrial use and export as the country enjoys both absolute and comparative advantage in producing the commodity," Emefiele said.
He noted that the nation is blessed with several varieties of cassava that can be explored to optimum potential, adding her that there was the need to adopt improved varieties and practices that would guarantee better yield, better processing efficiency, increased profit and improved standard of living for our farmers. In achieving this goal, we are holding consultations with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan and the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike.
He pointed out that aside from foreign exchange conservation, increasing cassava production was a necessity as starch, glucose, sorbitol and other products currently being imported proffer no future for the nation in the long-term, in view of the fact that Nigeria imports cassava derivatives valued at over $600m annually.
"Permit me to share with you the gap and potential demand that exists in our cassava value chain:
Demand for High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) in bread, biscuits and snacks is above 500,000t annually while supply is below 15,000t
Demand for cassava starch is above 300,000t annually while supply is below 10,000t
"Demand for cassava-based constituents in sugar syrup is above 350,000t annually while supply is almost nonexistent
Potential demand for ethanol in Nigeria as a fuel for cooking, to power vehicles (E10), and other industrial uses exceeds 1 billion litres, while production is nearly zero," the CBN Governor said.
It was on this premise, he added, that the included cassava in the FX exclusion list to salvage the industry, encourage farmers to go back to their farms to boost jobs creation and increase output and improve the capacity utilisation of processing companies.
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