How FG’s Cassava Initiative Cut Nigeria Off From N27.6trn Global Market

 

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By Vincent A. Yusuf, Abuja, Abdullateef Aliyu, Lagos & Tijani Labaran, Lokoja

Nigeria is the highest cassava producer in the world, producing more than Brazil and almost double the production capacity of Thailand and Indonesia.  

The volume of cassava production in Nigeria rose from about 38million metric tonnes in 2006 to about 60 million metric tonnes in 2017 per annum, and the figure is expected to increase by the end of 2022.  

Although the country is the world leading cassava producer, it is not an active partaker in the international cassava markets, for the reason that most of the cassava produced in the country is for the domestic food market – garri and fufu.

However, the federal government, under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, launched the Presidential Initiative on Cassava in 2003, which brought attention to cassava and its value chain potentials.

In 2006, the ‘Cassava Master Plan’, which was a strategic action plan for the development of the Nigerian cassava industry, was prepared within the framework of the country’s service framework, and in collaboration with the Presidential Initiative on Cassava, was also developed. 

The basic aim of the presidential initiative was to stimulate cassava as a possible foreign exchange earner for Nigeria and enhance production to sustain the domestic demand. 

According to the Cassava Master Plan, “The vision for cassava is that it will spur rural industrial development, helping raise incomes for producers, processors and traders while contributing to the food security status of its producers and consumers by a shift from cassava as principally a sustenance food to an industrial crop used in the processing of ethanol, starch, pellets and high quality cassava flour for the export trade.  

“This master plan proposes the necessary government policies like interventions to improve productivity and competitiveness at the farm and processing levels, effective marketing in the domestic, regional and international arenas, financial investments, institutional support, sector-wide linkages and capacity building.”  

The initiative also provided a framework for the implementation of the Cassava Sector Development Action Plan in the immediate, medium (2-5 years) and long term (5-10 years). 

In 2012, the then President Goodluck Jonathan launched a N10billion Cassava Bread Development Fund through the Bank of Industry.  

The initiative, championed by the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, was aimed at providing equipment and working capital support to master bakers and high quality cassava flour (HQCF) processors across Nigeria.

The two initiatives was to promote 10-20 per cent cassava flour substitution in bakery and confectionery, which could see earnings ‘from reduced wheat  imports and industry savings surpass N255 billion,’ according to the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria.

But these initiatives failed woefully as the current government did not continue with the programmes.

Experts said that despite being one of the largest producers of cassava in the world, Nigeria is said to be missing from the global cassava value chain, which is estimated to be about $66bn annually.

Speaking with our correspondent in Lagos, the president and chief executive officer of Anabel Group of Companies, Dr Nicky Okoye, noted that Nigerian farmers were missing out because they lacked the right technology for processing.

He spoke with Daily Trust on Sunday on the sidelines of the Indigenous Fabricators Stakeholders’ Workshop organised by the Project Development and Design Department of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO).  

Okoye, the president and founder of the African Enterprise Institute, who spoke on “Building Global Value Chain by Integrating Nigerian Local Content,” said those in the fabrication industry needed some form of guidance in order to excel, especially in supporting the agricultural value chain.  

He lamented that the absence of the right technology and machineries had robbed Nigeria of the huge opportunities in the global cassava value chain. 

He observed that Mexico, Vietnam, China, among others, were big players despite not being producers of cassava.

According to him, for Nigeria to be a big player in the industry, the federal government must bridge the gap between farmers and the processors.

He said processing equipment must be in place and set up inside or near the farm.

Okoye, however, noted that local fabricators could be supported to come up with machines that would aid the processing of agricultural produce.

He said, “Cassava has many derivatives – flower, starch, ethanol – the major barrier is the processing equipment.

“In Vietnam, processing equipment starts at $US100,000, all the way up to $500 to $1m, depending on the size. And $US100,000, as you know, is about N60m. So it is not cheap.

“But if the local machines can do the quality of the imported ones from Vietnam or China, we are in business because the local ones can go for as cheap as N2m, N3m, as opposed to N50m.

“That is the first step. Bring the cost down. The second step is the entire processing value chain. For instance, you must be able to process cassava close to the farm because the moment you cut it, it starts fermenting. So you don’t want to transport it over a long distance. Besides, 75 per cent of cassava is water.

“So why do you want to transport water that you are not going to use? So it is best to have the processing near to the farm so that you can extract the water, dry it and then start the processing. That is another area that is a challenge. You must link processing to farm. Even if it is not the farmers that own the processing facilities, let the processing guys or investors set up beside the farm or right on the farm.

“The third one is the market. We must be able to link the folks who are doing the processing; they have met the right quality, then they get linked to the market.”

The supervising director-general of the FIIRO, Dr Yemisi Asagbra, who disclosed this, said Nigeria must, as a matter of urgency, support local fabricators to stop inflation and reduce the high cost of importation.

According to her, Nigerian engineers have the capacity to fabricate functional machineries to stimulate rural and urban industrialisation.

She, however, tasked stakeholders to promote the infusion of local content at all levels of manufacturing to drive local industrialisation and reduce importation.

She said the workshop was organised to enable stakeholders have a mind shift towards patronising locally fabricated machineries.

“This workshop is essential in our determination to drive and enhance local content. To have our local fabrication is timely and essential at a time when we are experiencing high inflation, when there is high cost of importation and overdependence on foreign goods,” she said.

Kogi State is the largest producer of cassava. Our correspondent in the state said cassava was no longer being seen as an ordinary raw food for instant consumption in form of local delicacy of amala, fufu, garri and akpu, but can now be processed to starch and ethanol for various uses.

According to the Kogi State coordinator of Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), Hajiya SafiyaYahaya, farming in cassava has the potential to make one rich because of its increasing market potentials.

The SWOFON state coordinator, who claimed to have a cassava farm in the Ajaokuta area of the state, said the demand for cassava produce had increased and this had affected the cost of its cultivation.

“Cassava is no longer an issue of being used for local food as we grow into it. Ethanol and starch producers have invaded the market, so the business is no longer for small income earners,” she said.

She said that since the Chinese established a company producing ethanol in Jamata, a settlement along the Lokoja-Abuja highway in Kogi Local Government, it has increased the stake of cultivation of cassava in the state.

She, however, added that the cultivation of cassava in the state had some challenges as stems (sticks) were scarce to come by.

“Before now, we used to get our cassava sticks (stems) from the Ministry of Agriculture and the ADP, but we have not heard anything from them since last year. We are about to commence new farming season, yet there’s no news of cassava stems”, she said 

Hajiya Safiya Yahaya, who said she had to abandon her cassava farm in Ajaokuta because of the menace of herdsmen, added that incessant incidents of kidnapping in the state were discouraging farmers.

The reflection of the SWOFON coordinator remains the views of other farmers in cassava business across the state.

According to Yakubu Ejima from Anyigba in Dekina Local Government Area, who claimed to be involved in cassava farming for years, it is no longer for the rich as foreigners have invaded the market in the state.

“We are clamouring that, for our suffering not to be in vain, farmers’ associations in various zones of the state should be accredited as middlemen. 

“Government should create an enabling environment for us to get inputs to make farming easier in the state,” he said.

—DailyTrust