Nigeria often is the world’s largest producer of cassava, however its monumental agricultural output has but to translate into a reliable provide of uncooked supplies for industries or widespread adoption of regionally produced cassava derivatives, stakeholders have noticed.
The problem, in line with stakeholders within the cassava worth chain, goes past growing manufacturing.
High harvesting and transportation prices, low farm productiveness, inefficient processing, inconsistent product high quality and weak connections between farmers, processors and industrial patrons proceed to undermine the sector’s industrial potential.
These constraints emerged at an operators’ roundtable convened by the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator (NCIA) just lately, which introduced collectively processors, industrial patrons, regulators and different stakeholders to look at why Nigeria’s cassava manufacturing benefit has not translated into stronger industrial utilisation.
The discussions highlighted a elementary downside: producing cassava in giant portions does not essentially imply factories can entry enough roots at aggressive costs, course of them effectively and promote derivatives that meet industrial necessities.
One of the issues raised was the reliability of Nigeria’s reported cassava manufacturing figures. Participants questioned whether or not present estimates precisely mirror the quantity of roots truly harvested, noting that some manufacturing calculations could depend on cultivated land areas and assumed yields.
Where mature cassava stays unharvested due to labour shortages or excessive harvesting prices, estimated manufacturing may considerably exceed precise output. One participant advised that, in some manufacturing areas, as a lot as 60 per cent of planted cassava could stay unharvested.
Even harvested roots face one other problem: getting them to processing factories rapidly and affordably. Cassava deteriorates quickly after harvesting, making environment friendly aggregation, transportation and coordination between farmers and processors important.
The roundtable subsequently emphasised that industrial buyers want greater than spectacular nationwide manufacturing statistics. They require reliable feedstock delivered at commercially viable prices.
Increasing farm productiveness was recognized as one other precedence. Cassava already provides essential home meals markets, significantly garri and fufu, that means industrial processors should compete with established customers for out there roots.
Rather than diverting provides from meals consumption, contributors advocated increasing total manufacturing by way of improved farm yields.
The World Bank Group’s 2025 Nigeria Country Private Sector Diagnostic places common Nigerian cassava yields at 8.2 tonnes per hectare in 2020, in contrast with the worldwide common of 12.8 tonnes and 24 tonnes in Southeast Asia.
Stakeholders attributed the productiveness hole to restricted entry to improved high-yield varieties, insufficient agronomic practices and weak extension companies.
Although analysis institutes have developed improved cassava varieties, the capability to multiply and distribute planting stems to farmers stays inadequate. Furthermore, farmers want technical assist to use really useful practices, together with applicable crop spacing, to realize larger yields.
Beyond manufacturing, the price of harvesting and processing presents one other impediment.
Transportation additionally will increase prices as a result of contemporary cassava roots include roughly 70 per cent water. Processors consequently spend cash transferring cumbersome uncooked supplies over usually poor roads, despite the fact that a lot of the transported weight does not develop into completed product.
However, contributors argued that the trade ought to not method cassava derivatives as common replacements for competing industrial inputs.
Instead, funding ought to goal functions the place cassava merchandise can meet particular technical and industrial necessities.
Potential alternatives recognized embrace cassava-derived bioethanol, sweeteners and cassava-wheat composite flour. Biscuit manufacturing was highlighted as a promising software for composite flour as a result of biscuits rely much less on gluten for construction than bread.
Cassava starch additionally presents alternatives. A participant reported that regionally produced starch had develop into price-competitive with imported alternate options.
However, variations in performance imply that cassava starch could not carry out identically to corn starch in each industrial software, even the place laboratory specs seem related.
Stakeholders advised that impartial testing preparations may assist resolve disagreements between suppliers and patrons, whereas nearer collaboration with offtakers would allow processors to grasp specs and enhance product consistency.
Against this backdrop, NCIA mentioned it’s focusing its interventions on enhancing farmer productiveness, strengthening market connections, supporting processor improvement and high quality assurance, and selling application-led product improvement in collaboration with patrons, regulators and researchers.
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