Cassava Can Trigger Massive Industrial Revolution, Says NCGA President

As Nigeria seeks to diversified its economy from oil to other sources and increase its revenue generation, the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), has said cassava, as the country most important staple food crop after maize, will help trigger major economic activities.

According to the National President, NCGA, Segun Adewumi cassava provides over 20 domestic food types for Nigerians, and serve as raw material for the production of ethanol, industrial starch, cassava flour, glucose syrup and sweetener, adding that these products are also raw materials for numerous other industrial items with limitless domestic and export market potentials.

“Cassava can really trigger massive industrial revolution in Nigeria. With good planning, Nigeria can produce 200 million metric tons of cassava in a year. If this is milled into industrial starch for example at the ratio of four metric tons, we shall have 50 million metric tons of starch.

“Starch is sold in the domestic market at N170,000 per ton. This is to say we can generate N8.5 trillion from industrial cassava in a year. Assuming the cost of starch in the international market is N100,000 per metric ton, we shall earn five trillion naira in foreign exchange.”

Adewunmi explained that overall, this value chain could generate millions of jobs, thus reducing the high level of unemployment in the country.

He added that value addition to meet international requirement is also a key factor to enable the product penetrate the international market, adding that government need to provide the enabling environment in the form of cultivable land in a contiguous farm.