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Tag: CASSAVA

  • Group distributes Vitamin A enriched cassava

    To combat vitamin deficiencies among the less- privileged  and boost their consumption of Vitamin A , major nutrient for clear sight, a non-fo-profit organisation, Harvest Plus, has embarked on the distribution of vitamins A enriched cassava stems to farmer in rural communities.

    According to the Database Administrator of Harvest Plus, John Alamu, the project was conceived and funded by donor agencies to address the global challenge of malnutrition, especially in developing countries where it has been discovered that one out of every three person suffers from nutrient deficiency.

    He said the project, which started with four pilot states, namely, Oyo, Imo, Benue and Akwa Ibom, was expected to be extended to other states in phases yearly, adding that by the end of the year, over 3,350 vitamin A cassava stems would have been distributed in about eight states in the federation.

    He said Harvest Plus is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Federal Ministry of Health in the project, and so far the enlightenment campaign is going on alongside the distribution of the cassava.

    He explained that vitamin deficiency is the major cause of some illness, adding that vitamin A helps to improve eye sight and boost immune systems in the human body.

    He stressed that much of the foods people consume are deficient of these essential vitamins, hence the deliberate effort to develop the vitamin A enriched cassava.

    He said the new cassava which debuted in 2011 could be use to prepare various types of foods such as moi moi, garri, fufu, among other forms of food consumed by Nigerians.

    He said vitamins A cassava has a natural vitamin A in it, and therefore different from the development of the controversial genetically modified crops, which he admitted when consumed in large quantities could pose serious health risks.

    He however admitted that research was still ongoing to produce the vitamin A cassava in high commercial quantity and nutritional value.

    Alamu said the NGO has partnered with Nollywood actors and have produced videos that would be used to disseminate and propagate the vitamin A cassava consumption in rural areas that are the most vulnerable in vitamin deficiency. He said the videos would be released soon.

    On his choice of Nollywood as the channel for information dissemination, he explained that research has shown that people in rural communities tend to listen more to their favourite actors who validate certain products and lifestyles than using hand bill and poster, which they have discovered to be ineffective in their campaigns.

  • Plateau launches cassava nursery farms

    Plateau launches cassava nursery farms

    Determined to ensure food security for the people, the Plateau State government has established cassava farms for the breeding of improved cassava stems for commercial purposes. They are located in each of the three Senatorial zones to guarantee accessibility to farmers.

    The government said the 100 hectares of cassava seed multiplication and nursery farms are a deliberate effort to boost cassava and make food available to the populace.

    The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Stephen Barko, said this during a meeting with some officials of the ministry, Plateau Agricultural Development Programme (PADP), Fadama III and members of Plateau State chapter of Cassava Growers’ Association.

    He said the multiplication farms are to generate seeds to be distributed to farmers free for massive cultivation of cassava, adding that when operational, the processing industry would be producing 50 tonnes of starch.

    Barko further disclosed that 100 hectares of the multiplication farm would produce cassava cuttings that would be planted in 1,000 hectares.

    Giving the breakdown, Barko pointed out that 51, 30 and 19 hectares would be allotted to the Southern, Central and Northern zones respectively. He stated that the objectives would be achieved through collaboration with relevant agricultural agencies of the state.

    He hinted that about 500 bundles of one-metre cassava cuttings were needed for 100 hectares of the multiplication farm, while 5,000 bundles would be needed for 1,000 hectares.

    Barko, who described the development as a win-win situation for farmers, said the ministry would procure the cuttings from farmers to plant in the multiplication farms and later provide them to the farmers free.

    He indicated that requisite training would be provided by Fadama III while the ministry would help farmers to obtain soft loans from financial institutions for effective development of the programme.

    The chairman of Plateau Cassava Growers’ Association, Bawa Tsenlong, expressed his appreciation over government’s gesture, saying it was the first time the association was included in such programme.

    He pledged that with the new development, members would triple the quantity of cassava needed for the industry and ensure that much was achieved in cassava cultivation.

  • Giving cassava flour its due

    Giving cassava flour its due

    The campaign to make cassava flour part of  bread  formation is facing  challenges. Consumers are still not convinced  of  its nutritional benefit,  so  it has not  been accorded the technological or culinary attention it deserves.  As the importance of nutrition-sensitive agriculture rises, stakeholders are working to ‘mainstream’ nutrition into cassava flour and bread. A workshop in Lagos  organised  by  the  International  Institute of Tropical Agriculture(IITA) attempted  to  address it.  DANIEL ESSIET  reports.

    Cassava is a staple food for over 50 million Nigerians. It offers the cheap source of food calories and the highest yield per unit area. More than 80 per cent of the crop is used for food. Indeed, the potential of the crop is large with its multiple roles as famine reserve, food and cash crop, industrial raw material and livestock feed.

    While   wheat substitution in bread is seen  in theory as a huge potential market with the capacity to pull industrialisation of cassava, reports from the market said   the inclusion of  cassava flour,in bread,   is   less widely accepted. While some activists reject it as poisonous, consumers are  showing strong preference for 100 per cent wheat bread and biscuits.

    Publicly, consumers have expressed doubts on  its nutritional importance especially  in  bread composition. With the backlash, stakeholders believe the way forward is addressing the fears if cassava flour is going to have a competitive  edge  in the market.

    This requires looking   at   how science and technology can be mobilised to make cassava flour highly nutritious to make it a quality component with wheat in bread formulation.

    A one-day  workshop on : Enhancing  the  competitiveness of  high  quality  cassava flour  value  chain in West Africa, organised  by  International  Institution of Tropical Agriculture(IITA)  in Lagos  attempted  to  address  this.

    Addressing the forum, the  Director-General ,IITA,Dr  Nteranya Sanginga, said  cassava  is  critical to solving some of the most pressing health and nutrition problems, reduce hunger and expand economic opportunities for people while also needing to produce significantly more food.

    Represented  by  the  Project Leader, Sustainable  Weed  Management Technique for Cassava System in Nigeria, IITA,Dr  Alfred Dixon, Sanginga  said  cassava  flour  can  function well  in bread   to  address  malnutrition –whether from lack of food or insufficient nutrients.

    He said  the   institute  was  concerned  about   advancing   the well-being and prosperity of farmers  through  transforming agriculture, by  improving  the productivity and performance of  cassava to   promote opportunities for people   to succeed economically.

    Dixon,  said the two IFAD-funded projects were timely in view of Africa’s comparative advantage in cassava production.

    Sanginga described cassava as a poverty fighter, and stressed that improving the utilisation of the crop, and scaling up/out processing technologies would help Africa address the issue of poverty and hunger on the continent.

    “Africa has a comparative advantage in cassava production… so let us use cassava to get what we want,” he said in Lagos at the launch of the projects

    Likewise, Head, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology/Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, Prof  Ibok  Oduro,  said  improving  the nutrition capacities  of  cassava  flour  would  help  in the search for solutions to  pressing food issues.

    Besides, she  sees tremendous opportunities  with  efforts  to  substitute cassava flour  in bread.

    More widespread uses of  cassava  flour  will   address  malnutrition.

    While it is an opportunity for West Africa  to make  a headway,  develop economically, feed the people and improve  food security, she believes, the effort requires more investment.

    Speaking on  formulation of food guidelines, Prof Oduro  said  the nutrition field here has begun to flourish, resulting in new products such as high-quality cassava  flour.

    The Executive Director, National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCIR), Umudike, Abia State, Dr  Julius Okonkwo,  said    his  institute  has  worked  with IITA and farmers  to   address the challenges in the cassava value chain. These include increasing and stabilising production so that farmers can supply cassava to the processing industry. This requires the development and distribution of high-yielding varieties and better growing methods.

    Project Leader,Improving  Quality, Nutrition and Health Impacts of Inclusion of Cassava Flour  in Bread Formulation in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana), Dr  Bussie Maziya-Dixon,  said  with the increasing interest in cassava, there  is  need  to   address the  nutritional problems of the crop  with  interventions to ensure balanced diets or attainment of acceptable nutritional status.

    Similarly, the Coordinator, Cassava Value Chain, Regional Hub for East Africa, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania, Dr. Adebayo Abasss said cassava is an important crop.

    He  said  the production of HQCF requires a conscious adherence to good manufacturing practice (GMP) in order to obtain a product of desirable quality. Non-compliance to GMP, according  to him, will not produce the high-grade cassava flour needed by manufacturers.

    Therefore,  manufacturers  of  cassava  flour should  meet the required quality specifications.

    Consequently,  he  said enhancing  the  competitiveness of  high  quality  cassava flour  value  chain in West Africa workshop  was  designed   to  reduce  poverty and  improve  food  security.

    Most organisations agree cassava  is vital for ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

    Now, in a new and concerted push, they  are together taking steps to marshal the power of science, boost cassava flour production and put more money into farmers’ pockets.

    One of these organisations is International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

    Senior Programme Officer, Grants Department, IFAD, Dr  Malu Ndavi    said cassava is an important food crop.

    Through the support  of his organisation, Ndavi said  wide adoption of high-yielding varieties and better pest management have resulted in a sharp rise in production.

    He  said  IFAD has invested as much as  $110 million in the cassava value chains in the four major producer countries in Western and Central Africa: Benin, Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.

    For him, Africa has the potential to feed itself, and  for this reason, IFAD has put small farmers at the centre of all it efforts to enable them increase their income, improve their livelihood and lift themselves out of poverty.

    What  is  required  to unlock cassava’s  potential, according to him, particularly for small farms  are  improved seed varieties, soil fertility enhancement practices and efficient use of water—both for rain-fed and irrigated methods of farming.

    The Coordinator,Cassava Value Chain, ), Regional Hub for East Africa, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania, Dr. Adebayo Abass, said  the institute launched the project to  enhance the competitiveness of high quality cassava flour (HQCF)  in West and Central Africa.This is    increase cassava yield from the current per hectare production levels estimated at 12.5 tons/hectares in Nigeria to 20 tons/hectares.

    He  said  the  project in partnership with McGill University, Canada and other collaborating institutions also launched another project:“Improving Quality, Nutrition and Health Impacts of Inclusion of Cassava Flour in Bread Formulation In Nigeria and Ghana.

    The HQCF would not only contribute to employment creation and reduce wheat import expenditure by government, it will also contribute to poverty reduction and food security in West and Central Africa.

    According to him, the project will support the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies for cassava production and processing.

    The project will be a sub-component within the CRP 1.2 Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics with links to CRP 3.4 Roots, Tubers and bananas. It will contribute to all four systemic level outcomes of the SRF, reducing rural poverty. The project will increase food security, improve nutrition and health  and create sustainable management of natural resources.  It will give priority to gender empowerment to ensure an increased control by women and other marginalised groups (the youths and the physically challenged) over integrated systems assets.

    The project also seeks to survey small, medium scale (SME) and large scale (LS) cassava flour producers to assess their technological and operational constraints and opportunities; study physicochemical profiles of flour and starches from various cassava varieties and screen various cassava varieties for optimal production of high quality and nutritious bread.

    “In order to successfully implement the substitution policy, there is the need to understand the technical and scientific basis for economically producing competitive high quality cassava flour and the constraints restraining small processors and bakers from advancing the production.

    “Knowledge of flour characteristics and their relationships to product quality are important tools in selecting appropriate variety for further processing of cassava,” Abass said.

  • Ogun gives farmers free cassava stems

    OGUN State Government  has given free cassava stems to farmers for planting during this rainy season.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun, made this known at the first harvest of cassava at Ibiade, in Ogun Waterside Local Government area.

    Represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistic, Rev. Gbile Olugbebi, the commissioner said it was government’s duty to encourage farmers by providing them with farm input which necessitated the giving of 10 bundles of cassava stem each for planting.

    She explained that the cassava varieties were the improved ones, noting that they grow faster and end up good after processing, especially for food produce, such as garri and lafun.

    “This cassava variety is called TMS/92/0326 and TME419, they are the improved variety. They were selected because of their specialties and they fit in well for our conventional products like garri, lafun and others,”she said.

  • Tackling cassava farming challenges

    Tackling cassava farming challenges

    In the last two years, cassava has been the most talked about crop. Despite this, farmers are facing challenges  of poor returns on their investment at the end of every farming season, reports DANIEL ESSIET.

    Madam  Dorcas  Oduah (not  real name) should be  a happy  woman. A broad smile spreads across her face when she looks over her two plots of farmland in her local community in Enugu State. She has a passion for planting cassava but she   walks five kilometers to get to her farm everyday.

    Using the traditional hoe and cutlass as tools, she carefully tends her crops,  weeding and straightening the  tubers, while praying for rainfall which will be two weeks late. If rain fails to fall, she may not be able to harvest her cassava tubers which does not only support her family as food, but also serves as her source of income with which she trains her three kids in school. She will also use revenue earned from the sale of cassava to pick medical  bills should any member of the family ‘break down’.

    Over the last few years, cassava has become the crop with the potential to wipe out poverty. For one, it is grown in areas where many poor people live. And for another, it is grown by small farmers, who constitute majority of the population.      Globally, cassava production has expanded immensely to meet the rapidly rising demand from the livestock feed, starch, and bio fuel markets.

    In fact, market demand for cassava has become so strong that farmers who traditionally engaged only in subsistence farming, now also grow cassava as a cash crop. This has made cassava one of the most dynamic agricultural sectors, helping to drive industrial development while delivering higher incomes to smallholder farmers.  Interestingly, the sector,   has   not  recorded very  significant growth.  This is attributed to the snail speed of mechanisation which has not improved the  capacity of small and medium  enterprises, constituting the large number  of  investors.

    Most  of the  farmers carry out 70 per cent of the work manually; planting, weeding, harvesting, transporting cassava, peeling, soaking, bagging and selling while  there are  no specialised  machines designed  to undertake  land preparation, harvesting, transporting and grating on  a  cassava  farm. The only mechanisation involved along the chain might be the use of a mobile grater.  This has resulted  in   poor  returns  at the end of the farming  season.    Farmers are often at the mercy of volatile market forces and the elements.

    Oduah  and several farmers in her village could make more money from their efforts but in their community,  farmers sell cassava individually to traders, and are therefore unable to negotiate a better price for selling in bulk.

    Though  cassava has multiple uses and markets ranging from on-farm consumption as food or livestock feed to local wet or dry starch processing enterprises, the level  of  industrialisation has not led  to large scale   processing of cassava into higher value food and industrial products – from noodles, glucose, and maltose to textiles, pharmaceuticals, cardboard and glue.

    A  Senior  lecturer, School of  Science,  National Open University, Dr Grace Jokthan  said  cassava  has  not  taken a pivotal  position  within  the  sector  because  it is produced  primarily for food in the form of gari, lafun and fufu with little or no use in the agribusiness sector as an industrial raw material.

    Added to this, is the absence of special machines to process cassava to several value-added products to  prevent spoilage.  She explained that cassava  tubers consist of 60 to 70 per cent water and have a short shelf life. Once harvested, the tubers have to be processed or consumed immediately otherwise they will begin to deteriorate. For Oduah and  other  farmers, this is a major contraint.  She said there is need for processing mills to prepare the crop for storage purposes, thereby guaranteeing higher prices for farmers in the future.  As much as cassava require processing machines, the cost of acquiring the machines is prohibitive for poor farmers in the rural areas.

    Weekly, farmers transport fresh tubers from farm to processing sites.  They    spend a lot of money because the tubers have to move in time.  Any delay would   result in spoilage, loss of quality and overall production cost. As such transportation is a major cost component in cassava processing.  In some   villages, farmers    cultivate cassava to produce  fufu for weekly market days.

    As cheap as the process of getting  it done  may  appear, a lot of man hour is spent peeling roots, washing, soaking, wet sieving and copiously adding water before pressing. Averagely, fufu processing requires no less than 14  steps. On sale day, time would be spent grating and bagging. As a newcomer to the large commercial food processing sector, Mrs  Jokthan said there are concerns about cassava’s quality, not only as a household food item, but also as a raw material or additive in an industrial-based food handling enterprise.

    For  the expert and  other  stakeholders, the principal users of cassava are village-level garri processors that require limited quantities of fresh roots per day.  Large processing plants who need larger quantities are faced with high transaction costs, of collecting small amounts of cassava over a large area with bad roads.  The processing plants  operate below capacity while a significant percentage of farmers are left with unsold harvest.

    Above  all, majority of the   farmers have not benefited from initiatives and programmes aimed at improving farming techniques, better farm equipment, seeds, fertiliser, post-harvest technology, agricultural financing and so on.

    Some  of the farmers  have been affected by adverse weather conditions – and worries that farmers won’t be able to purchase inputs for the next season. As a result, the villagers feel they still need help. They also would like continued support and training, because they view this as a good source of income as well. The small-scale cassava wet starch processors are  not   pleased with some new varieties because though they gave better root yields and they  don’t  have  higher starch concentration.

    In  this  regard,  Mrs  Jokthan  said  research  institutes  need to recognise the potential for farmers to boost their income by growing the improved varieties.

    The other issue is the  shortages of yielding varieties, cassava roots which  some  farmers  find  it  difficult  to source.

    In most  cases, farmers  source them  from far  communities, thereby  increasing transport costs, and cutting down profits.

    For  her also, how much farmers benefit from cassava trade depends a lot on how well they are linked to markets.

    That is why, she   appreciates  several small-scale starch plants set everywhere,  decentralising processing opportunities further. Some  of the farmers  have   has been affected by adverse weather conditions – and worries that farmers won’t be able to purchase inputs for the next season.  They also would like continued support and training, because they view this as a good source of income as well. Mrs   Jokthan  said there is a   need  to empower  farmers to access to new cassava cultivars, product quality improvement and market expansion for sustainable enterprise.

    While the government is  supporting  cassava farmers to  improve their  farming techniques, most don’t have access to  good  roads to allow them reclaim precious farmlands.

    Consultant to the World Bank, Prof Abel Ogunwale  said  the government needs to build rural roads and irrigation systems to allow  farmers to open  hectares of new farmland. According to him, the impact would result to enormous returns for farmers.

    This is because  there are  times,the harvest is so big that the immediate market cannot absorb it all so they have to sell in other markets.The  process is  smooth where there are good connecting  roads.

    According  to him,  many  of the  farmers   use rudimentary agricultural techniques, use less  quality cassava and fertilizers. As a result, productivity has been extremely low and soil fertility has gradually declined. This further worsens the farmers’ situation and keeps them in a cycle of extreme poverty

    The   top priority,he  noted  is for  the government to develop carefully tailored rural financial services, adding that credit in rural areas is hard to come by and businesses cannot grow without finance.He maintained  that  funding is  a challenge  for established and new rural enterprises supporting  cassava  production.

    According to him, financing cassava businesses is a particularly important way of generating economic growth.

    Another side of the story is that in many cases, banks drive such a hard bargain that small producers barely make any profit.

    As any farming activity, cassava agriculture requires the management of risks such as soil degradation and price volatility. Farmers employ several adaptive and risk reducing strategies, for instance by diversifying cropping patterns to cope with risks of harvest failures, price slums or loss of market access, and by establishing cooperatives or using agricultural commodity exchanges.

    Cassava demand will be increasing over the next decades.

    For  watchers, the success of the cassava transformation depends  on the government  providing  adequate  inputs while strategies that ensure fair distribution of the resources be are implemented.

    Other challenges  that have to be addressed include lack of  enforcement of the 10 per cent  inclusion of cassava flour in bread flour that had in the past  left hundreds of small processors with unsold inventories and farmers with nowhere to sell their cassava harvest.

     

     

  • Cassava as driver of economic growth

    Cassava as driver of economic growth

    Given the increase in its production to meet rising demand from operators in the livestock feed, starch and bio fuel markets, cassava is gradually becoming a major cash crop and driver of industrial development. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

    A Few decades ago, cassava was not a major cash crop. But today, the story has changed. The crop is being transformed from a humble root crop into a money spinner of sort for farmers and a prized industrial input. Much of the turnaround in the fortunes of the crop is driven by increasing production and rising demand from the livestock feed, starch, and bio-fuel markets.

      The Nation learnt that because of the intervention on cassava under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the government, demand for cassava has grown so strong that those who traditionally engaged only in subsistence farming  grow cassava as a cash crop. This made cassava a dynamic cash crop, helping to drive industrial development while delivering higher incomes to small holder farmers.

    Addressing a Cassava Adding Value for Africa Stakeholders forum in Lagos, the Coordinator, Cassava Value Chain, ), Regional Hub for East Africa, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania, Dr. Adebayo Abass, said cassava has multiple uses and markets, ranging from on-farm consumption as food or livestock feed to local wet or dry starch processing enterprises and large-scale commercial operations. Besides, wet starch extraction and transformation has been the business of cassava trading clusters.

    Abass said there was a tremendous opportunity for the industry to create 30 million jobs across Africa. These opportunities, he said, arise from demand for cassava starch and chips, which are likely to increase strongly in local and international markets, signaling a bright future for the domestic cassava industry. He said cassava has a huge potential and could turn from ‘a poor people’s food into a 21st century crop’ if grown according to a new environment-friendly farming model.

    According to him, cassava yields have increased due to the planting of new high-yielding varieties and the adoption of more sustainable production practices across the continent and many factories have invested in the upgrade of their production technology. With tremendous support coming from the government, he predicts that demand for cassava would continue to increase, adding that the domestic market would also see high demand for cassava by-products as raw material for enterprises. He noted that cassava farming is a great business and that there is a huge market for the commodity, which could be grown in all parts of the country.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said the cassava transformation project seeks to create a new generation of cassava farmers oriented towards commercial production and farming as a business. H said the plan was to link them up to reliable demand either from processors or a guaranteed minimum price scheme of the government.

    Represented by the Technical Adviser (Cassava Value Chain), Mrs. Toyin Adetunji, the Minister said the overall strategy of the cassava transformation is to turn the cassava sector in Nigeria into a major player in local and international starch, sweeteners, ethanol, High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF), and dried chips industries by adopting improved production and processing technologies, and organising producers and processors into efficient value-added chains. To  boost  domestic  production of  cassava bread, the minister  said  the  Federal Government has given the Bank of Industry (BoI) the mandate  to manage the N4.3 billion Cassava Bread Development Fund to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), master bakers and large industrial cassava flour mills.

    He further said the fund would also be used to support research and development efforts on cassava bread, training of master bakers, and support for master bakers for the acquisition of new equipment for production.

    The Minister earlier said in another forum that the Federal Government was to provide machines for the cultivation of 29,500 cassava farms. This would be funded from the Cassava Bread Development Fund managed by BoA.

    Adesina said cultivating the farms would cost N915 million. He said the government would supply 1,770,000 bundles of planting materials to the owners of the farms at the cost of N708 million. In addition, the government would supply 118,000 bags of cassava-specific fertiliser at N708million and 88,500 litres of herbicides at N88.5 million to the farmers.

    According to him, the farmers are to produce 59,000 metric tonnes of cassava roots in line with the transformation plan. Adesina said the ministry was facilitating the procurement of 22 medium-scale high quality plants of 60 metric tonnes capacity to meet the annual demand for high quality flour. He said the ministry was carrying out the enumeration of all farmers, including the cassava farmers with their bio-data for input into a database. The objective, he explained, is to have a baseline upon which levels of intervention could be measured in terms of outreach and impact. In 2012, he said 21,059 farmers benefitted from free 315,898 bundles of cassava stems, while in 2013, 1,546,720 bundles of improved stems were distributed to 64,000 cassava farmers for 25,779 hectares expected to yield 644,475 metric tonnes of roots.

    He reiterated government’s commitment to building robust fresh roots supply chains for cassava processing plants; supporting large/medium HQCF mills, SMEs producing HQCF and master bakers who use 20 per cent of HQCF in bread production. According to him, HQCF can be used as an alternative for starch and wheat flour in a variety of industries. These include raw materials for the production of glucose syrups, industrial alcohol, bakery products, and in the production of adhesives, as an extender for plywood glues and as a source of starch in textile sizing. He said efforts have been made to develope a simple and appropriate process for producing HQCF that is suitable for baking. This was tested in the baking and confectionary industries; it was found successful and the cost implications were favorable.

    For the Minister, the introduction of cassava starch in the food and non-food industries has transformed the cassava utilisation industry. This is because it is used as an ingredient in manufactured foods (infant foods, confectionary, glucose, alcohol) and in non- food industries (glues, oil well drilling, adhesives, paper sizing and bonding, textile sizing and strengthening).

    He  said  Nigeria  is  one of the leading  production  of  cassava in the  world  and that  production has witnessed a tremendous increase  following  the introduction of high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties.

    The Country Manager, Cassava Adding Value for Africa, and President, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), Prof. Lateef Sanni, called on the government to pass the bill regulating the institute to guarantee food safety. Cassava, he  noted, is used as food, dried chips for feed, alcohol, and starch, and for industrial uses and is the staple food crop of the nation’s population. Under CAVA, he said there is a roadmap to increase the national average yield per hectare, taking cognizance of the bright financial prospect being offered by the cassava sector.

    The Project Director, CAVA 11, Dr Kola Adebayo, said Africa has shown remarkable success in cassava processing. This followed the introduction of machines for most unit operations to ease the labour-intensiveness of the trade. He said there are processors involved in producing traditional foods or intermediate products, such as chips, high quality cassava flour and starch.

    According to him, there are some exclusive cassava-based products being traded in countries served by CAVA project. Adebayo said the project  has  worked  to  encourage  local fabricators  in processing technology, adding  that  farmers  can  now  have  access to locally fabricated mechanized and high-capacity equipment to get involved in the  business. The project gives farmers the opportunity needed to develop and test an integrated approach that keeps the benefits of cassava production and processing in rural communities. For him, cassava trade is expanding quickly, particularly in response to burgeoning exports of dried cassava chips and starch to China.

    Experts believe the cassava boom largely depended on local processing of cassava into wet and dry starch, which is then transformed into higher value food and industrial products – from noodles, glucose, and maltose to textiles, pharmaceuticals, cardboard and glue. Also, crop varieties were tested along with improved production, soil erosion control practices – specifically better use of fertiliser.

    The new cassava varieties from IITA’s collaborative breeding efforts have been grown on   cassava areas where they have doubled average crop yields. Shortages of cassava roots is however still a challenge though the higher yielding varieties and cassava roots are sourced from IITA and other research institutes.

    Experts, however, said how much farmers benefit from increased cassava trade depends a lot on two things: how well they are linked to markets and how well they manage their crop.

  • ‘Boom for cassava producers’

    ‘Boom for cassava producers’

    A multi-million global market   has  opened for  Nigerians   interested  in   producing cassava   for  exports. This  follows   demand-led  rise  in prices of cassava chips and pellets.

    Director, Africa Region, Cassava Adding Value for Africa (CAVA),Dr Kola Adebayo, said  global trade in cassava products is likely to rise based  on  the competitiveness of cassava based products, combined with international demand for cassava as a feedstock for ethanol production.

    He said soaring prices of traded food staples, especially cereals have led farmers to turn to indigenous crops as an alternative source to more expensive cereals. He said among these crops, cassava has been at the forefront.  To make  profits, cassava roots could  be   left in the ground  by farmers for well over a year and harvested when food shortages arise or when prices of preferred cereals become prohibitive.

    With  growing support, Adebayo  expects  cassava production to record strong growth  with plans  to increase cassava yields over the next five years and stabilise the country’s cassava producing zones.

    In addition, he  said  the demand for cassava by bio-energy sectors has also emerged as a significant driver in the expansion of cassava utilisation, adding  that  this  is   accelerating the general price of the  commodity.

    He   said the government’s support for the commercialisation of cassava as a food crop also underpins the current   positive prospects.

  • How cassava industry can create three million jobs

    How cassava industry can create three million jobs

    The cassava industry can create three million jobs in Nigeria, the Coordinator, Cassava Value Chain, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Regional Hub for East Africa, Tanzania, Dr Adebayo Abass has said.

    Speaking with The Nation at the Cassava Adding Value for Africa (CAVA) Stakeholders forum in lagos, Abass said  there are  tremendous opportunities  for the industry to create 30 million jobs across Africa.

    These opportunities arise from demand for cassava starch and chips which is likely to increase strongly in local and international markets, auguring a bright future for the domestic cassava industry.

    He said cassava has a huge potential and could turn from “a poor people’s food into a 21st century crop” if grown according to a new environment – friendly farming model.

    According to him, cassava yields  have increased  due  to the planting of new high-yielding varieties and the adoption of more sustainable production practices across  the continent  and many factories have invested in the upgrade of their production technology.

    With tremendous support coming from the government, he said demand for cassava  would continue to increase, adding that the domestic market would also see high demand for the products  from cassava as raw material for enterprises.

    He noted that cassava farming is a great business and that there is a huge market for  the commodity and can be grown in all parts of the country.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr AkinwumiAdesina said the  cassava transformation project seeks to create a new generation of cassava farmers, oriented towards commercial production and farming as a business, and to link them up to reliable demand, either from processors or a guaranteed minimum price scheme of the government.

    Represented by the Technical Adviser (Cassava Value Chain), Mrs Toyin Adetunji said the  over reaching strategy of the cassava transformation is to turn the cassava sector in Nigeria into a major player in local and international starch, sweeteners, ethanol, HQCF, and dried chips industries by adopting improved production and processing technologies, and organizing producers and processors into efficient value-added chains.

    To boost domestic production of cassava bread, the minister said the  Federal Government, has given the Bank of Industry (BoI) the mandate to manage the N4.3 billion cassava bread fund to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), master bakers and large industrial cassava flour mills.

    He further said that the Cassava Bread Development Fund would also be used to support research and development efforts on cassava bread, training of master bakers, support for master bakers for the acquisition of new equipment for production.

    The Country Manager, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa, and President, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), Prof. Lateef Sanni, called on the government to pass the bill regulating the institute to guarantee food  safety.

    Cassava, he noted is used as food, dried chips for feed, alcohol, and starch, and for industrial uses and is the staple food crop of the nation’s population.

    Under CAVA, he said there is a roadmap,to increase the national average yield per hectare, taking cognisance of the bright financial prospect being offered by the cassava sector to the economy.

  • 15,000 farmers get N375m BoA loan

    15,000 farmers get N375m BoA loan

    No  fewer than 15,000 cassava  farmers have benefited from t  the N375 million loan by the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) to boost cassava production in Adamawa State.

    Chairman, Borno Cassava Farmers Cooperative Union (BCFCU), Alhaji Lawal Umara,  made this known in Maiduguri.

    He said the farmers who received N250,000 each were drawn from the 27 local government areas.

    He said the initiative was part of the government’s effort to enhance cassava production for local consumption and export.

    He said the initiative would go  help ensure food security in the state and the country.

    Umara said cassava farmers in the state also received about 10,000 bundles of cassava seedlings under the Federal Government’s Agricultural Enhancement Programme to enable them improve on their yields.

    He said the association also secured 100 hectares of farm in each of the 27 local government areas for cassava farmers.

    “Some of our members were also empowered to produce different varieties of cassava.

    “Plans are also underway to train 2,700 women farmers who lost their farmlands due to the activities of insurgents in some local government areas.

    “The women would be trained on how to make biscuits, bread, cakes, doughnuts, pies, rolls and chin-chin, among items,’’ he said.

  • Cassava farmers, traders get e-market platform

    Cassava farmers, traders get e-market platform

    Major players and investors along the vitamin A cassava value chain have been linked to the HarvestPlus, Nigeria’s e-market portal at a workshop.

    The workshop was designed to create business opportunities towards sustaining the demand and supply of vitamin A fufu, flour, gari and stems.

    HarvestPlus is a leader in the global effort to stem the malnutrition scourge through the multiplication and dissemination of vitamin-enriched cassava stems. The workshop organised by HarvestPlus-Nigeria, identified bulking agents, cassava stem traders, and investors who were then linked with farmers and cassava processors to create market for vitamin A cassava products.

    The identified groups were subsequently registered on the HarvestPlus-Nigeria’s e- market portal. The linkage was regarded as a successful outcome of the training aimed establishing products standards and linking investors to markets.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    One of the participants, Mr. Adeola Odedina of Envoy Consulting, a major cassava commercial investor in Nigeria, praised the workshop, saying it achieved its purpose. He said: “I came to meet other partners to exchange ideas about challenges, opportunities and constraints. This has been met as I have met with and linked with those who want to go into commercial farming and cassava processing”.

    Mrs. Olufunwa Mobolanle, Treasurer, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, Lagos State Chapter, also said, “We want to get it right (cassava farming). We want to grow cassava and set up our own processing mills and even become trainers ourselves. This workshop has been of tremendous help. We want more of such trainings.”

    The workshop identified various stages in the processing of cassava food products- gari, fufu, flour and cassava leaf soups and came up with guidelines for standards in processing. The challenges encountered in processing vitamin A cassava food products were equally addressed.

    Also, a visit to the cassava fields by the participants addressed challenges and solutions in growing vitamin A cassava. One of the participants, Mr. Tunde Adewummi, a farmer, observed that the field visit has given him a better understanding to the non – viability of his cassava farm in the last planting season.

    Practical demonstrations in processing and making fufu, gari, flour, cassava foods, soups and confectionaries were carried out, showcasing best practices and standards.

    The workshop had  about 85  participants in attendance made up of farmers, processors, entrepreneurs, investors, extension agents from farmer organizations, development and commercial partners of

    HarvestPlus, tertiary agriculture institutions, public and private investors and the media.

    The training is expected to be replicated by the participants at their various levels of operation.