Nigeria tackles cassava production, processing, marketing issues

There is need to improve the quality of cassava products being produced in Nigeria, as well as the processing equipment for the country to benefit from the high demand at the domestic and international levels.

This was said by the Director-General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council of Nigeria (RMRD), Prof. A. P. Onwualu. He was speaking at a recent workshop on mechanical peeling and value addition to cassava for export. The meeting was organised by the RMRDC coordination office in Oyo state in collaboration with other agencies like the Oyo State Shippers Association, Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), National Productivity Centre (NPC) and Oyo State Cassava Processors Association of Nigeria (OYSCAPAN).

He stated that the indigenous producers of cassava and related products are still unable to meet the domestic and international demand both in quality and quantity as a result of many factors. Prominent among them were : low patronage of upgraded versions of machinery, and low production of cassava chips, flour, pellets and starch at the cottage, small and medium enterprises level.

Said Onwulalu, "Production of these cassava products is mainly at household level, employing little or no mechanisation, resulting in an inability to meet the quality and quantity demand of the industry." He stressed that cassava is a crop for wealth creation, renewable energy, employment generation and food security. It had changed from what was hitherto known as just a household crop to be the "white gold," and was raising the economic fortune of millions of Nigerians-farmers, processors, transporters, traders, equipment, fabricators, industrialists, women and youth groups.

Onwulalu said at the production mark of 45 millions tonnes per annum, Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, but the country consumes virtually all the cassava produced with little or no value addition. He contrasted that with Brazil, Thailand and Europe, where cassava had assumed importance in terms of energy supply, employment generation and foreign exchange earning. Thailand, for instance, has been a key player in the export market of cassava starch, although it is yet to produce as much cassava as Nigeria.

Onwualu also spoke on a number of problems associated with the processing of cassava which he observed needs to be tackled for its international acceptability. The perishability of the cassava tuber and the toxicity due to the presence of cyanogenic glycosides makes quick post-harvest processing of the crop imperative. Cassava processing by traditional methods is labour intensive and time consuming, therefore modern production methods needed to be adopted.

For the country to be able to compete in the global market, Onwualu said labour saving production and process technology and varieties suitable for mechanical harvesting and peeling must be developed. Also, there is the need for a well integrated production and marketing strategy to ensure a steady supply, all supported by research and development to develop cassava products for industrial use.

Mrs. Omowunmi Osibo, the Deputy-General Manager of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, said China alone accounts for 73 per cent of imported cassava worldwide, with its 2005 cassava import of 3.3 million metric tonnes totalling US$420 billion. She explained that the tariff regime put in place by the Chinese for cassava products imported from Nigeria is favourable and a stimulant for the exportation of cassava products to China. She said the Chinese and USA markets between them command about 80 per cent of the market share for imported cassava products worldwide. "Asia and Europea are also developing markets for cassava products due to their increasing use in industry and as animal feeds," Osibo added.

Meanwhile, agricultural expert Prof. Olumide Tewe has emphasised the need for the country to develop its local cassava market. He said that the Nigerian cost of production of cassava and its by-products made them uncompetitive on the international market and suggested the development of various locally suitable products. "Cassava is not competitive in terms of price of production. Nigeria is producing at double the price countries like Thailand and China are producing, for several reasons. For example, those countries subsidise the costs of energy and raw materials. Unless Nigerian farmers also have such subsidises, we cannot be globally competitive," he said. "You can't even feed livestock on the cassava profitably at the price Nigeria sells its cassava because at the end of the day, the cost of it is more than that of the maize that the cassava is meant to replace."

Tewe believes that what could work in the international market now was to process the cassava into various uniquely Nigerian food products, targeting Africans in the diaspora for example. For now, he suggested that what is profitable is the marketing of the waste from cassava as livestock feed. However, he urged the government to prevent a cassava glut in the country by putting up processing facilities for farmers. Without this, he said, farmers may draw back from planting cassava, thus creating scarcity.

The Tribune