Don calls for investment in cassava value chain

Prof. Emmanuel Ikani, Executive Director, National Agriculture and Extension Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), has called for investment in cassava value chain. Ikani said this in an interview in Lagos on Friday.

The don emphasised the need to improve the value-chain of cassava as well as all agricultural commodities in order to increase farmers’ earnings.

According to the NAERLS boss, the agricultural space in Nigeria should begin to think value-chain approach.

He said for a long time the country had concentrated only on crop production, without thinking about adding value to its agricultural commodities.

“We should concentrate more on value addition to our agric produce. From the cassava tuber, we should be able to produce flour, ethanol, starch and livestock feed grate peels etc.

“When we add value to the cassava tuber it will increase the returns we get from the commodity. Cassava is the next best thing in our economy.

“The increasing price of ‘garri’ (cassava flakes) in the market is in response to the increase in foreign exchange value. The prices of fertiliser, fuel and land, all components of production are being affected by FOREX.

“Also the increased demand for cassava for industrial and pharmaceutical purposes has made the cost of ‘garri’ increase, so there is need for the farmer to produce more,” he said.

Ikani also said the demand for Nigerian cassava had made it a multi billion dollar produce as it was being sought by China and the United States for industrial purposes.

“Cassava starch is highly sought out in pharmaceutical industries as binders and drug fillers, it is also used as a soluble agent.

“Cassava has also proven to be a very good source of livestock feed. There is what we call the Livestock Grate Feed of Cassava peels that are in high demand now.

“We have about 2.5 billion dollar demand for Cassava Livestock Grate feed peels in China alone. The United States, we learnt, is making moves to invest largely in cassava production in Nigeria,” said Ikani.

According to him, the increasing demand for cassava in the production of ethanol has also increased the value of the crop hence the need to promote improved productivity of the produce.