FG urged to include women, youth in cassava export drive

Following Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s declaration positioning cassava as Nigeria’s next strategic export commodity, agribusiness leader and food scientist, Dr. Tony Bello, has called for urgent and deliberate inclusion of women and youth in executing the new national cassava export agenda.

In a statement issued on Monday, Dr. Bello, Chairman of Shine Bridge Global and a leading voice in Nigeria’s agrifood sector, hailed the Vice President’s pronouncement as a turning point for Nigeria’s food security, foreign exchange earnings, and industrial growth.

However, he warned that any exclusion of women and youth from structured agribusiness would risk derailing the vision and further entrenching inequality.

“The President and Vice President have spoken with clarity. Now we must act with urgency. This cassava-for-export mandate must not become another elite-driven policy. We need to mobilize Nigeria’s women and youth as active stakeholder, not just passive beneficiaries of this movement”, Dr. Bello said.

Dr. Bello proposed that a private-sector-led body, such as the Nigeria Cassava Industrialisation Council (NCIC), should be established to anchor the delivery of the cassava export vision in close partnership with Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and development partners.

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He also urged the government to explore a Diaspora-Local Talent Exchange, which would leverage the expertise of Nigerian professionals abroad to collaborate with local processors, innovators, and farmer cooperatives to raise production standards and meet global market requirements.

To ensure the Vice-President’s mandate does not follow the path of previous policies that failed to yield results, Dr. Bello outlined a five-point action plan which include establishment of the NCIC with women and youth leaders as core decision-makers, prioritising youth-led clusters and women-owned cooperatives in cassava production and processing.

Others are mandating corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments from multinationals that benefit from starch import waivers, facilitating partnerships with Diaspora professionals in engineering, food science, and investment planning and launching a national cassava-for-export dashboard to transparently track milestones and report progress to Nigerians.

Dr. Bello’s firm, Shine Bridge Global, which champions the #CassavaKingdomMovement, is preparing to roll out youth and women-focused cassava-based products for the export market. The new brands, RootiFufu™, RootiBake™, and RootiBites™ are designed to position Nigeria as a leader in gluten-free, Africa-rooted food innovation.

“These brands will show that Nigeria is ready to lead the world in premium cassava products while creating decent jobs for our young people and women,” he said.

As the country marks this bold push to industrialise cassava production and tap into the lucrative global market for starch, food ingredients, and gluten-free products, Dr. Bello urged all stakeholders to move from policy promises to practical action.

“What happened on July 3 at the Villa must be the beginning of accountable action. With the right structures, we can deliver jobs, justice, and jollof—from cassava,” he concluded.