A stakeholder in the agricultural sector and also a cassava farmer, Segun Adewumi, has said that proper investment in cassava value chain development can reduce the country’s import bill by N5 trillion.
Adewumi stated this at the Agro-Commodity Roundtable Dialogue, Dinner, and Recognition Night held by FACAN in Abuja.
He said massive production and milling of cassava into various derivatives for export will trigger an industrial revolution that will earn Nigeria billions of dollars.
Adewumi, who is also the former National President of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), further proposed the establishment of a Cassava Development Commission that will design a cassava development agenda for the country.
According to him, this will require a strong political will on the part of the national government to accomplish the envisaged cassava transformation agenda.
“Cassava food varieties account for over 50 percent of the food eaten in the South and the Middle Belt states of Nigeria.
We can say that Cassava food types sustain the food needs of over 75 percent of Nigerians.
“Cassava also has some very major industrial derivatives that include ethanol, industrial starch, cassava flour, glucose syrup, sweetener, etc.
“Incidentally, these products are raw materials for numerous industrial items with limitless domestic and export market potential.
This is to say that cassava can trigger a massive Industrial Revolution in Nigeria to the extent that every Nigerian village will have a viable Cassava Industry”, Adewumi said.
Furthermore the cassava farmer noted that the youth, especially the educated ones, must be mobilised to embrace modern farming techniques.
Cassava program, according to him can be the pace setter for other agricultural commodities.
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