Turning Nigeria’s Cassava abundance into industrial growth

Nigeria, the world’s largest producer of cassava, stands at a defining crossroads in its decades-long quest to transform agricultural abundance into sustainable industrial competitiveness.

With annual output exceeding 60 million tonnes, cassava remains one of the country’s most common crops.

Yet, paradoxically, locally processed derivatives, especially High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) and industrial starch continue to struggle for price competitiveness against imported alternatives that flood the Nigerian market.

A recent analysis by cassava value-chain expert, Dr Kazeem Lamidi, has reignited debate over the economic fundamentals undermining cassava industrialisation.

According to Lamidi, Nigeria’s vast raw material advantage has failed to translate into cost leadership at the factory gate.

“The problem is not at the farm level but in factory-level economics.

“Volatile raw material pricing, weak supply coordination, and crippling operational and energy costs continue to undermine competitiveness,” Lamidi said.

These pressures, compounded by import tariff waivers on competing starches and flours, have created a market environment in which imported wheat flour and corn starch often land in Nigeria at prices equal to, or even lower than domestically processed cassava derivatives.

Industry analysts argue that this imbalance has steadily eroded the economic case for large-scale cassava substitution, even in sectors where technical adoption of cassava inputs has already been proven viable.

Reacting to the findings, Dr Tony Bello, Chairman of Shine Bridge Global (SBG), said the sector’s challenges were fundamentally systemic.

“Cassava abundance alone will not deliver industrial competitiveness.

“Import waivers on starch and related derivatives distort the market, discourage local investment, and ultimately penalise both farmers and processors, “Bello said.

Cassava industrialisation has, however, returned to the national policy spotlight following Nigeria’s Presidential World Cassava Day Celebration, where senior government officials reaffirmed the crop’s strategic role in food security, industrial development, and foreign exchange conservation.

This renewed momentum has extended to the National Assembly, with the Nigerian Senate recently conducting public hearings on proposals to mandate 10 to 20 per cent HQCF inclusion in bread, pastries, and confectionery products.

Proponents argue that mandatory inclusion could unlock domestic demand, reduce reliance on wheat imports, and create predictable off-take markets for cassava processors.

However, industry stakeholders caution that legislation alone will be insufficient without complementary reforms.

“Enforcement of local content policies, reduction in energy costs, improved access to long-term affordable finance, and protection of farmers and local investors against unfair imports must accompany any blending mandate,” one industry insider told NAN.

Expressing these concerns, Mr Kola Adeniji, a cassava farmer and Chief Executive Officer of Niji Group, said Nigeria’s cassava processing industry is buckling under mounting cost pressures that make global price competition nearly impossible.

“When you factor in diesel, power, logistics, and equipment costs, selling cassava products at around $600 per tonne is simply not feasible for processors operating in Nigeria today.

“Under current realities, processors must price for sustainability. At Niji Foods, we now sell HQCF at about N1.3 million per tonne just to remain viable. Anything below that threshold threatens operational survival, ”Adeniji said.

He warned that unless Nigeria deliberately addresses production economics, energy pricing, mechanisation, and efficiency, local processors will continue to lose ground to cheaper imports.

At the 2025 African Cassava Conference in Abuja, similar sentiments dominated discussions, with participants calling for a shift from pilot projects to full-scale industrial execution and tighter coordination among policymakers, financiers, and the private sector.

Mr Kabir Shagaya, Director of Strategy at Cavista Holdings, owners of Agbeyewa Farms in Ekiti State; Africa’s largest cassava farm, argued that true industrialisation must begin with securing inputs.

“Half of Nigeria’s cassava processing plants have gone moribund in the last decade primarily due to unreliable access to raw materials,” Shagaya said.

“There can be no industrialisation without farmers. Building cassava farms around processing plants, supported by government policy, will ensure steady inputs and attract more industrial investors”.

Albeit Nigeria’s massive production volumes, Shagaya noted that output remains fragmented across small, scattered farms, making aggregation difficult for a crop that must be processed within 24 to 48 hours of harvest.

He called for a national cassava production database, structured aggregation systems, and centralised processing hubs to enable industrial-scale efficiency.

In the same vein, Mr Shashikant Auti, a cassava industry consultant, urged policymakers to reposition cassava as a strategic industrial raw material rather than merely a subsistence crop.

“Cassava’s perishability weakens farmers’ bargaining power.

“Guaranteed government support, minimum pricing, and industrial demand stimulation are essential,” Auti said.

He further advocated for “tax incentives and grants for decentralised primary processing centres within farming clusters, modest tariffs on imported industrial starches, and mandatory HQCF blending to stabilise long-term demand”.

Auti also called for stronger involvement of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in “precision agriculture, soil health management, disease-resistant varieties, and fertiliser efficiency”.

He emphasised the need for complementary support through tractor-hiring schemes, mobile processing units, and cassava-specific financing via state agricultural banks.

Emerging industry initiatives suggest that the future of cassava industrialisation may lie beyond traditional HQCF and native starch commodities.

Through its RootiForce Innovation Platform, Shine Bridge Global is advancing cassava-based functional food ingredients and ready-to-eat consumer packaged foods aimed at both domestic and export markets.

“Moving from volume to value is no longer optional, functional ingredients, formulation science, and branded consumer products offer stronger margins, greater resilience, and superior job-creation potential”.

Stakeholders are advocating blended financing models involving development finance institutions, donor agencies, and private investors, structured at single-digit interest rates aligned with the long gestation cycles of industrial processing.

As Nigeria steps into 2026, industry leaders see a rare and defining moment unfolding; where policy focus, legislative action, private-sector coordination, innovation, and farmer security converge.

This alignment offers a unique opportunity to transform the country’s cassava abundance into sustained industrial competitiveness.

Whether this potential is realised, however, will depend on consistent commitment, strategic investments, and the ability of stakeholders across government, industry, and farming communities to turn promise into measurable outcomes.