NEPAD Business Group
Nigeria (NBGN) is set to hold its first Cassava Investment Forum in Abuja on
November 7.
The event which will
take place at the ECOWAS Conference Hall, Asokoro, Abuja aims to attract
substantial private sector investments to develop and promote the necessary
cassava value chains in Nigeria and in the West African region.
The areas of
interventions will equally include developments of the processing capacity that
will produce high quality products; identification of potential markets
particularly the food, livestock feed, starch and ethanol industries. The roles
of different stakeholders (producers, traders, processors, researchers,
financiers, policy makers and consumers) in the cassava industry will also be
identified.
The NBGN Chairman,
Chief Chris Ezeh, while briefing newsmen about the forum, gave further insights
to the need to develop the cassava sector. According to him, cassava is one of
the nation’s agricultural products that could contribute significantly to its
earnings. Major studies conducted on cassava at the end of the 20th century
have predicted the growing importance of this crop in Africa’s economic
development. It has great potential to spur rural development, raise rural
incomes and contribute to food security. Cassava is a food security crop that
is able to transform the country’s economy.
