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.
With about 45 million
tonnes annual production of cassava, Nigeria is the largest cassava producing
nation in the world. The country is however not benefitting much from this
staple crop, due to subsistence farming and inability to add value to the crop
through processing. Almost all the cassava produced is used for human
consumption and less than 5 per cent is used in industries.
The New Partnership
for African Development (NEPAD) has recognised cassava as a powerful poverty fighter
in Africa and has in this connection recommended a Pan-African Cassava
Initiative based on a broad based strategy which emphasises better markets,
better organisation of producers for collective action, and better
participation by the private sector investment.
A similar presidential
initiative was inaugurated in July, 2002 by the administration of former
President Olusegun Obasanjo to develop a thriving cassava industrial sector
that would not only meet local needs but also generate foreign exchange through
exports. The present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has moved a
step further in this regard with its Transformation Agenda of the agriculture
sector. In a recent move to revive the nation’s cassava boom, President
Jonathan inaugurated cassava bread with 20 per cent High Quality Cassava Flour
(HQSF) as a Nigerian brand, at Aso Rock Villa in July, 2012.
The 1st NEPAD Business
Group Nigeria (NBGN) Cassava Investment Forum intends to help further the
Transformation Agenda of the administration of President Jonathan with respect
to cassava as an economy crop for wealth and job creation.
Cassava remains one of
the viable investment areas that can impact more Nigerians than Petroleum
because of its numerous applications and value chains that can touch every
stratum of society with the attendant economic benefits. However, for cassava
to be a major contributor to economic development in Nigeria, the demand for
cassava must grow more rapidly than the human population.
This can only be made
possible if new uses for cassava are introduced and promoted. The forum will
therefore lay more emphasis on the development and promotion of necessary value
chains in cassava.
Source: http://agronigeria.com.ng/2013/11/05/nepad-forum-to-champion-cassava-development/
No comments:
Post a Comment