Nigerian Breweries Plc, one of
Nigeria’s leading brewing companies, Psaltry International Company Limited, a
Nigerian cassava processing company and, the International Fertilizer
Development Centre, IFDC, through its Towards Sustainable Clusters in
Agribusiness via Learning in Entrepreneurship project (2SCALE), have signed a
partnership agreement to optimize the cassava value chain in Nigeria and
improve agribusiness for Nigerian smallholder farmers.
The partnership agreement is a collaboration
between the parties to improve output of smallholder farmers and consequently
support economic development as well as promote inclusive growth in Africa. The
partnership will enhance farmers productivity and increase supply of
high-quality cassava roots to Psaltry who will, in turn, provide industrial
quality cassava starch forNigerian Breweries to extract maltose syrup for use
in the brewing process.
This partnership agreement succeeds the
Memorandum of Understanding signed by the partners in June 2014 which formed
part of the 2SCALE programme, a Dutch-funded initiative aimed at improving rural
livelihoods and food security in Africa. The partners agreed to support
small-scale farmers in the production of more and better cassava through
technical assistance, training and easier access to finance. This will enable
more smallholder farmers to participate in the market for processed cassava
byproducts required for large industrial purposes.
The partnership also enhances Nigerian Breweries
socio-economic contribution via the agricultural sector and supports the
progress the company is making, towards the achievement of HEINEKEN’s ambition
to source 60% of its raw materials in Africa locally by 2020.
Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries,
Nicolaas Vervelde, said: “As an operating company of HEINEKEN we have a long
standing commitment to support local economic development and promote inclusive
growth by sourcing agricultural raw materials from entrepreneurial local SME’s
and utilizing it in our operations. Through our partnership with Psaltry and
IFDC, we are taking a big step towards further realizing this ambition with
cassava.”
From June to December 2014, 2SCALE and Psaltry
sensitized, mobilized and trained over 500 direct farmers who supplied more
than 20,000 tons of cassava roots to Psaltry’s processing factory. Over 2000
direct farmers are expected to benefit from the project within the next three
years. The project has also worked to ensure that marginalized groups of women
and youths are targeted to ensure equity among project beneficiaries.
Managing Director/CEO Psaltry, Mrs. Oluyemisi Iranloye,
said she is excited about the partnership because it would fast track the
growth of her young company. “It is a huge opportunity for Psaltry to buy more
raw materials from the local farmers which would ultimately transform them into
commercial farmers. The partnership is also a big boost in our effort to
improve the quality of life of our host community,” she said.
Source: http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/02/nigerian-breweries-two-others-partner-cassava-productivity/
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