Cassava :How Farmers Can Earn N10trn From Cassava Processing.

How Farmers Can Earn N10trn From Cassava Processing.Nigeria is the highest producer of cassava in the world with over 40 mil­lion metric tonnes per annum. About 60 per cent of Nigerian farmers are in­volved in cassava production because it is one of the food security crops. Cassava roots can grow on any soil in Nigeria and it is virtually grown in the 36 states of the federation. It is very resistant to drought and sur­vives in a variety of soils. But today investors are yet to understand the untapped investment opportunities and farmers hardly see cassava crop as avenue to hit hard currency. GROWING and producing cassava for local consumption, processing for industrial use and meeting the stan­dard of exportation is a huge invest­ment that can transform Nigeria’s economy with its potential to earn over N10 trillion annually and turn individuals to millionaires, even mul­ti-billionaires from cassava project. Cassava tubers that may be pro­cessed into a variety of products that are gaining huge demand in the ex­port market including chips, flakes popularly known as garri, cubes, peeler, starch for industrial and pharmaceutical use, flour, which can be eaten as elubo lafun or used in the bakery industry, pellets, glues and adhesives, ethanol and glucose syrup, among others. The Na­tional President of Cassava Growers Association, Pastor Segun Adewun­mi, said that from cassava alone, Nigeria could make twice what the country was making at the peak of crude oil production. He pointed out that Nigeria has 84 million hect­ares of arable land, that if five million of hectares can be developed in five years, it would be enough to provide N10 trillion annually through indus­trial cassava to Nigeria’s economy. He added: “From cassava you get ethanol in two grades, including bio-fuel and the food grade. The food grade we are using in this country is worth N3 trillion and we have not even started with the one of bio-fuel and industrial starch.