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Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday August 9, 2012 10:54:55:

If you want to make money from agric business in Nigeria, then perhaps it time you either go into cassava farming or cassava processing. Yes, with the new bill out now in Nigeria on cassava requirement for bread, the normal prices for our cassava crop could go up and this would be good news for many farmers and processing plants.

Comparing cassava farming and the stock market, cassava farming is more profitable and more so now than before that the law requires for a 10% inclusion in Nigerian bread.

Cassava is a staple food
Cassava is practically a major food source for Nigeria as it form s a major part of what people consume in West Africa. Cassava is used to produce garri which is popular in Nigeria. Cassava is also cooked and pounded as food directly and Igbo call it Utara akpu while Yoruba call it fufu. Some people jokingly said that is what Olympic stars like Chioma Ajunwa ate to win medals. It is very high in carbohydrates, a basic energy food source.

Cassava flour production is good business
Already, I've watched a CNN report of some foreign firms in Nigeria who have already started producing cassava flour and this is meant to replace the wheat flour. These guys were so mechanized that they can peel off the crops, soak it, grind it dry it and then package it in bags with the use of machines. They produces hundreds of bags daily. I guess they already know of the new law to replace wheat floor with cassava flour.

Cassava farming is booming
There is already an increase in demand for cassave crops in Nigeria and this is pushing prices higher. Problem is that most people who have cassava farms in our villages don't really do it commercially. I think it's time to go commercial as this would be more profitable.
So if you have a piece of land that is wasting, then it's time to plant some cassava crops on it and later sell it to processing plants or process and sell it yourself as flour.

Cassava bread
Over the week I witnessed on tv that some people have already started producing cassava bread. Ekiti state govt is already in that business and they have produced their own sliced cassava bread. I wonder how it tastes. I mean, it's already in production and this is bread that was made with little or no imported wheat floor but cassava flour. If cassava flour really hits the market full scale, I'm guessing we would start having cassava cake, cassava biscuits, cassava chin chin, cassava noodles, cassava flakes and so on. I mean, it is unrealistic that we have a variety of crops in Nigeria that we don't know how to package well as food while we import from countries that have one or two crops but diversified packaging system.

By the time locally produced cassava flour replaces imported wheat flour, cassave farmers would be smiling to the banks and same also for others in the cassava packaging business

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Comments:
Re: Cassava Bread: Price of cassava could go up Reply by Samuel on Saturday September 1, 2012 at 12:58:56:

Thank fr ur article it has help alot. Sir where we get buyer to buy cassava my father have big cassava farm thanks

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