In spite of the Local Purchasing Order (LPO) the Federal Government has given to cassava farmers to supply the national strategic grains reserves, banks are still unwilling to give loans to farmers.

The stance of the banks is a business decision, as the reason given is that the demand for cassava products is still too small.

Segun Adewumi, president, Nigerian Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), says the 450 tons (9,000 bags of 50kg) LPO raised for farmers to supply garri to the national strategic grains reserves fall short of the expected 200,000 tons farmers were supposed to have been given.

Most of the contracts to supply the grains reserves were given to contractors who were not farmers and have no obligation to buy from Nigerian farmers. They could decide to buy from Benin Republic, Ghana or any other neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, banks have refused to bulge on their decision not to give loans to cassava farmers.

Adewumi says it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that real farmers in the country have a buoyant market in order to ensure they continue producing and guarantee food security. Drawing an example from Asian countries, he says, “Our honourable minister, Akinwunmi Adesina told us that the rice imported into this country from Asia have been in store for 15 years before being released. The governments of those countries keep their farmers engaged to guarantee food security, our government should also adopt the same policies.”

The Federal Government has however been emphasising a private sector-led market for agricultural produce. But Adewumi says the reason companies that need cassava as raw materials are unable to buy from Nigerian farmers is that the cost of production in Nigeria is too high.

“Those companies would not be able to compete globally with their end products, because the prices of the cassava from local farmers are much higher. Our farmers need access to soft medium-term loans, so they can buy inputs and tools and produce more economically. But this is lacking because the banks are not taking chances because a sustainable market is not guaranteed.

“The government that could have opened up market for the farmers through supplies to strategic grains reserves is not giving real farmers enough quantities to supply. Just one cassava processing factory can supply the 450 tons ordered with the LPO from the Federal Government in one week,” he says.

He adds that it is very costly for farmers to transport cassava from the farms to the processing factories because of the high water content, since 70 percent of freshly harvested cassava is water.

There is an ongoing plan by the Federal Government to set up cassava processing mills, but Adewumi says the government is no longer carrying farmers along in the setting up of the cassava processing mills. “In all advanced countries, governments guarantee markets for farmers and banks guarantee financing for agricultural produce. Meanwhile, N6 billion is being proposed for the purchase of phones to give to farmers, all in the hope of getting them to produce more when they are not even guaranteed of a market,” he says.

Apparently, the country is not yet taking full advantage of its potential in cassava production. Cassava, which has now been discovered to have about 50 industrial and food uses, is widely grown in West Africa, and Nigeria has the most comparative advantage in the world.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) document repository, Nigeria is currently the largest producer of cassava in the world with an annual output of over 34 million tons of tuberous roots.

link: http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/markets/agribusiness/50248-say-market-for-cassava-products-still-poor

Garri advocate!!!!!
though there is no way we can do away without it sha.
I need to join the league of Garri producer in Nigeria soonest.