CASSAVA PROCESSING AND MARKETING OPTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ENUGU STATE. source: www.projectng.com
INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Recognizing Nigeria’s tremendous Agricultural potentials, the government has accepted the view that the country should resolve to make agriculture the main source of living of the economy and to Enugu state. Agricultural development has to with the increase of the agricultural productivity to be able to generate substantial surpluses.

The issues of surpluses lead to the issue of marketing because when they engage in large production, and then there will be surpluses left out.

Production of surpluses should occur simultaneously with adequate processing and store it and make sure that the surpluses are waste.

We find out that the surpluses, if they are not appropriately processed, it may bring about increase in the harvest losses which reduces the productivity and income in the agricultural sector (RUSEP 2002).

Nigeria is currently the largest cassava producer in the world with estimated annual production of about 40 million metric tones. About 90% of this is however, consumed as food. Cassava is next to petroleum as major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The presidential initiative on cassava has set in motion the process of achieving on annual basis 5 billion dollars from export of cassava. This plan also involves building of the domestic productive capacity to an efficiently, profitable and sustainable satisfaction to the new market demand with the quality and quantity required to realize the objective. One of the strategies put in place to realize this noble objective is the establishment of 6-farmgate primary processing centers. However, lack of funds to procure essential processing machinery and equipment, which will create increase demand for cassava product, has been a problem.

Evidence has shown that cassava production has been increased from 1999 to date. (FMARD) 2004, However, post harvest system such as processing, packaging, marketing storage distribution and transportation have constrained sustainable cassava production in recent times. This has resulted into substantial losses, which complicate food insecurity status in terms of available calorie dietary consumption. Studies have shown that efficient marketing system stimulates agricultural production (Waurika and Ikpi 2005: Adesope et al, 2005).

However, marketing of cassava in Nigeria especially in Enugu state has been characterized with a lot of deficiencies. These deficiencies have constrained sustainable agricultural development in one way or the other. In Nigeria, several policy studies have been commissioned to identify potential contributions of agricultural marketing policy to agricultural development, these studies, however, failed to incorporate strategies for combating perennial constraints to effective and efficient food marketing in Nigeria.

Since sustainable food policy issues and options require different strategies for both domestic and international markets and different strategies for minimizing the problems confronting cassava marketing, it is important to identify strategies for minimizing constraints to food at the different levels, as well as incorporation of these strategies into food marketing policy framework. This study, therefore, investigated effectiveness of cassava marketing policy and its contribution to agricultural sector development in Nigeria, Enugu state in particular, the policy design and its potential contributions to agricultural development in Nigeria.

We have various sectors that will be discussed: problems associated with agricultural marketing in Nigeria and in Enugu particular, the potential
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