POTENTIAL OF CASSAVA AS A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR FOREX EARNER

Currently, despite being the largest producer of Cassava in the world, more than 90% of the harvest in Nigeria is processed as food and consumed locally.

Conversely, Nigeria uses at most 10% for industrial production and less than 1% for export.

Cassava is a major potential Forex earner for the country, because it is a raw material for industrial applications.

Possible exports derivable from Cassava include ethanol for biofuel, sweeteners, starches, etc.

Today, Cassava is finding growing markets in Europe, Asia and North America, and is being touted as a versatile gluten-free superfood.

CASSAVA VALUE CHAIN cont'd

NIGERIA'S CASSAVA EXPORTS

In 2021, Nigeria was ranked 59th on the world list of exporters, as the value of Nigeria’s cassava exports was very low compared to others like Egypt, Thailand and Vietnam.

Nigeria’s exported value was $1.02 million, which is an infinitesimal 0.057% share of global cassava exports that totalled $3.65bn in 2021.

NIGERIA'S CASSAVA EXPORTS cont'd

In 2021, Nigeria exported approx $1.02m worth cassava products, compared to Thailand’s $3.6 billion and Vietnam’s $1.2 billion.

Thus, Thailand had an export value of $1.2bn from Cassava exports, despite producing less than half as much as Nigeria.

Countries like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the USA had export values $677m, $270m, $260m, and $218m respectively, ranking them among the top exporters of Cassava in 2021.

That same year, Nigeria earned just $1m.

Egypt is the only African country ranked among the world’s top ten highest exporters of Cassava, with export value $81.8m.