Description

Cassava is one of the most important root crops in Nigeria. Apart from being a staple crop in both rural and urban house-holds cassava is a major source of income to cassava farmers and processors in the rural areas.

Nigeria is currently the world leading producer of cassava, producing about forty million (40,000,000) MT per annum and cassava alone contributes about 5 % of agricultural GDP in Nigeria for food or domestic purposes but its industrial processing and utilization has been very limited.

Since the return to civil rule in 1999, Nigeria has witnessed steady but minimal growth of the middle class. These growths continue to drive the increasing social and health awareness of the need for hygienically well prepared foods required for good quality living standard of people.

This coupled with the geometrically exploding population and continued rural-urban drift continues to fuel the demand for cassava starch, flour and Garri, a staple food in the country.

Cassava starch is produced primarily by the wet milling of fresh cassava roots. Starch is a main constitute of cassava root. About 25% starch can be obtained from mature, good quality tubers. Cassava starch is used in the textile, oil drilling, pharmaceuticals, and food / beverage industries.

Garri is a creamy-white, granular flour with a slightly fermented flavour and a slightly sour taste made from fermented, gelatinized fresh cassava tubers. Garri is widely known in Nigeria and other West African countries. Garri constitutes a daily meal to millions people world-wide.

It is a popular West African food. It is most widely eaten as Eba. Eba is made by sprinkling garri into a bowl or pot of boiling water and stirred until dough of garri is formed. You could add more water to the dough and stir to your desired texture. The finished product is called eba.

There is high demand for cassava starch in Nigeria. With a population of over 165 million people and an estimated national population growth rate of 5.7% per annum, an average economic growth rate of 3.5% per annum in the past five (5) years, Nigeria has a large market for cassava starch.

Industries in need of cassava starch include textile, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, paper and packaging, manufacturing and chemicals.

The demand for cassava starch in Nigeria is high. The driving force behind the demand is the federal government policy on cassava starch substitution for corn starch.
The annual national demand for cassava starch is estimated at 350,000 tons while the national supply estimate is about 300,000 tons.

Garri, a product gotten from the processing of cassava tubers is a very important staple food item in Nigeria. It is one of the food items that defy socio-economic class, religious and ethnic boundaries, It is doubtful if it is not eaten daily in one of every two homes in the country.

The annual national demand for Garri is estimated at 1,000,000 tonnes while the national supply estimate is about 250,000.

In recent times due to the other products (Cassava Starch and Flour) that can gotten from Cassava tubers, the production of Garri in Nigeria has witnessed a reduction in volume thereby prompting a shift in the demand-supply equilibrium in favour of Garri producers.

The supply gap has been identified to continue to expand as the population of the country which is estimated to be 165 Million continues to grow at 3.5% per annum. Also, the rural – urban drift in the country would help to deepen the market for Garri which is estimated at over N 8 billion annually in Nigeria.

This report is to examine the financial viability or otherwise of establishing a cassava starch and garri processing plant in Nigeria with cassava tubers as the raw materials.