Why Nigeria’s cassava output fails to feed its factories

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Read History Go to My Account Log Out Enhanced by Google Agriculture Why Nigeria’s cassava output fails to feed its factories Nigeria grows more cassava than any other country. Its factories still cannot get enough of it. That gap was the

Listen to this article Share Nigeria grows more cassava than any other country. Its factories still cannot get enough of it.

That gap was the focus of an August 2026 roundtable convened by the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator (NCIA), which brought together processors, industrial buyers, regulators and other stakeholders.

The conclusion was not that one bottleneck is to blame. It is a chain of failures: production that is counted but never harvested, yields too low to serve both food and industry, harvest and transport costs that erase margins, and derivatives marketed as generic substitutes instead of products matched to specific uses.

For investors, the message is that viable projects must solve all three at once: reliable feedstock, competitive processing costs, and proven industrial demand. Fixing only one will not be enough.

The first break is between what Nigeria reports and what factories receive.

Participants questioned whether headline production figures reflect roots actually harvested. Estimates are often based on area cultivated and assumed yields.

Where mature roots stay in the ground because labour is too expensive or unavailable, estimated output will exceed the real harvest.

One participant estimated that in some production areas, up to 60 percent of planted cassava may remain unharvested.

Even harvested roots often fail to reach factories reliably or in good condition. Aggregation and transport are weak.

Cassava deteriorates quickly after harvest, so roots must move within a tight processing window. Without coordination between farmers and processors, reported output is not the same as reliable industrial supply.

Factories need roots delivered at a commercially viable cost, not just grown.

Cassava already serves large food markets, including garri and fufu. Industrial processors compete for what is left.

The roundtable did not propose diverting cassava from food. It proposed expanding total supply by raising productivity.

The gap is stark. The World Bank Group’s 2025 Nigeria Country Private Sector Diagnostic cites average Nigerian yields of 8.2 tonnes per hectare in 2020, against 12.8 tonnes globally and 24 tonnes in Southeast Asia.

Participants linked that gap to limited availability of improved high-yield varieties, poor agronomic practices and inadequate extension support.

Research institutes have developed improved varieties, but there is insufficient capacity to multiply and distribute planting stems at scale.

Even where farmers get improved stems, yield potential depends on basic practices such as correct crop spacing.

Without stronger extension, higher yields will remain theoretical. With it, Nigeria could produce enough for both food and industry without one market displacing the other.

Even harvested roots face a cost problem.

Harvesting remains largely manual and labour-intensive. It becomes particularly difficult and expensive in the dry season, when hardened soil makes roots harder to uproot.

Then there is weight. Fresh cassava roots are approximately 70 percent water.

Processors pay to transport bulky roots over poor roads, even though much of that weight will not become finished product.

Cassava’s short post-harvest life also forces frequent deliveries and close farmer-processor coordination. Grains, by contrast, contain a higher proportion of usable dry matter and can be stored for longer. That puts cassava at a structural disadvantage.

At the factory, the disadvantage continues. For starch, also the starting point for sweeteners and bioethanol, cassava requires washing, peeling, grinding, starch extraction and drying.

Each stage needs equipment and energy, making cassava starch more expensive to produce where logistics and power costs are high.

Improving harvesting efficiency, cutting transport costs and raising conversion efficiency would strengthen competitiveness.

It also reinforces a second lesson: cassava must be targeted where it can compete.

The roundtable was clear that cassava derivatives should not be promoted as general substitutes for competing inputs.

Adoption is more likely when a specific derivative is matched to an application where it meets the buyer’s technical, quality and commercial requirements.

Participants identified potential in cassava-derived bioethanol, cassava-derived sweeteners, and cassava-wheat composite flour.

Biscuit production was highlighted for composite flour, as biscuits depend less on gluten for structure than bread does.

Cassava starch was also discussed. One participant reported that locally produced cassava starch had become price-competitive with imported starch.

But it was noted that cassava starch may perform differently from corn starch in particular uses, even when both meet similar laboratory specifications.

Quality and functionality are related but distinct. Regulators described existing standards, laboratory services and certification arrangements, while buyers raised concerns about inconsistent test results and possible contamination across processing and supply.

Neutral testing arrangements could help resolve differences between buyers’ and suppliers’ results and build confidence in local derivatives. Supplier development matters too.

Buyers can help processors understand technical requirements, improve production practices and maintain consistent quality.

Working with offtakers to establish specifications and validate performance would help processors focus on applications with demonstrated demand.

Higher farm output will have limited industrial impact if roots cannot be delivered and processed economically.

Additional processing capacity will struggle if derivatives do not meet buyers’ requirements.

That applies both to better utilisation of existing facilities and to new ones.

Those insights are shaping NCIA’s work in four areas: improving farmer productivity and feedstock supply; strengthening market linkages among farmers, processors and industrial buyers; supporting processor development and quality assurance; and advancing application-led product development with buyers, regulators and researchers.

Until those links hold, Nigeria will keep growing the most cassava in the world, and its factories will keep going hungry.

Josephine Okojie-Okeiyi is a journalist with over five years’ reporting experience. She writes on industry, agriculture, commodities, climate change, and environmental issues. She is fellow of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa.