From roots to riches: Transforming cassava into national economic asset

By Prisca Sam-Duru

Success in Nigeria’s cassava value chain is no longer theoretical.

It is unfolding through the grit and determination of local entrepreneurs who are scaling industrial operations and unlocking new markets. For these operators, success means achieving consistent feedstock supply, maintaining high utilization rates, securing affordable capital, and building resilient models that convert cassava into high-value derivatives like bioethanol, starch, high quality cassava flour (HQCF), and sweeteners.

It’s about proof: that local innovation, backed by structured financing and strategic partnerships, can drive commercial viability at scale, and make cassava not just a crop but a national economic asset.

From Root to Riches; win, win stories

Recent studies by the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator (NCIA), an initiative of Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, reveal encouraging progress and emerging success stories in Nigeria’s cassava industry.

For instance, Psaltry International exemplifies how a local agribusiness can evolve into a strategic player in Nigeria’s industrial transformation. Founded in 2005 as a small cassava trading venture, the company has grown into a fully integrated agro-processing enterprise serving multinational clients with starch, sorbitol, and high-quality cassava flour.

A key driver of this growth is Psaltry’s end-to-end sourcing model, which combines over 3,500 in-grower and out-grower farmers. This robust feedstock system supports a processing facility with daily installed capacities of 25 tons of sorbitol, 20 tons of starch, 30 tons of high-quality cassava flour, and 7 tons of garri—allowing the company to maintain consistent utilization rates and meet diverse market demand.

Psaltry also holds a first-mover advantage in innovation. It was the first in Africa—and second globally—to produce cassava-based sorbitol locally, reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imports and capturing greater value within the domestic economy.

Beyond operations, the company has delivered measurable impact. Its model has helped reduce import dependence, create rural employment, and improve infrastructure and living standards in host communities. Psaltry’s trajectory stands as a blueprint for how entrepreneurial drive, when paired with structured supply chains and strategic investment, can unlock industrial growth in the cassava sector.

In addition to the success of Psaltry, the NCIA reveals that other cassava operators are also making bold strides in Nigeria’s agro-industrial landscape, most notably Niji Foods and Harvest Feed.

Niji Foods, a subsidiary of the Niji Group, has developed one of Nigeria’s most integrated cassava processing ecosystems. The company leverages in-house capabilities across equipment manufacturing, mechanization services, and agricultural training to support its operations. Additionally, it launched a modular starch facility with a 50-ton-per-day input capacity, backed by a 700-hectare block farm to secure feedstock. Through its structured Service Delivery Model, Niji Foods provides farmers with access to financing, mechanization, input supply, and agronomic training—enabling productivity gains, reliable year-round sourcing, and increased incomes across its out-grower network.

To sustain the success stories, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Niji Group, Mr. Kolawole Adeniji pointed out that beyond bioethanol, starch, sweeteners, and HQCF, another high-value cassava derivatives that offer the most significant untapped potential for local entrepreneurs is fufu.

“One of the most promising yet underexplored cassava products is fufu, particularly the odourless variety. With the right investment in resources and automation of its processing lines, fufu can be commercialized at scale. Its potential is significant, as it can compete favourably with popular maize-based derivatives such as semovita. By standardizing production and ensuring consistent quality, odourless fufu could become a mainstream staple, opening new opportunities for local entrepreneurs in both domestic and export markets,” Mr. Adeniji stated.

He also advocated for adequate financial support for entrepreneurs in agribusiness to boost production. “The ideal financial structure for agribusiness should be a blend of loans and grants, designed to reduce risk and encourage sustainable growth. Loan interest should remain at a low single-digit rate and be tied to performance metrics, making the capital reusable when service delivery benchmarks are met,” he added.

Moving forward, while Nigeria is recognized as the largest producer of cassava globally, Adeniji believes that the actual production is not as effective as it should be. According to him, “The country has the potential to achieve much higher yields, but inefficiencies mean that the current volume falls short of expectations. Compounding this challenge is the fact that most machines imported for cassava processing are not well-suited to cassava. They are often designed for crops like potatoes. In addition, the industry faces a shortage of skilled local fabricators, the prevalence of poorly made equipment, and high running costs that force operators to overload machines, reducing efficiency and profitability.”

To unlock cassava’s true potential, Adeniji insisted that “Nigeria must adopt efficient, cassava-specific processing equipment and move towards modular plants instead of costly turnkey projects. The development of community-based farming and processing clusters would also reduce production costs, while emphasizing service provision models can drive specialization. Furthermore, investment in appropriate land development technologies and government-backed local tractor assembly is critical to scaling cassava production and processing to industrial levels.”

Additionally, Harvest Feed and Agro Processing Limited (HFAP) has become an emerging force in Nigeria’s cassava industrialization space. Founded in 2001 as a poultry feed enterprise, the company has since expanded into agro-processing, commissioning a standardized cassava starch facility in Ajura, Ogun State. HFAP now produces food and industrial-grade starch for clients across the food, chemical, and manufacturing industries. With a strong commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability, HFAP is focused on scaling its operations and strengthening market credibility to effectively serve its customers.

Together, these companies are reshaping perceptions of cassava, from subsistence crop to industrial growth engine.

Director Harvest Feed and Agro Processing Limited, Mr. Adedamola Adeyemi also affirmed that “Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, yet only a small portion of this production is processed into higher-value industrial products such as starch, ethanol, and flour.”

Mr. Adeyemi averred that the wide gap between production and processing is largely due to infrastructural, logistical, and productivity constraints that limit efficiency and scalability across the value chain. To unlock Nigeria’s cassava potential, he maintained that infrastructural, logistical, and yield constraints need to be overcome.

His words, “Nigeria’s cassava processing potential remains largely untapped due to weak infrastructure, high logistics costs, and low farm yields. Strategic investment in rural infrastructure, power, mechanization, and supply chain coordination, alongside efforts to boost productivity through improved varieties and modern agronomy, will be essential to achieving industrial-scale cassava processing. Unlocking this potential will not only strengthen food security but also create jobs, attract private investment, and position cassava as a key driver of Nigeria’s agro-industrial growth.”

Business Models – Key Success Factors

Across these success stories, NCIA findings reveal that several factors consistently enabled traction. They include: a reliable feedstock strategy, often blending in-grower and out-grower models; effective utilization rates driven by modular or scalable processing facilities; deep investment in quality, through both equipment and human capital; and a focus on operational excellence.

These entrepreneurs, the NCIA report indicates, demonstrate that cassava industrialization in Nigeria is not aspirational, it’s investable. The key takeaway for funders is that bankable opportunities exist when projects are built around strong sourcing models, clear product-market fit, operational excellence, and capable leadership.

However, to unlock scale, many businesses require appropriately structured capital, particularly long-term financing and blended instruments that align with agricultural realities.

The Bigger Picture – Nigeria’s Cassava Industrialization Potential

With the right investment, Nigeria can transform cassava from a food security crop into a high-value industrial engine. The country already leads globally in cassava production but processes only a fraction (2%) domestically. Industrializing this value chain at scale offers a path to reduce import dependence, expand rural employment, and tap into a billion-dollar derivatives market, anchored by homegrown enterprises.

To accelerate this momentum, support is needed from across the ecosystem. Funders can catalyze growth by providing flexible capital tailored to agribusiness needs. Development partners and government actors can strengthen enablers such as infrastructure, market access, and incentives.

At a time when there’s a campaign to reduce the country’s overdependence on oil, now is the time to back the next wave of cassava pioneers through financing, partnership, and collaborative platforms that drive real industrial transformation to boost Nigeria’s economy.

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