Cassava starch processing in Nigeria - its current status and development situation

According to the status from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the annual output of cassava in Nigeria is about 45 million tons, which worth about 18 billion US dollars. However, the current cassava processing industry in Nigeria is relatively backward, especially in the cassava starch processing industry. Because in Nigeria, the production and processing of cassava is mainly used for food, such as garri, fuffu, etc., and is rarely used for commercial purposes. Therefore, Nigerian cassava starch is currently in short supply. It is estimated that the annual demand for cassava starch in Nigeria is about 350,000 tons, while the national supply is only about 300,000 tons. However, in recent years, as the demand for cassava starch in the international market has increased, the Nigerian government has increasingly recognized the importance of cassava starch processing in Nigeria and has begun to encourage the development of the cassava starch industry.

Cassava & cassava starch

Current situations of cassava starch processing in Nigeria

At present, cassava starch processing industry in Nigeria is relatively backward. The main existed problems are backward cassava starch processing technology, low level of mechanization automation and insufficient processing capacity. Due to the low level of industrialization, the current cassava starch processing in Nigeria is mainly in the form of small-scale semi-manual semi-mechanical processing. Through this way, the cassava is washed by manual, and be grated into pulp by a cassava grater, then be put into a sedimentation tank for impurities separation, after that, the cassava milk is filtered by a filter bag, and finally be dried to get cassava starch. However, the cassava starch has been exposed to the air for too long time by this manual method, which is easily to be polluted, thus the quality of the produced starch is not high and the profit is low. In addition, manual processing has the shortcomings of low efficient, small capacity and large waste, therefore, the degree of industrialization of cassava starch processing in Nigeria is urgently need to be improved.

Cassava starch manual processing

In addition to the low level of industrialization in Nigeria, cassava starch processing in Nigeria also lacks the correct value orientation. At present, the products positioning by Nigerian cassava starch processing enterprises is still oriented to Nigeria's local basic consumption or as a staple food substitute, without the driving force of commercial development and export-oriented production targets. Actually expect as food, cassava starch has many industrial applications, such as in paper mills, textile mills, or in chemical and other industry. Besides, cassava starch not only has great demand in local Nigeria, but has huge market in the international market. The international industrial starch price is about 200,000 naira per ton. Therefore, if cassava starch processing in Nigeria can enter the fully automatic mechanized stage, the industrial value of cassava will be greatly increased.

Cassava starch can be used in food, textile and papermaking industry

Nigerian cassava starch development situation

Recognizing the importance of cassava starch, the Nigerian government has taken a series of measures to promote the development and production of the cassava starch processing industry. In order to promote the production of cassava starch, the federal government established the "President Committee for the Promotion of Cassava Production and Export" to take measures to encourage the export of cassava and its manufactured products, and to and to increase the publicity efforts of cassava processing in countries like Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, etc, so as to promote the development of cassava starch processing industry through export.

In addition, Nigeria provides low-interest loans to companies engaged in the cassava starch processing, encouraging companies to start automated mechanized cassava starch processing plants. Under the premise of ensuring food security and meeting the needs of domestic industry, the Nigerian government encourages private enterprises and foreign investment to localize the production and processing of cassava starch, so that the produced cassava starch has the possibility of export on the basis of meeting domestic demand.

Cassava starch processing plant in Nigeria

Nigeria's cassava production ranks first in the world, and cassava alone accounts for about 45% of Nigeria's agricultural GDP. Developing this advantageous resource is one of the Nigerian government's strategic plans. Faced with domestic and international market demand, Nigeria is vigorously developing the cassava starch processing industry and conduct commercial operations to achieve the development goal of cassava starch processing in Nigeria. If you are interested the cassava starch processing business in Nigeria, please contact Henan Doing, we have extensive projects experience in Nigeria.