Leadership (Abuja)
9 May 2008
editorial
About three years ago, government called on farmers to cultivate cassava.
It claimed that a huge export market for the commodity had been found. The farmers responded; even retired civil servants raised loans to cultivate the crop. But because the federal government did not back up its call with the provision of infrastructure, the bumper harvest engendered by the response resulted in a cassava glut that plunged many farmers into debt. The export market is there but Nigerian crops do not access it: we prefer to sell them raw, the way we sell our crude oil.
Now that the nation is confronting a major food crisis, the issue of processing must be factored into any contingency plan for tackling the food security problem. One by-product of Nigerian cassava – starch – costs much more in the country than elsewhere because the farmers have to pay more for power and transporting their products to distant places for processing. Where roads and water are lacking, the crops are left to rot away. Provision of necessary infrastructure will encourage young people to return to the farm.
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