CASSAVA COMMERCIAL PROCESSING, PACKAGING AND EXPORTS
Cassava is a nutty-flavoured, starchy root tuber. It is a cash crop in Nigeria producing different popular derivatives like Fufu, Garri and Starch. Other products are; flour, animal feed, alcohol, starches for sizing paper, textiles, sweeteners, prepared foods and biodegradable products. Different parts of the cassava plant produce these derived products, ranging from fresh leaves and roots to modified cassava starch. It is an economically significant tuber, not just a food crop but also a substantial source of cash income for producers. As a cash crop, cassava generates revenue for the most significant number of households compared to other staples, contributing positively to poverty alleviation.
According to statistics, the root tuber is a primary staple food for 800million people globally. Cassava is a multipurpose plant producing different derivatives with specialised processing methods; all plant parts are valuable to the producer. The stem is used for plant propagation and grafting; the leaves are used as a vegetable, soup ingredient or dried as a protein-rich animal feed; the root tubers are mainly processed for human and industrial use.
COMMERCIAL PROCESSING IN NIGERIA
According to FAO (2002), Nigeria is the largest cassava producer globally, producing about 34 million metric tonnes per year. Industrial processing of cassava products is increasing, but unfortunately, this covers less than 5% of the total cassava production. Hence, more emphasis should be placed on industrial cassava processing — producing higher valued exportable cassava derived items like Cassava chips, Cassava starch, Cassava flour and Garri. Including essential commodities like glucose, ethanol, and dextrose sugar.
Cassava processing by traditional methods are often labour-intensive, but improved processing technology in most commercial farms has reduced processing time and labour and encouraged significant production.
It is also imperative to process cassava due to the low storage life of the cassava tuber. Cassava tuber consists of 60–70% water, and spoilage begins after 3days — here comes the issue of the increased cost and reduced quality of transporting fresh tubers. The need for processing comes in handy to stabilise the crop for storage purposes. However, due to the inability of local farmers to procure the cost-intensive simple processing machines, industrial cassava processing in Nigeria has suffered significant setbacks because farmers produce and process it as a subsistence crop.
Cassava processing in Nigeria can be divided into five levels of capacity:
Household, micro, small, medium and large.
Household processing does not involve any external labour. The household typically consumes all the processed products and only sell a fraction of them; most Nigerian processors fall within this category.
Microprocessing typically employs one or two labourers to process various cassava products in batches which may take up to four hours per day.
The small and medium scale employs up to 3–10 workers. Large scale processors are virtually non-existent in Nigeria.
Processing equipment for medium and large scale processors are sparsely available. The traditional and semi-mechanised production process makes Garri the only product with a high level of production. On the other hand, fufu and Akpu (fermented waste paste of cassava) takes a lot of time. Time is spent peeling roots, washing, soaking, wet sieving and copiously adding water before pressing — the process requires no less than 14 steps. Even on sale day, more time is invested in grating and bagging. Sadly, the storage life of fufu is short.
The traditional processing methods are time-consuming, produces low yield and low storage capacity. Nigeria needs to strengthen the country’s value chain and processing sector where harvest, collection and processing are efficiently done with speed; this will go a long way in reducing the already drastic post-harvest losses.
Cassava processing is vulnerable to many conditions — market vagaries, trade policy, product substitution, and adverse environmental impacts. The ability (or inability) to source a reliable stream of good quality cassava roots is also a concern for cassava processors.
Cassava Packaging and Exportation
Cassava is exported in three forms: human food, starch and livestock feed ingredients. Exports are dependent on the domestic market, price and quality of produce. Essentially, the supply of cassava is enormous in Nigeria, likewise the demand in other parts of the world.
The tuber prices are relatively lower in the southern part of Nigeria except for Lagos, Bayelsa and Awka Ibom states. In industrial products, ethanol has the highest cost of production, followed by starch. Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of cassava chips, pellets, cassava starch and flour; therefore, all export prices must fall under the Thai price. Competitively, cassava prices range from US$65.84 per tonne for dried cassava to US$244.11 per tonne for cassava tapioca.
As an individual, before you can begin export, you need to register your business with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). You should get all the necessary licenses and permits required by the government from the Nigeria Customs Service and the country you intend to sell. After that, it is crucial to export country-specific standard products, and your packaging has to meet standard requirements in terms of aesthetics, safe for food contact and environmentally friendly.
To source for buyers for exports, you may need to leverage on the internet. Run advertisements on websites and social media or simply use search engines to find buyers, e.g. www.alibaba.com.
PS: Be extremely careful of scammers and do extensive research of buyers before calling it a deal.
For more information on cassava production, processing and exports, contact us at www.farmsby.com.
