Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it will inject N25 billion in five states to boost the country’s cassava value chain this year.
The move, according to the apex bank, is to curb $600 million spent on the importation of cassava derivatives into the country.
This was disclosed by a cassava expert in CBN Development Finance Department, Mr Chinedu Zephaniah, on Saturday.
He lamented that despite being the largest producer in the world, Nigeria was still importing cassava derivatives.
He said to change the narrative, “the CBN has decided to invest yearly in the cassava value chain and this year alone, we have invested N25 billion in the subsector.”
He added that, “So, under the five-star agricultural financing programme, the bank is spending about N25 billion to fund cassava this year alone.
“And we intend to fund only contiguous plan in Kogi, Ebonyi, Cross River, Ekiti, and Ondo state.”
On his part, the National Programme Coordinator, Value Chain Development Program (VCDP), Mr Garba Bala, who spoke during the maiden National Dialogue on Cassava in the nation’s capital, stated that the country will benefit immensely from this scheme.
This is just as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the collaboration with the federal government launched a revolutionary Development of the Cassava Value Chain.
Mr Bala stated that about two years ago, a national dialogue on rice was held, which culminated in the massive production of rice, saying the aim is to see the same revolution in the cassava value chain.
He said under the VCDP, they are trying to ensure cassava is being processed beyond garri and fufu and ensure that cassava is produced for the big pharmaceutical companies, spaghetti companies and also the sanitiser companies.
The country has been making efforts to increase export while reducing important of crops that can be manufactured locally but many argue that importation helps to fill the large gap of demand.
