Professor Ezirim,
a lecturer in the Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt
(UNIPORT), made this known to journalists in Port Harcourt on Friday. According
to him, Nigeria rather than producing cassava for food consumption alone should
produce it for both industrial purpose and for consumption.
“Diversification
of the nation’s economy can take the country to the Promised Land, and this can
be achieved by producing cassava for industrialised purposes, which is
presently in global demand,” he said. “Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava tubers in the
world but cassava produced in the country is processed and consumed locally in
various forms with little set aside for export.”
“Today,
cassava has over 2,000 uses in the world that can easily replace or support
crude oil as a foreign exchange earner and provide employment for many, if well
harnessed. Government cannot leave cassava production in the hands of
individuals, rather it should intervene by considering cassava as a national
crop and accord it priority attention given to crude oil,” he added.
The professor
made it clear that cassava could be used as biofuel as well as used to produce
livestock feeds; ethno-medicine; cassava flour; cassava starch and cassava wine
and oil, among others. According to him, the crop can also be used to produce
alcohol and syrup, which is in high demand by food, beverage and pharmaceutical
industries. He, therefore, urged farmers to equip themselves with modern
researches and development techniques that would enable them expand production
and export harvest.
According to
a report, Nigeria is one of the largest producers of cassava in the world
followed by Thailand, Indonesia and Brazil, Angola, Ghana and Democratic
Republic of Congo. Nigeria produces almost a third more than the volume of
cassava produced in other African countries, including Malawi, Cameroon,
Mozambique, Benin, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Uganda and Rwanda.
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