Abuja: The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Pan African Alliance of Small and Medium Industries (PAOSMI) have resolved to collaborate to accelerate agro-industrialisation in Nigeria. The decision was reached at a roundtable meeting between the Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, and the Director-General of PAOSMI, Dr. Henry Emejuo, in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the partnership will focus on enhancing the value chains of cassava, soybean, ginger, and sesame. In his remarks, Dr. Emejuo highlighted ongoing interventions across these value chains and noted that the initiative aligns with PAOSMI’s AU Agenda 2063 Community Activation Project (AU-CAP). He explained that PAOSMI is a private sector-driven network operating in 40 countries, aimed at advancing industrialisation across agro value chains by activating community-based enterprises for continental growth. He urged stakeholders to move away from siloed operations and engage in coordinated activities to ensure synergy and growth on a continental scale.
Dr. Emejuo emphasized the need for deeper engagement in cassava industrialisation to boost economic wealth, following the successful African Conference on Cassava. He also advocated for the swift passage of the High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) Bill in the Senate, which seeks to mandate a 20 percent inclusion of cassava flour in pastries, among other provisions.
Dr. Lawal Buga, Director at PAOSMI, highlighted cassava as a flagship value chain due to its importance for food security, industrial raw materials, and rural employment. He outlined actions to promote cassava, including industrialisation, HQCF, starch, ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel, sweeteners, bio-inputs, and animal feed. Buga emphasized the need for aggregating farmers, engaging SMEs, and developing processing clusters, while involving private sector players such as processors, industrial off-takers, aggregators, and investors to strengthen demand-driven production and reduce post-harvest losses.
On sesame and ginger, Buga stated that PAOSMI is prioritizing these crops for export by ensuring quality compliance, traceability, and integrating SMEs and cooperatives into regional and international markets to boost foreign exchange earnings and rural incomes. He explained that AU-CAP serves as PAOSMI’s framework for translating Agenda 2063 into community-level economic outcomes, with a focus on agro-enterprise-led activation, youth and women inclusion, and linking production to processing, markets, and finance.
In response, Sen. Kyari expressed his satisfaction with PAOSMI’s interest in cassava industrialisation. He noted that the ministry, in collaboration with partners, is working to boost production to meet both local and export demand. Kyari highlighted Nigeria’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, which requires the production of 1.2 million tonnes of soybean, in addition to the local demand of 2.4 million tonnes. He emphasized the need for a timeline to achieve these goals and suggested forming a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association.
Dr. Tony Bello, Chairman of Shine Bridge Incorporated, a U.S.-based agricultural policy think-tank, stressed the importance of stakeholder synergy, policy reforms, and science-driven food technology innovation in boosting local consumption and sustainable export growth. Dr. Mustapha Dan-Kano, Chairman of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, highlighted cassava production as the foundation for industrialisation in food, fuel, and energy sectors. He pointed out the loss of cassava waste that could be used to generate energy and pledged to enhance cassava farmer data to coordinate the collection and processing of peels and residues, potentially solving about 80 percent of the sector’s challenges.