The Country Manager, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa Phase 2 (C:AVA II) Nigeria, Professor Lateef Sanni has attested to the success of the project in alleviating food insecurity, unemployment and boosting the income of rural farmers in the country.
Speaking at a Special Session during the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) 42nd Conference and Annual General Meeting, slated to mark the World Food Day, Sanni said the success of the project, centred on the cassava value-added chain is evident in products like the fufu powder and High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) in the market.
According to him, the CAVA project, which started in 2008 with the view of improving the profitability of cassava sales in various products, focused on three key intervention points in the value chain, which include ensuring consistent supply of raw materials; developing viable intermediaries that act as secondary processors or bulking agents in value chains; and driving market demand and building market share for baking industries, components of traditional foods or plywood/paperboard applications.
The Country Manager congratulated the SMEs who had invested and taken advantage of the market, describing them as the engine of industrialisation in Africa.
The Project Manager, Professor Kola Adebayo, disclosed that the purpose of C:AVA is to facilitate systems where small holder farmers would sell up to two million metric tones of fresh roots into new value chain.
He solicited for the continuity of the vision even after it rounds up in March next year.