By Progress Godfrey
The Federal Government has initiated measures to empower 14 million smallholder farmers as key drivers of the Cassava Bio-ethanol Value Chain Development Project, aiming to reduce fuel import costs and strengthen Nigeria’s bio-economy.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, in a statement signed by the ministry’s Director of Information and Public Relations Mrs Osagie Jacobs.
Bagudu spoke at a two-day stakeholder capacity-building workshop on the project for the South East zone held last week in Enugu.
He explained that the project is designed to integrate farmers into industrial production, linking agriculture to energy transition, rural development and domestic value addition.
Represented by the Director of Economic Growth, Mr Auwal Mohammed, Bagudu said the project could save Nigeria over N3 trillion annually, in foreign exchange equivalent, by blending bio-ethanol with Premium Motor Spirit, thereby reducing reliance on imported fuel.
He added that the intervention will position cassava as a strategic industrial crop, while creating jobs, boosting rural incomes and expanding local production capacity in the renewable energy market.
“We are looking at the entire value chain, from high-quality stems and starch to the CO2 captured during fermentation and the annual feeds produced from distillery grains,” he said.
The minister further explained that the project will be implemented through a Triple-Helix knowledge transfer partnership focused on providing high-yield, disease-resistant cassava varieties, attracting investment, expanding technology and market access, and strengthening the enabling environment and infrastructure.
In his remarks, Director of Agriculture, Economic Growth Department at the ministry, Mr Olaifa Alade, said the workshop was organised to prepare stakeholders for the effective implementation of the cassava bio-ethanol project.
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