On September 8th, 2016, GIZ and PIND, in collaboration with public and private sector partners, as well as the federal government, will host a one-day National Cassava Summit, with the theme “Towards a U.S.$5 billion Per Annum Cassava Industry in the Next Five Years.”

Cassava is a staple food crop throughout the African continent, particularly in Nigeria. Despite being the world’s largest producer of the cassava, Nigeria produces cassava primarily for domestic consumption and does not rank among leading exporting countries. The potential of the cassava sector to drive accelerated growth and jobs creation will not be fulfilled without a systemic approach to addressing structural and political economy issues that currently constrain it. Among these issues are: relatively low yields and high costs, strong competition by the traditional food market with the industrial market, weak value chain coordination, poor infrastructure, poor access to finance, and unfair competition from cheap foreign imports. Though not exhaustive, the challenges listed demonstrate that the cassava agriculture sub-sector faces myriad problems and offers huge potential. Coordinated action towards addressing these challenges will catalyze growth with corresponding multiplier effects on jobs creation and industrialization for Nigeria.

The objectives of this Summit include:

• Understanding the current state of the cassava sub-sector and basis for transformative change
• Promoting inclusive investment in the cassava industry based on analysis and dialogue
• Developing strategies for launching cassava into a high performing and growth-oriented sub-sector
• Building consensus on a policy framework to underpin cassava industrial development

This Summit will provide an opportunity for multi-stakeholder conversations between farmers association, research institutions, input suppliers, banks, small-medium scale processors, large-scale industrial processors, transporters, marketers, development organizations and government ministries and departments. It will also help provide accurate data on the state of cassava industrial and food markets. The summit aims to organize a well-coordinated and well-targeted positive action that will act as a catalyst for growth with corresponding multiplier effects on jobs creation and industrialization.

“This Summit is a year in the making, working closely with key development partners in both the private and public sectors to ensure inclusiveness and targeted objectives with a roadmap for growth for the cassava agriculture sector. The Summit will also coincide with the public launching of the Industrial Cassava Stakeholders Association of Nigeria,” says PIND’s Program Director Dr. Dara Akala.

PIND’s partners for this Summit include: Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, Federal Institute for Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), United States Agency for International Development’s Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) II project, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Department for International Development (DFID) Market Development (MADE) program and Cassava Adding Value in Africa (CAVA) II, Harvest Plus, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), Nigeria Cassava Processors and Marketers Association (NCAPMA) and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).

For more information on this Summit, please contact Ese Emerhi ese@pindfoundation.org or cassavasummit@pindfoundation.org.