PAPCAMAVA Advocates Stronger Cassava Value Chain for Sustainable Economic Growth


PAPCAMAVA Advocates Stronger Cassava Value Chain for Sustainable Economic Growth
The Pacesetter Premium Cassava Merchants and Value Chain Association (PAPCAMAVA) has called on the Federal Government to formulate policies that will strengthen Nigeria’s cassava value chain, reduce production costs and ensure that pricing decisions reflect prevailing costs of production.

The call was made by the Ogun and Oyo State executives of PAPCAMAVA during a press conference held in Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Speaking at the event, President of the association, Mrs. Jokotoye Kehinde, said Nigeria’s cassava sector was currently facing a market crisis characterised by a near-total collapse in farm-gate prices, a development she said was threatening farmers’ livelihoods and the country’s long-term food security.

She said the price of raw cassava at the farm gate had fallen sharply from about N220,000 per tonne to as low as N5,000 per tonne, representing an estimated 97.7 per cent decline.

According to her, the development had left many farmers struggling to recover even the basic costs incurred in cultivating and harvesting the crop.

While appreciating the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), under its Sustainable Agricultural Systems and Policies (AgSys) project, implemented by GOPA-AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants, Jokotoye described PAPCAMAVA as an agribusiness multi-actor platform established to promote improved livelihoods for farmers.

She stressed that increased productivity without corresponding profitability could become an economic trap, particularly for cassava farmers who bear significant production, transportation and processing costs.

Also speaking, the Vice President of the association, Engr. Fawole Folorunso, said the prevailing situation had demoralised farmers and called for urgent measures to reduce the economic cost of cassava production.

He argued that cassava pricing should take production costs into consideration, noting that farmers must be able to benefit meaningfully from increased production rather than suffer losses as a result of market distortions.

Folorunso said PAPCAMAVA was positioning itself to serve as a voice for smallholder farmers and other stakeholders in the cassava value chain.

He added that the association planned to promote the cultivation of high-yielding and disease-resistant cassava varieties, including Ayaya, Obasanjo, Game Changer and Baba 70, with a view to improving farmers’ returns on investment and developing a regional pipeline of certified planting materials.

In his remarks, a representative of GOPA-AFC, Dr. Stephen Babajide, said the market price of cassava had fallen to a level where the cost of harvesting and transporting the crop could exceed its market value.

He described the situation as a structural value-chain crisis requiring urgent and coordinated intervention by policymakers, industrial off-takers and financial institutions.

Babajide called for measures that would improve market coordination, strengthen linkages between farmers and industrial processors, and provide appropriate financial support to farmers and other actors across the cassava value chain.

The General Secretary of PAPCAMAVA, Mr. Emmanuel Dada, outlined some measures needed to address the crisis, including ensuring policy coherence, structuring credit facilities around cassava’s 10- to 14-month production cycle, establishing decentralised primary processing facilities to reduce post-harvest losses and prevent the accumulation of unsold cassava roots, and strengthening farmers’ cooperatives.

Dada said PAPCAMAVA had also established a self-funded 10-hectare farm at Igbo-Aje in Ayetoro, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, with approximately nine hectares currently under plantation.

He said the association remained open to discussions with major stakeholders and the Federal Government on practical measures to revive the cassava value chain, protect farmers’ investments and promote sustainable growth in the sector.

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