Cassava Processing Plants in Nigeria Hit by Feedstock Shortage
Pecohub Nigeria’s cassava processing industry is facing a critical setback as factories struggle to secure sufficient raw materials, hampering the production of starch, flour, and other by-products.
In recent years, the industry has seen massive investments as high-capacity processing plants sprang up, bolstered by policies aimed at driving industrial starch, flour, and ethanol production.
On paper, the sector gained momentum; however, a monitoring and evaluation of these plants exposes a different picture.
Research by the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator (NCIA) showed that most cassava processing facilities in the country operate at between 30 and 40 percent of their installed capacity due to irregular supply of fresh tubers.
According to the research, as investments continue to target the industrialisation of the sector, an equally important challenge is quietly compounding – the question of feedstock reliability remains unresolved, and without it, the returns on processing investments will continue to disappoint.
Reliable feedstock supply is not a secondary concern; it is the variable that determines whether the plant performs as intended, and farmer networks are the infrastructure that either delivers or destroys that reliability.
The impact of unreliable cassava supplies extends beyond the farm, with plants operating at 40 percent capacity incurring full costs while generating only a fraction of potential revenue.
Unit economics crumble, debt servicing bites, and operators get trapped in a vicious cycle: poor feedstock supply erodes their finances, curbing investment in farmer relationships that could boost supply.
The fallout isn’t limited to upstream operations; downstream businesses are also feeling the pinch. A plant that cannot run consistently cannot serve buyers reliably, which translates to lost contracts and a diminished commercial standing.
