Tony Bello, chief innovation and commercialisation officer at Matna Foods Limited, has called for a shift in focus from cassava production to value addition to unlock its full economic potential. He made the appeal in a statement issued on Saturday to mark the 2026 World Cassava Day. Nigeria produces over 60 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world's largest producer, yet this has not led to widespread economic prosperity. Bello stressed that the future of cassava lies not in increasing output but in transforming it into industrial raw materials, specialty starches, functional ingredients, nutrition products, biomaterials and renewable energy solutions. He described cassava industrialisation as a transition from food security to economic security through innovation-driven manufacturing.
Bello pointed to the integrated efforts of Agbeyewa Farms, Matna Foods and Cavista Holdings as models for value chain development. Agbeyewa Farms secures feedstock, Matna Foods is expanding processing capacity, and Cavista Holdings offers governance, innovation and commercialisation support. He emphasized the need for collaboration between agriculture, science, engineering and market development to maximise the crop's economic impact. Local processing, he said, could reduce Nigeria's reliance on imported food ingredients, starches, sweeteners, bakery systems and packaged foods. Research, engineering, commercialisation, private investment and supportive government policies are essential for growth. Bello also advocated for stronger integration across seed development, mechanisation, processing, logistics, manufacturing and export promotion. The success of the sector, he stated, should be measured by value created, jobs generated, exports expanded and lives transformed. He said World Cassava Day highlights how globally competitive industries can emerge from Africa's indigenous resources through science, entrepreneurship and investment. Stakeholders, he urged, must work together to build a cassava industry that drives sustainable economic growth.
Tony Bello leads a company expanding cassava processing while stating Nigeria's massive output hasn't brought broad economic gains — the implication is that current production efforts are disconnected from industrial outcomes. The companies he named as leading value addition are not household employers, meaning job creation remains concentrated rather than widespread. If value is the new benchmark, then thousands of smallholder farmers supplying raw cassava without access to downstream opportunities are being left behind. The gap between volume and value remains the cassava sector's central challenge.
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