Shell says the company will support the economy and earning power of the Rivers State and its people from the cassava value chain while utilising leading technology to process and create more added value from the household crop. “Data shows that Nigeria is the largest cassava producer globally, accounting for about 20 percent of total production worldwide. Citing some expert reports, Okunbor noted that the local value-addition to cassava via local manufacturing and processing could potentially unlock about $16m in taxes to the government. Speaking at the event, Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, applauded the governor and the project partners for seeing the project through. Explaining the capacity and operations of the processing plant, the Project Manager, Ruben Joseph Giesen, said, “The Rivers Cassava Processing Company Limited will process cassava into high quality cassava flour via a unique split processing technology based on the operating principle of taking the factory to the farm gates rather than having the farmer bring the cassava tubers to the factory gate.”

Source: The Guardian June 02, 2021 04:07 UTC