CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is generally understood to have travelled from South America to West and Central Africa through Portuguese traders in the sixteenth century, and it became firmly rooted in Nigerian food systems as root-processing knowledge spread among communities. [Citation to be added: a historical source on the introduction of cassava into Nigeria.]

Today Nigeria is the largest cassava-producing country in the world, harvesting more than 59 million tonnes of fresh roots every year (Srivastava et al., 2023). The crop is central to household diets and rural livelihoods in the country (Adejumo et al., 2025). Its popularity among resource-poor households rests largely on its hardiness: it tolerates drought, grows on poor soils and performs reasonably well where many other crops would fail (Otekunrin & Sawicka, 2019; Adejumo et al., 2025). For this reason it is regarded as a dependable food-security crop for farming households across the tropics (Ikuemonisan et al., 2020).

Freshly harvested cassava roots hold a great deal of moisture and spoil quickly, so they must be processed soon after harvest. Processing therefore preserves the roots and, at the same time, raises their market value (Igwe et al., 2025). The roots are converted into garri, fufu, tapioca, starch, chips, flour, glucose, ethanol and livestock feed, among other products (Igwe et al., 2025). Starch, flour and chips in turn supply industries such as food manufacturing, textiles, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy (Adejumo et al., 2025). Demand for packaged and improved cassava products has also been rising in urban areas (Ikuemonisan et al., 2020), which makes processing an increasingly important source of income and employment.

Despite this potential, most processors still rely on traditional methods. These methods are laborious, yield products of inconsistent quality and short shelf life, and are a source of heavy post-harvest losses (Adejumo et al., 2025; Igwe et al., 2025). Moving to improved technology requires capital, and capital depends on the processor’s ability to save, to reinvest profits and to obtain credit. Ogun State is among the states with a high concentration of cassava production and processing (Adejumo et al., 2025; Saka et al., 2024). In a survey of garri processors in Edo, Ogun and Oyo States, Saka et al. (2024) recorded the highest gross margin in Ogun State and concluded that profitability and market participation point to scope for greater investment in cost- and labour-saving technologies. How processors in this setting save and invest is therefore a question of practical importance, and it forms the focus of the present study in Yewa North Local Government Area.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Although Nigeria leads the world in cassava output, the productivity of the sector remains well below what is attainable. National root yields moved only within a range of about 7 to 12 tonnes per hectare between 1965 and 2017, and modelling work indicates that current yields could be raised as much as fivefold if nutrient, soil-health and water constraints were addressed (Srivastava et al., 2023). Much of the growth in output over recent decades has come from planting more land and from better varieties rather than from more efficient resource use (Srivastava et al., 2023).

The constraints facing processors are equally serious. Cassava processing in Nigeria is dominated by small-scale, largely traditional operators who struggle to obtain the funds needed to modernise (Igwe et al., 2025). Evidence from Imo State shows that processors’ investment is driven positively by savings, credit obtained and income, and is discouraged by high interest rates, while financial, marketing and processing constraints limit expansion (Igwe et al., 2025). A recent multi-state study likewise found that only 18% of processors had adopted automated technologies and that access to credit was far lower among those using conventional methods; the authors also noted that empirical evidence on the economic returns to processing technologies remains thin (Adejumo et al., 2025). Women, who make up the majority of processors, are particularly affected by these limitations (Adejumo et al., 2025; Foluso & Temidayo, 2018).

Successive governments have introduced programmes aimed at raising productivity and incomes in the cassava sector, including the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), the Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs), the Cassava Multiplication Programme (CMP), the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP) and, more recently, the Cassava Mechanization and Agro-processing Project (CAMAP) (Igwe et al., 2025). Even so, the benefits have been uneven. In Kwara State, for example, RTEP supplied most of the processing equipment in use, yet the livelihoods of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries did not differ significantly apart from their incomes (Achem et al., 2013). This suggests that equipment supplied from outside is not enough; processors’ own savings and investment decisions also determine whether enterprises grow.

Most available studies on savings and investment in the cassava sub-sector were conducted in other parts of the country (Foluso & Temidayo, 2018; Igwe et al., 2025), and empirical evidence specific to processors in Yewa North Local Government Area appears limited. This study was designed to fill that gap and to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the socio-economic characteristics of cassava processors in the study area?
2. What are the costs and returns of cassava processing in the study area?
3. What savings and investment strategies do cassava processors in the study area adopt?
4. How efficiently do cassava processors use resources in the study area?
5. What is the relationship between processors’ socio-economic characteristics and their output?
6. What are the major constraints faced by cassava processors in the study area?

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The broad objective of the study is to analyse savings and investment strategies among cassava processors in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:

1. describe the socio-economic characteristics of cassava processors in the study area;
2. estimate the costs and returns of cassava processing in the study area;
3. examine the savings and investment strategies of cassava processors in the study area;
4. determine the efficiency of resource use among cassava processors in the study area;
5. determine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of processors and their output; and
6. identify and describe the major constraints faced by cassava processors in the study area.

1.4 Justification for the Study

Investment in agriculture is widely regarded as one of the most effective ways of reducing hunger and poverty, raising output and improving environmental sustainability (Igwe et al., 2025). In the cassava sub-sector, higher incomes allow processors to save more, and larger savings raise the likelihood and size of later investment in machinery, raw materials, labour and enterprise expansion (Agunannah et al., 2023; Igwe et al., 2025). Understanding how processors accumulate and deploy capital, and which factors help or hinder them, is therefore essential for designing support that actually reaches small enterprises.

The findings will benefit processors and other stakeholders in the cassava value chain by pointing to the variables that can be better managed to improve profitability and productivity. They will give policy makers evidence for designing measures such as low-interest credit, grants, tax incentives and equipment support, which have been recommended for reinvestment in processing facilities (Igwe et al., 2025), and for developing gender-sensitive interventions where women dominate processing (Adejumo et al., 2025). The study will also add to the limited local literature on cassava processing in Ogun State and provide a reference point for students and researchers who wish to extend work in this area.

References

Achem, B. A., Akangbe, J. A., & Animashaun, J. O. (2013). An assessment of the effects of Root and Tuber Expansion Project (RTEP) on the livelihood of cassava processors in Kwara State, Nigeria. International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 3(3), 167–174.

Adejumo, O., Ikudayisi, A., Omotosho, A. O., et al. (2025). From manual to machine: Profitability and adoption of post-harvest processing technologies among cassava processors in Nigeria. Discover Agriculture, 3, Article 279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44279-025-00465-4

Agunannah, M. U., Njoku, K. N., Ikechukwu, C. E., & Anyim, E. I. (2023). Analysis of the determinants of investment among the pro-vitamin-A cassava farming household in southeast Nigeria. GSC Advanced Research and Reviews, 17(1), 32–37. https://doi.org/10.30574/gscarr.2023.17.1.0380

Foluso, O., & Temidayo, O. (2018). Assessment of the behaviour and investment preference of women cassava processors in Ekiti State, Nigeria. International Journal of Social Science Research, 6(2), 10–22. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijssr.v6i2.12682

Igwe, L. U., Igwe, K. C., Boateng, B. N., Ibeagwa, O. B., & Madu, J. A. (2025). Assessment of factors influencing investment among cassava processors in Imo State, Nigeria. Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Journal, 4(1), 42–47. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15106667

Ikuemonisan, E. S., Mafimisebi, T. E., Ajibefun, I., & Adenegan, K. (2020). Cassava production in Nigeria: Trends, instability and decomposition analysis (1970–2018). Heliyon, 6(10), e05089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05089

Otekunrin, O. A., & Sawicka, B. (2019). Cassava, a 21st century staple crop: How can Nigeria harness its enormous trade potentials? Acta Scientific Agriculture, 3(8), 194–202. https://doi.org/10.31080/asag.2019.03.0586

Saka, J. O., Obatolu, V. A., Lawal, B. O., Idowu, A. B., Amadi, C. P., Adetumbi, J. A., & Dauda, T. O. (2024). Market participation and profitability of small scale garri processing in Edo, Ogun and Oyo States, Nigeria. Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics. https://doi.org/10.17170/kobra-2024121610771

Srivastava, A. K., Ewert, F., Akinwumiju, A. S., Zeng, W., Ceglar, A., Ezui, K. S., Adelodun, A., Adebayo, A., Sobamowo, J., Singh, M., Rahimi, J., & Gaiser, T. (2023). Cassava yield gap: A model-based assessment in Nigeria. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6, 1058775. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1058775