By Progress Godfrey, Abuja
The Federal Government has unveiled plans to empower about 14 million smallholder farmers under the Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Development Project, a move aimed at reducing fuel import costs and strengthening Nigeria’s bio-economy.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, in a statement signed by the ministry’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Mrs. Osagie Jacobs, on Thursday.
Bagudu spoke at a two-day stakeholder capacity-building workshop on the project for the South-East zone, held in Enugu and concluded on Wednesday. He explained that the initiative is designed to integrate farmers into industrial production, linking agriculture to energy transition, rural development and domestic value addition.
Represented by the Director of Economic Growth in the ministry, Mr. Auwal Mohammed, the minister said the project could save Nigeria more than N3 trillion annually in foreign exchange through the blending of bioethanol with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), thereby reducing reliance on imported fuel.
He added that the intervention would reposition cassava as a strategic industrial crop, while creating jobs, boosting rural incomes and expanding local production capacity in the renewable energy market.
“We are looking at the entire value chain, from high-quality stems and starch to the CO₂ captured during fermentation and the animal feed produced from distillery grains,” he said.
Bagudu further explained that the project would be implemented through a Triple-Helix knowledge transfer partnership, focusing on the provision of high-yield, disease-resistant cassava varieties, attracting investment, expanding technology and market access, and strengthening the enabling environment and infrastructure.
In his remarks, the Director of Agriculture, Economic Growth Department at the ministry, Mr. Olaifa Alade, said the workshop was organised to prepare stakeholders for effective implementation of the cassava bioethanol project.
Alade assured participants that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning would provide sustained policy support and a robust monitoring framework to ensure a successful transition from the pilot phase to national-scale implementation.
The workshop brought together representatives of state ministries of budget and economic planning, state ministries of agriculture, farmers’ associations, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, NACCIMA, as well as universities and research institutions.
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