Rivers Cassava Initiative Targets 20,000 Jobs

About 20,000 people will earn employment from the Rivers State Cassava Initiative now ongoing at Afam, Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state.

Already, about 35,000 farmers have been registered out of which 21,000 are cassava farmers, according to the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), the manager of the scheme.

Going by the current level of work in the site, the scheme is expected to be unveiled this year, as the plant increased cassava yield for local farmers from 10 to 20 tons per hectre.

The 30,000 ton cassava processing factory is a major private sector-led intervention, involving the RSSDA, the Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Centre (IFDE), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Stanbic IBTC Bank.

The initiative, which was unveiled last year, supports a development programme at the village level to help subsistence farmers make the transition to commercial farming in cassava cultivation.

About N3million is expected to be expanded daily in buying cassava roots from farmers when finally the plant comes onstream by first quarter of this year.

From indications, the plant is to produce high quality cassava flour and provide raw materials for brewing, flour and confectionary companies.

A statement from RSSDA revealed that already, 600 farmers have been trained on improved cassava cultivation techniques, while about four integrated soil fertility management demonstration and multiplication farms have been targeted to emerge from the scheme.

The agency has equally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with farmers organized in clusters who will participate in the support scheme.

Consequently, the RSSDA has surveyed a total land area of 4,000 hectares in different local government areas of the state, which will serve as cassava pilot farms and as centres for support for local farmers.

This development has propelled Stanbic/IBTC Bank to source fund to support opportunities for smallholder farmers by providing them loan up to 40 per cent for total investment in the scheme.