The Federal Government of Nigeria has commenced the empowerment of about 14 million smallholder farmers as key players in Nigeria’s cassava bioethanol value chain to boost rural incomes, drive industrialisation, and reduce fuel import costs.
The empowerment is being implemented through the Cassava Bioethanol Value Chain Development Project, which positions farmers as core suppliers within a bioeconomy linked to energy and manufacturing.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, disclosed this at a capacity-building workshop for stakeholders in the South-East zone held in Enugu, Enugu State, with public and private sector actors in attendance.
Bagudu said effective implementation of the project could save Nigeria over ₦3 trillion annually in foreign exchange by blending bioethanol with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), thereby reducing dependence on imported fuel.
He explained that under the National Bio-Economy Policy, the ministry was committed to promoting a circular economy that goes beyond ethanol production and utilisation. “We are looking at the entire value chain, from high-quality stems and starch to the CO₂ captured during fermentation and the animal feeds produced from distillery grains,” the minister said.
The Minister, represented by the Director of Economic Growth, Mr Auwal Mohammed of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, said the project would adopt a Triple-Helix knowledge transfer partnership framework. He said the approach focuses on providing high-yield, disease-resistant cassava varieties, attracting investment, expanding technology and market access, and creating an enabling environment supported by infrastructure.
Earlier, the Director of Agriculture in the Economic Growth Department, Mr Olaifa Alade, said the workshop was designed to strengthen stakeholders’ capacity for effective project implementation. He said the initiative sits at the intersection of industrialisation, energy transition, and rural empowerment.
Alade assured participants of the ministry’s commitment to providing the necessary policy support and monitoring framework to ensure the transition of the pilot phase into a national programme. He expressed optimism that the training would catalyse transformation in Nigeria’s agricultural and energy sectors, driving sustainable growth.
Participants were trained on modules including Nigeria’s Bio-Economy Framework and Cassava Bioethanol, value chain mapping, stakeholder engagement and public-private partnerships, project management, monitoring and evaluation, and implementation effectiveness.
The workshop drew participants from state ministries of budget and economic planning, state ministries of agriculture, farmers’ associations, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), NACCIMA, universities, and research institutes across the South-East zone.
The capacity-building programme was organised by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with Meatia Global Services Ltd and the Association of Deans of Faculties of Agriculture of Nigerian Universities (ADAN).
Read also: Food Security Is Now a Macroeconomic and Security Issue for Nigeria – Shettima
