Rockin’ the Cassava: The Shareef Don’t Like It but Nigeria Does

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kebbi State Government to build an 84 million litres per annum capacity fuel-ethanol project. The Sugarcane and Cassava-Fuel Ethanol Project in Kebbi State would involve the development of 20,000 hectares of an integrated plantation and plant complex.

The backstory

With about 186 million people living in Nigeria making it the most populous country in Africa and seventh most in the world, it is set to be a leader in the biofuels future. Prior to the 1970’s, Nigeria was able to feed its entire population without importing food, but as the population has grown so quickly, so has the need for importing food.

So the fact that the government and businesses are supporting and promoting sugarcane and cassava – otherwise food crops – are causing some NGOs and environmentalists to be up in arms and upset about the huge push for biofuels in Nigeria.

Much like the rock music banned by the Shareef in The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah” song, there are some that would rather ban food feedstock based biofuels in Nigeria, but cassava and sugarcane farmers, corporations, and government will be dancing in the streets with more biofuel projects like these coming to the rescue to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on oil.

Quite a large population are employed in Nigerian agriculture – about 30% – with cassava being one of the key crops, along with cocoa and rubber as big export agricultural products.

In fact, several oil companies, like NNPC, are divesting their interests and moving away from oil towards biofuel and other alternatives because of the conflicts and oil theft issues.

The GMD (Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru) listed the benefits of the project to include: creation of rural wealth, generation of 1,000,000 direct and indirect jobs, co-generation of about 64 megawatts of bio-electricity to power the plant and lighten up the surrounding communities, effecting reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, production of refined sugar and Industrial starch as well as production of animal feeds.

Earlier, Kebbi State Governor, Alh. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who led a high powered delegation representing every strata of the state, congratulated the President and the GMD for the vision of the biofuels project, stressing that the move would transform the NNPC into a fully-fledged energy company.

Some like Italy’s ENI are saying it should stay with their recent interest in setting up a joint venture with the NNPC to develop domestic biofuel production, as reported in October in the Digest. Though both ethanol and biodiesel are planned under the national program, it isn’t clear yet what ENI’s role will be or what kind of production it is likely to support.

A UKAID-funded project is also saying it should stay, in particular cassava should stay as it seeks to help cassava farmers mechanize their harvest too boost production efficiency while grouping them together in clusters in an effort to increase opportunities for ethanol production, as reported in the Digest in October.

As reported in the Digest in September, a Nigerian NGO says cassava needs to go due to concern that genetically modified cassava is a “gateway” for other GM crops. The local NGO lashed out at attempts to carry out a controlled trial of GM cassava as a potential ethanol feedstock, saying that the move by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Zurich, Switzerland-based ETHZ Laboratories was a sly way to open the door for other GM crops such as corn and cotton. The modification to the cassava is so that the roots lose less starch after harvesting to allow more flexibility in storage and handling before processing into ethanol.

Bottom Line

While concerns over cassava as a “gateway” GM crop is interesting, we don’t see it stopping the push and support for cassava and other food crop based biofuels in Nigeria. Their attempt to diversify beyond oil and become more energy independent and self-sufficient is a noble one and with the increasing government support throughout Nigeria, we see cassava and biofuels in general becoming a real economic opportunity for the country as an alternative to fossil fuels. Cassava in particular could bring more cash to Nigeria, which is already the largest producer of cassava tubers in the world.

However, Nigerian biofuels will need to be implemented in a sustainable manner that can be measured, audited, and checked so that it doesn’t conflict with feeding Nigeria’s growing population and so that it doesn’t face the same corruption, resource conflicts, and wealth stealing issues that has plagued the oil industry. If Nigeria does it right, they really can rock the cassava and even get the Shareef to like it. READ MORE