The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is set to revive the moribund Garri Processing Factory in Alapoti Village of Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The move comes as a beacon of hope for the predominantly agrarian community, the second-largest farm settlement in Ogun and a key producer within the cassava value chain in the Southwest.
The intervention is the result of a directive by the Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, to the National Programme Manager of the Community and Social Development Projects, Olubunmi Bello, to visit the village.
The Alapoti village, a 20-minute drive from Lagos through the Agbara corridor, holds immense potential to be a major supply source of cassava produce to Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
The Baale of the town, Chief Mattew Akanbi Oluwaloni, thanked the Ministry for the laudable initiative, which is like an answered prayer for the village.
He highlighted reliance on manual methods of cassava processing, deplorable access road, and difficulties in sourcing raw materials and accessing markets for their products as some of the challenges they face.
According to her, Dr Edu has directed that no effort should be spared towards giving necessary assistance to intervene in the community by establishing a befitting Cassava Processing plant in the village.
“We are dedicated to assisting in building a befitting Cassava processing plant here in this community, including the provision of grants and support through cooperative groups, to enhance production capacity,” Bello said.
She said the initiatives align with the Administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The community leaders pledged to hand over the building for the revival of the processing factory, which was initially designed to handle 10 tons of cassava daily.
The community anticipates processing up to 40 tons of cassava daily during the harvest season.
Apart from garri, other products from cassava processing include Fufu, Lafun (Cassava Flour), Pupuru (a cassava snack), and animal feed derived from dried cassava peel.
The community also outlined other requests, including the expansion and conversion of the current building, construction of a new shed for various processing stages, increasing processing capacity, setting up a packaging line and introducing alternate energy sources to optimize operational costs.
This transformative initiative holds promise for Alapoti Village, signalling a potential overhaul in cassava processing and economic growth for its residents and environs.
Accompanying the CSDP National Programme Manager were key figures including the Special Adviser to the Governor of Ogun State, Mr. Kola Salako, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta Prof Kola Adebayo, and Ayoola Jolayemi, Executive Director, Quintas Farm Gate Industries Limited.
Source: Nation
