How chips are unlocking Nigeria’s cassava industrialisation, potential

For decades, cassava’s potential was held back by its perishable nature. But a simple innovation is changing everything.

Once harvested, cassava roots deteriorate rapidly, losing starch content and value almost immediately. This problem creates volatility across the supply chain.

Farmers face weak bargaining power and low prices due to rushed sales, while processors struggle with unreliable supply and unpredictable operations.

This short window for usable roots has hindered industrialisation. However, a shift is underway: moving to cassava chips is key to transforming the crop into a global industrial commodity, says Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator (NCIA), an initiative of the Lagos Business School Pan-Atlantic University.

Time saving

As highlighted by the NCIA, cassava chips address the crop’s primary constraint by removing moisture. Chips are not a complicated innovation. The process involves slicing the root and drying it to around 12-14 percent moisture content, totally eliminating the “sell now” pressure.

The practical advantage is that chips buy time. What was once a two-day race against rot becomes a storable asset that can last six to twelve months.

But the impact on the cassava value chain is significant because drying turns cassava into a storable commodity. This transforms cassava from a “sell now” crop into a produce that can be held, moved, and supplied with more planning and far less urgency.

This transformation offers three critical economic advantages. Firstly, it helps reduced logistics costs- as fresh cassava accounts for 60 percent of water. Drying roots at the source means processors will not be paying to transport water-filled produce, significantly lowering fuel and haulage costs.

Secondly, market stabilisation- storable chips allow for “inventory planning,” enabling factories to operate year-round rather than being subject to seasonal harvest excesses and scarcities

Lastly, it helps in empowering smallholders – Localized chipping hubs allow farmers to lock in value closer to the farm gate, moving them away from the mercy of immediate post-harvest spoilage.

Quality as infrastructure

The NCIA emphasises that chips only function as industrial “infrastructure” when quality is standardised. For the model to scale, the industry must move away from informal trade and toward strict specifications.

Drying needs to be reliable and protected from risk of re-wetting. Storage needs to be properly planned and executed; clean packaging, raised pallets, dry rooms, and basic pest control.

These are essential because the biggest enemy of dried chips is moisture returning during handling or storage. And finally, incentives matter.

If suppliers don’t see a clear benefit to meeting specifications, quality will drift and the model will revert to an informal commodity trade. When these basics are in place, chips stop being a derivative and start functioning as stored cassava inventory that processors can plan around.

Blueprint for scalable pre-processing

A leading example of this model in action is Sofari Ltd., a female-led cassava processor that has been a first-mover in Nigeria’s cassava-to-chips landscape since 2018.

Insights by the NCIA indicate that Sofari has recognized that factory failure is rarely about machines, but about feedstock.

By establishing decentralized pre-processing hubs close to farming communities, Sofari captures the roots within that critical 48-hour window. This model turns scattered smallholder harvests into a unified, high-quality inventory of chips that feed their production of High-Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) and starch.

The model works by converting cassava into chips, which are stored as inventory and aggregated from multiple locations to match factory needs.

Sofari maintains strict quality control, with clear targets for moisture, contamination, and handling protocols. This approach enables steady factory operations, making production planning possible and ensuring reliable delivery to buyers.

By standardising operations, Sofari shows how cassava chips can be stored and moved regionally at scale.

Through strict adherence to accepted standards, the company has demonstrated that cassava supply doesn’t have to be volatile. It can be managed with the same care as any other industrial input.

With Sofari working to expand its network of outgrower schemes and processing centers, it is positioned to create long-term capacity that can support industrial buyers. This reduces reliance on aggregators who introduce volatility and unpredictability into the supply chain.

Partnerships for scale

To transition from a successful “proof of concept” to a national standard, the NCIA insight indicates that what companies like Sofari need now is the right partners to scale a model that is already working.

Offtakers can play the most direct role by committing to predictable demand, either for these companies’ finished products like HQCF and starch, or for consistent-quality chips as a feedstock.

At the same time, financiers can unlock expansion by providing the capital required to grow networks of processing hubs, increase storage facilities and strengthen quality control practices, while deepening outgrower relationships that secure reliable supply.

With demand pull from offtakers and patient, fit-for-purpose capital behind operations, Sofari can expand from a strong proof point into a dependable supplier for industrial buyers.

Nigeria’s cassava industry is hitting its stride by focusing on pre-processing and chips, unlocking the crop’s true industrial potential. Sofari’s model proves that overcoming time constraints is key to achieving scale