Narrator: Nigeria is the world's biggest producer
of cassava, or yuca.
The root is a staple food here, made into fufu and garri.
In some regions,
it makes up as much as half of the calories eaten.
Narrator: Cassava became so popular
because it resists drought and pests.
The root is calorie-rich, high in vitamin C,
and can replace more expensive starches like wheat or rice.
Experts say areas that grow cassava are less likely
to endure famine.
Today, cassava is finding growing markets
in Europe, North America, and Asia,
touted as a versatile, gluten-free superfood.
It can be turned into valuable exports like ethanol
for biofuel, sweetener, and starches,
like tapioca for bubble tea.
But most of the cassava Nigeria grows
never leaves the country.
So it could be missing out on billions in global trade.
Challenges plague its entire supply chain
from farm to factory.
For one, cassava needs to be processed
in less than 48 hours, or it rots.
But most processing plants are hundreds of miles from farms.
As of 2015, the country had lost $600 million worth
of cassava to spoilage.
Entrepreneur Yemisi Iranloye says
she's found a way to fix that.
She launched a processing company
called Psaltry International
and has since landed customers like Nestle and Unilever.
Narrator: So can Nigeria fix its supply chain enough
to feed itself and cash in on a global export market?
Cassava is a shrub with edible roots
that's native to South America.
The raw root can be poisonous.
It actually has cyanide in it.
But more than 4,000 years ago,
Indigenous people in the Amazon River basin discovered
that grating, straining, and cooking cassava
made it safe to eat.
Portuguese colonizers first introduced cassava to Africa
in the 16th century.
Then, in the 1850s,
when formerly enslaved Africans returned to Nigeria,
they brought cassava-cooking methods with them from Brazil.
Europeans pushed the cultivation of cassava in Africa
because it was hardy and could help prevent famine.
During this time,
new ways to cook the roots sprung up across the continent.
In Nigeria, they ground up and dried the cassava pulps
into flakes called garri.
Because it's fermented,
garri helped harvested cassava last longer.
Over the centuries, the roots replace native yams
as the main food source across the continent.
Narrator: Today, Nigeria produces
more than 60 million tons a year.
But experts say
cassava farmers aren't growing it efficiently,
so they take home just $1 a day.
You're farming on really small plots,
so you're not getting the benefit of economies of scale.
Narrator: Large-scale farmers usually grow more delicate crops,
like corn, rice, or wheat,
because they can be more profitable than cassava.
Will: They get a little bit more of a premium spot
in the allocation of land.
Narrator: The ones growing cassava often do it
because they have no other choice.
Cassava can handle acidic, poor-quality soil.
It needs less fertilizer and water,
and it's generally cheaper to grow.
But because of uneven soil,
machinery and tractors can't reach many cassava fields.
And since they're harvesting by hand
and growing seed varieties that don't produce as many roots,
Nigerian cassava farmers have some of the worst yields
in the world, meaning they harvest less of it per acre.
But Yemisi believed she could change that.
She spent years saving up money
to open her own cassava-processing business
in 2005, Psaltry International.
Narrator: She grouped farmers so they could buy
and cultivate more land together.
Like this nearly 500-acre farm.
Narrator: She brought in Foluke Adeleke
as a head of agriculture
to introduce new, stronger cassava varieties
onto her partner farms.
Narrator: Yemisi has also been able to introduce tractors
on some plots, speeding up harvest by 150%.
Because these farms are harvesting more cassava,
Yemisi can pay more.
She cut out any middlemen
and directly pays farmers nearly four times more
than the open market.
Now, farmers know
how much they'll make off their crop before they even plant.
Narrator: All of her efforts
have gotten a lot of attention.
Over the last 18 years, she's partnered with 10,000 farmers.
Narrator: After pulling up a load of massive roots,
workers throw them onto trucks bound
for Psaltry's processing plant.
Ninety percent of the country's cassava is eaten locally,
mostly as garri and fufu.
Aderoju Adijat has been a garri producer since 1995.
Every day, her factory processes two
to three truckloads of cassava.
Narrator: Workers peel and wash the incoming roots.
Then they grind, drain, press, and fry the cassava
to make the garri's signature flakes.
The peeled cassava has to be soaked for three days
to make the staple side dish fufu.
It's pounded, sieved, and drained before forming a paste.
Narrator: Fufu sells for 5 cents apiece.
Yemisi, however, envisioned processing cassava
into much more valuable products, like starch and sweetener.
But she faced another big challenge:
getting these roots to factories.
Since cassava is almost 75% water, it's perishable
and can spoil within just 48 hours of harvesting.
Will: So it basically needs to be processed
in some way almost immediately.
Narrator: But most factories are near cities,
down long roads in poor condition.
Narrator: Until recently,
40% of cassava grown was lost to spoilage,
and processing plants weren't working at capacity.
So Yemisi tried something different.
Narrator: Because once it's processed,
cassava won't spoil as quickly.
Today, Psaltry handles 100 million kilos of cassava a year
at factories like this one.
Narrator: That's Ogunbor Odegua Florence,
the plant manager.
Narrator: The belt takes the cassava to the dry cleaner.
Narrator: A wet wash finishes the cleaning process.
Narrator: Those peels will be used as animal feed.
They're a cheaper alternative to corn feed.
Then the crusher chops the cassava into smaller pieces.
The final processed cassava starch or flour,
can be made into a number of products,
from pastries, breads, noodles, seasoning for Nestle,
and tapioca pearls for bubble tea.
This is also the first sorbitol factory in all of Nigeria.
The sweetener it creates can sell
for over 10 times the price of raw cassava.
Unilever uses Yemisi's sorbitol to make products like toothpaste,
and mouthwash.
Narrator: While huge customers
have helped Yemisi become one of the largest processors
in the country, she hasn't been able to export much.
She does ship her sorbitol internationally
but hasn't had luck exporting flour or starch.
And she's not alone.
Nigeria is the world's top cassava producer,
but it's ranked 59th on the global list of exporters.
In 2021, Thailand earned nearly $1.3 billion
from exporting cassava,
despite producing less than half as much as Nigeria.
That same year, Nigeria earned just $1 million.
It's not like the demand isn't there.
The global market for sorbitol is expected
to rise as more people turn to sugar-free products.
Nigeria actually has to import 95% of its starch,
because demand outpaces production.
Rising wheat prices due to the war in Ukraine
have driven up interest in cassava flour.
And then there's ethanol,
a valuable biofuel also used in beer- and wine-making
and pharmaceutical products.
Some estimate cassava ethanol production alone
could earn the country billions.
But the final problem is adoption.
Yes, cassava is an important food staple,
but Yemisi says not enough Nigerians know
that it can also be processed
into lucrative export products.
Now, the government has done things
to increase demand domestically, but experts say
it needs to invest more to boost exports.
And producers have told us
they want more government support,
like building better roads near farms
and increasing investments in new cassava varieties.
Because Yemisi think Psaltry
is proving cassava investments can actually work.
Narrator: If Nigeria can grow, process, and export more,
it could tap the huge economic potential of cassava.