The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) says it has embarked on capacity building for youths across the country on cassava cultivation.

NNMDA director-general Martins Emeje, at a webinar organised by the agency on the Cassava Value Chain Initiative with Nigerian youths, said that capacity building would be focused on cassava cultivation for pharmaceutical products.

According to Emeje, Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, yet it does not have a good value addition for cassava and its products.

He said that if the country harnessed the value chain in cassava properly, it would be attractive globally, especially due to its starch, which could be used for pharmaceutical products.

According to him, the uniqueness of the CVCI is the decision by the National Assembly, which charged NNMDA with harnessing the value chain of cassava, making it a national project.

According to him, every medicine one sees  has two parts – the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the excipients; cassava starch is an excipient and ethanol.

Mr Emeje, addressing representatives of different groups nationwide, including youths and women, said the national project was specifically for making pharmaceutical grade starch from cassava.

By its protocol, he said that the agency was converting and leveraging  its ability to create jobs and wealth for people, beginning from ground level- cassava cultivation.

The director-general said that after the training for each of the zones,  particular places where there would be cultivation would be identified, and each youth available to work on the farm would be supported.

According to him, NNMDA has a technology – buyback technology, which has been put into the project and will be responsible for the market as the youth’s job is just to cultivate the cassava.

“What is needed from the youth is availability to contribute to this national project for the development of the country and to lift our people from abject poverty,” noted Mr Emeje.

Mr Emeje said that  NNMDA projects were community-driven projects, with an interest in contributing to the lifting of Nigerians from poverty.

(NAN)