Kwara State's emphasis on value chain management in agriculture has paid off as Ireti Farms, under the auspices of Shonga Farms Holdings, in partnership with Austravia of Australia, is to commence the exportation of cassava chips to China, with the first batch of 6,000 tonnes scheduled to depart the state in the next two weeks.

Shonga Farms, in which Kwara State has 25 per cent stake, is also to coordinate the sourcing of additional cassava from out growers.

This was disclosed at an interactive session between Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and a delegation of Austravia, exporters of dried cassava chips, led by its Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Sam Popilko; representative of the Minister of Agriculture, Chief James Awoniyi; and Chairman, Shonga Farms Holdings, Mr. Tope Daramola, at the Government House in Ilorin.

A statement made available on Sunday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Abdulwahab Oba, quoted Popilko as saying the state had more than a million tonne per day of cassava required by China ready to be explored.

"The glut of the produce in the Shonga Farms necessitated the new deal. The first batch of 6, 000 tonnes will be exported," he said.

Speaking on the success of the Shonga Farms' initiative, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said through Awoniyi, "Kwara State is very strategic to the Federal Government's initiative on cassava export. Kwara has the foresight with the creation of the Shonga Farms Holdings. It was not very clear to many people at that time when Kwara started this; and probably, a lot of Nigerians saw it as a wasted effort.

"But cassava will surely become the foundation for the economic development of this state and Nigeria is waiting. With this initiative, Kwara is poised to take over from Thailand as major exporter of cassava."

Responding, Ahmed said the exportation of cassava chips to China was possible because the state government had kept faith with best practices in agriculture through the sharing of best values with experts across the world.

"An attempt to create a synergy between research institutions, practising farmers and policy formulators led us into partnering with Cornell University in the United States, known globally for agricultural best practices, in the formulation of a five-year Agricultural Master Plan that will change the face of agriculture in the state," the governor said.