Cassava flour maker wants the Agripreneurs to ‘have big dreams’

Thai Farms... Nigeria’s biggest cassava flour maker

Thai Farm Nigeria Ltd, makers of cassava flour, has urged the IITA Agripreneurs to have a vision about investments in agriculture. The Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director, Mr Louw Burger, gave the advice during their learning visit to the factory on 27 August 2013.

On the team also were Malawian cassava processors and the IITA Communication Officer, Mr. Godwin Atser.

In his presentation, Mr Burger encouraged the team to have big dreams, stating that the challenges faced while carrying out small projects are the same as those encountered in bigger undertakings.

He gave a talk on how Thai Farm came into being, the firm’s success stories, as well as its present challenges. He explained the processes involved in the conversion of cassava roots to High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF), and highlighted the uses of the by-products.

The team raised questions which were satisfactorily answered. At the factory, a detailed tour was taken, with the guests seeing all the processes involved in the making of HQCF, right from root testing (i.e., testing starch content of the cassava roots) to the packaging of the end product. Mr Burger also shared some of his expansion plans with the visitors. Two members of the IITA Youth Agripreneurs, Bekee Barituka and Lamidi Funmilola, said the visit was educative and inspiring. They were grateful for the opportunity to see cassava processing on a large scale and its potential in creating employment and wealth.