An Unplanned Visit to Niji Foods at Ilero

  Niji Foods: Somewhere among the hills of Ilero sits one of the most fascinating cassava processing plants. With state of the art machinery situated very close to the source of raw material, It is from here Niji foods produces some of the best known cassava products that dotted Nigeria's super malls and African shops in Europe and America... from High Quality, cassava flour to odorless fufu flour and Gari are produced.

I was actually on inspection tour to Ilero on one of our soybean organic farm monitoring duties, suddenly at a particular location the strong stench of fermented cassava took over the air...I was wondering what could have caused it, Ilero is known for their tree crops like cashew and shea trees, why cassava. I stopped and asked my guide why this strong stench. He couldn't give any satisfactory answer. My curiosity led to discovering the effluents gushing out from a particular building and my investigation started.

Within minutes I was standing before a fully automated garri frying machine and a well coordinated cassava processing plant. The efficiency of the operation was remarkable. I learned a lot that day, I was really convinced on my quest to make agriculture and nature my own way of life. 

For two years, I was making fast remarkable progress in my new career. I was so exposed to so many innovations, I don't want the experience to stop. I witness life in plants real time, and the harmony God created between animals, plants, pests and humans. Pests think you grow their food and you tell them no...that the food is yours, sometimes you win and other times you lose.

Breaking this kind of harmony using shortcuts by using chemicals can be devastating for everyone that's interested in the products. Finding alternative and more environmentally friendly means to help keep the balance is a quest I am ready to achieve success in.