Last updated on October 31st, 2026 at 10:26 am
The cassava industry looks completely different depending on which country, town, or village you stand in. In Thailand it means starch plants and export docks, while in my corner of Abia State it means hoes, mounds, and garri roasted over firewood.
Nigeria grows more cassava than any other country, yet a farmer in Ntigha sells roots to garri traders rather than to factories.
I farm and process cassava there, so I see the gap between national output and industrial use every season.
This post compares how six countries organize growing, processing, and selling, and what each one turns its roots into.
It then looks closely at why Nigeria’s processing has stalled, and what the countries that process more have done differently.
For production totals, prices, and trade data, the companion market hub carries the figures in full detail.
Table of Contents
What Is the Cassava Industry?
It covers everyone who grows, processes, trades, and uses cassava, from smallholders and graters to starch plants and ethanol distilleries.
Some countries eat most of what they grow, while others turn roots into starch, chips, and ethanol for sale abroad.
Production, consumption, and price figures are gathered in the cassava market hub, and every link in the chain in the cassava value chain.
Six Countries at a Glance
| Country | What the industry mainly produces | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | Garri, fufu, and other household foods | Local and regional households |
| Thailand | Native and modified starch, dried chips | China and Asian food manufacturers |
| Vietnam | Dried chips and low-processed starch | China, above 90 percent of exports |
| Brazil | Starch and farinha for home markets | Pasta, bakery, and tapioca makers |
| Congo (DRC) | Chikwangue, fufu flour, and leaves | Local households |
| India | Sago and industrial starch | Domestic food and industry |
Nigeria, Congo, and Thailand grew 42 percent of the world’s cassava in 2024, according to IndexBox.
Only Thailand among those three built its industry around processing and export rather than home consumption.
Nigeria
Nigeria harvested about 62 million tons in 2024, the largest crop on earth, IndexBox reports.
Most of it becomes garri, fufu, and similar foods processed in homes and small village units.
In my community, fixed and mobile graters plus hand-turned screw presses do the heavy work for garri makers.
Thailand
Thailand ships about 61 percent of the world’s cassava exports, and its starch reaches buyers across Asia.
China took 48.9 percent of Thai starch exports during the first eleven months of 2024, the Thai Tapioca Trade Association reported.
The same association data show modified starch earning roughly 70 percent more per ton than native starch.
Thai buyers and prices are followed closely in the tapioca starch export market, and modification in how modified starch is made.
Vietnam
Vietnam exported more than 3.9 million tons of cassava products in 2025, earning about $1.26 billion, VnEconomy reported.
China took 94.1 percent of that volume, which leaves the industry heavily exposed to a single buyer.
Experts there want to shift away from chips and low-processed starch toward modified starch and other higher-value products.
Chip quotes and buyer specifications are tracked in cassava chip prices per ton.
Brazil
Brazil produced about 536,600 tons of cassava starch in 2018, mostly in Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, and São Paulo, CEPEA reports.
Pasta, biscuit, bakery, and tapioca makers buy much of that starch, while paper and textile mills have moved to corn starch.
Brazilian cheese bread is one popular use, and I have baked my own chewy version with starch from my small unit.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Congo ranks second in world output, and its people eat about 353 kilograms of cassava per person each year, Wikipedia notes.
Chikwangue, fufu, and cooked leaves dominate, while pests and poor infrastructure hold back larger processing.
Congo also leads the world in eating cassava leaves as a vegetable, a use covered in the post on cassava leaves as food.
India
India grew about 4.8 million tons on 0.21 million hectares in 2015 to 2016, a Tamil Nadu Agricultural University outlook reports.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala lead production, with sago used as food and starch sold for industrial purposes.
How sago differs from tapioca pearls is set out in tapioca versus sago.
Why Nigeria’s Cassava Industry Stalled
Only around 5 percent of Nigeria’s 2023 harvest entered industrial processing, BusinessDay reported in 2025.
The same paper reported that Flour Mills Nigeria shut its cassava flour project because root deliveries were too inconsistent.
During the Presidential Initiative on Cassava from 2002, output outgrew processing and prices plunged, the Global Anticorruption Blog recounts.
Meanwhile, the country still spent about $600 million a year importing cassava derivatives, the Central Bank told Channels TV.
A Lagos Business School brief estimates Nigeria captures about 2 percent of a global processing market near $183 billion.
From Ntigha, the gap is easy to see, because no large processing plant operates anywhere in Ngwaland or eastern Nigeria.
My own drying oven runs on grid power, and outages stop a batch until electricity returns.
Government programs have still reached us, through the team that sold me TME 419 stems and the sensitization behind soil testing.
Price crashes from that imbalance are covered in cassava glut seasons, and wider barriers in challenges facing the value chain.
What Processing Countries Did Differently
- Steady root supply: factories need roots every week, and Flour Mills’ experience shows what happens when deliveries break down.
- Published market data: Thai traders release customs figures twice a month, so farmers and processors can see prices and volumes.
- Higher-value products: modified starch earns far more than native starch, which is why Vietnam now wants to move beyond chips.
- A large anchor buyer: Chinese demand absorbs most Thai and Vietnamese exports, though relying on one buyer carries its own risk.
High quality cassava flour is one product Nigeria could make at scale, as the post on high quality cassava flour describes.
Small businesses entering processing will find practical starting points in starting a cassava business.
Breeding and processing research behind each country’s progress is traced in cassava research and development.
Conclusion
The cassava industry splits into two models: food-led systems in Nigeria and Congo, and export processing systems in Thailand and Vietnam.
Brazil and India mostly process starch and sago for buyers in their own large home markets.
Nigeria grows the world’s largest crop, yet only about 5 percent of it reaches industrial processing each year.
From Ntigha, missing factories, unreliable power, and broken supply links explain much of that gap between harvest and factory.
To discuss cassava processing or buy oven-dried starch and flour from Ntigha, message Cassava Pathway on WhatsApp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country has the largest cassava crop?
Nigeria grew about 62 million tons in 2024, ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Thailand.
Most Nigerian cassava becomes household foods such as garri and fufu instead.
Which country exports the most cassava?
Thailand ships about 61 percent of world cassava exports, followed by Vietnam at 22 percent.
China buys most of what both countries sell abroad, especially chips and starch.
Why does Nigeria process so little of its cassava?
Inconsistent root supply, too few large factories, and unreliable grid power all hold processing back.
BusinessDay reports only about 5 percent of the 2023 harvest entered industrial processing.
What is the most valuable cassava product for export?
Modified starch earns roughly 70 percent more per ton than native starch, according to Thai trade data.
Chips earn the least, since buyers convert them into ethanol and feed.
Chimeremeze Emeh is a tropical crop farmer and chemical engineer from Ntigha, Isiala Ngwa North LGA, Abia State, Eastern Nigeria, specializing in cassava and palm oil, with over 30 years of hands-on experience growing, harvesting, and processing cassava. He grows TMS series, TME 419, and local traditional varieties on his own farms and operates a small-scale cassava flour and starch production business through Cassava Pathway, which he founded as a CAMA-registered agribusiness in 2024. He is also the founder of Palm Oil Pathway, where he applies the same tropical farming expertise. His farms are located in Ntigha, Abia State.