Abuja, Nigeria – November 7, 2025 — In a major stride toward transforming Nigeria’s agricultural landscape, the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has signed a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agbeyewa Farms, a partnership set to redefine the nation’s cassava value chain and accelerate industrial-scale production.
The MoU signing ceremony held at the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, National Assembly Complex, Abuja, brought together key government officials, industry stakeholders, development partners, and private sector leaders in a strong show of commitment to agricultural transformation.
Speaking at the event, Engr. Cornelius Olusegun Adebayo, Executive Secretary of NALDA, reaffirmed the agency’s strategic drive to support private sector-led agricultural expansion under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda..
He recalled that his initial visit to Agbeyewa Farms in Ekiti State in 2024 was a defining moment that influenced NALDA’s decision to prioritize cassava as a critical focus crop and partnership with Agbeyewa Farms.
“Our conviction to partner with Agbeyewa Farms is anchored on the clear capacity of their investment, the scale of their operations, and the size of the farms. These factors validate our belief that Agbeyewa Farms is not just the largest cassava farm in Nigeria, but indeed the largest in Africa.”
“We have moved beyond producing raw cassava quantities. The next phase for Nigeria is capturing the global market — and this partnership is a key direction towards achieving that mark.”
“While Nigeria currently leads global cassava production with over 65 million metric tons annually, the country earns less than $1 million from a global market valued at $3.65 billion. This partnership is a vehicle that seeks to close that gaps,” Adebayo emphasized.
He further announced that, under the MoU, NALDA will clear an additional 5,000 hectares of land to support Agbeyewa’s large-scale cultivation drive, secure raw material availability for processing, and deepen industrial sector participation.
“Government has no business in running businesses — government should enable businesses to thrive. With Agbeyewa, we are building a model that proves that the private sector, supported with the right policiesand legislations, can scale faster, bigger, and more sustainably,” he added.
In his remarks, Mr. OSKA Seyi Aiyeleso, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Agbeyewa Farms, expressed deep appreciation to NALDA on behalf of the Chairman, Mr. Niyi John Olajide for translating months of strategic engagement into a formal alliance that will reshape Nigeria’s agricultural future.
He reflected on Agbeyewa’s bold growth trajectory, disclosing that the company has already cultivated over 3,000 hectares of cassava, with expansion plans to reach 5,000 hectares by the end of 2025.
“Agbeyewa Farms is today the largest cassava farm in Africa. With this collaboration, we are positioned to become the largest in the world. This is not just growth — it is transformation. This is not just farming — this is industrial repositioning.”
Aiyeleso added that Agbeyewa’s operating model is anchored on four core pillars — cultivation, aggregation, agro-processing, and agro-training, driven by full mechanization. He also reaffirmed the vision of Mr. Niyi John Olajide to curb unemployment in Nigeria through Agebyewa’s commitment to economic empowerment, revealing that its workforce has now grown to over 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, with thousands more supported across its value chain.
Both leaders applauded President Tinubu for championing reforms that strengthen private sector participation, unlock investment, and remove systemic barriers to growth.
Delivering the technical framework for the partnership, Engr. Mathew O. Owolabi, Technical Adviser to NALDA, described the MoU as a strategic collaboration designed to share resources, mitigate operational risks, strengthen transparency, and unlock long-term institutional value for Nigeria’s agricultural economy.
The ceremony culminated in the formal signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between NALDA and Agbeyewa Farms Limited, signaling the beginning of an ambitious new era of land expansion, cassava industrialization, value chain development, and large-scale job creation across Nigeria.
