Dutch Agricultural Development & Trading Company BVDADTCO
Our mission is to initiate a cassava revolution across Africa.
The demand across Africa for cassava products (cassava cake, high-quality cassava flour, starch and glucose) is expected to rise rapidly due to urbanization and the global increase in grain prices.
These factors are now convincing manufacturers of national and international consumer and industrial products that cassava can be used as a substitute for higher-priced raw materials. With growing market demand for cassava, increased production can now generate increased benefits for Africa’s smallholder cassava farmers.
OUR APPROACH
It is DADTCO’s conviction that agricultural development only takes place when farmers have access to guaranteed markets for their products. Together with its partners, DADTCO not only buys cassava roots but it also makes sure that sustainable farming practices as Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) are applied. A sustainable future for smallholder farmers guarantees a sustainable source of roots supply for DADTCO.
THE AMPU
DADTCO developed a patented innovative “split” processing technology that has dramatically changed the way cassava is perceived, grown and processed in Africa. The company’s Autonomous Mobile Processing Units (AMPUs) processes fresh cassava on-farm or nearby, instead of transporting the perishable roots over long distances to a central factory. The obtained Cassava Cake is used as raw material
PARTNERSHIPS
Recognizing the important role that cassava and smallholder farmers can play in African agriculture, the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) and the Dutch Agricultural Development & Trading Company (DADTCO) launched the cassava public-private partnership (PPP) in 2010.
IFDC Cassava+ Project
IMPORTANT FACTS
SABMiller plc (SAB.L), one of the world's largest brewers, launched the first ever commercial-scale cassava-based beer made with cassava cake from DADTCO.
Sabmiller aims to win over home brewers with cassava beer
The Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has announced the following:
Cassava is a key element of the Nigerian National Agricultural Transformation Action Plan, because notwithstanding the fact that Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world it contributes zero % in terms of value added in global trade. The Cassava Transformation Plan obliges wheat millers to blend 40% high quality cassava flour (hereinafter referred to as HQCF) in their wheat flour. The plan is to expand cassava production from 34 million MT to 51 million MT by 2015, doubling yields from 12.5 MT to 25 MT per ha and generate an additional 1.2 million jobs.