Psatry International Limited, an indigenous agro-allied company produces high quality food grade cassava starch for export and local consumption. PIL is among the companies that benefited from Central Bank of Nigeria agro-business intervention fund. In this report AMAKA IFEAKANDU x-rays the company’s performance
Psatry International Limited, a cassava processing company has used the opportunities inherent in the agricultural sector to create wealth for itself, skilled and unskilled labour.
The PIL is one of the indigenous agro allied companies that benefited from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention funds in the commercial agricultural credit scheme. The Company located at Alayide-Wasimi Village, Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, with 400 hectres of cassava farmland at a farming community of about 10,000 hectares of farmland. PIL which was established in 2005 to market cassava produce later expanded its business line to include farm development and production of food grade starch from cassava.
Managing Director of PIL, Mrs Yemisi Iranloye while addressing the CBN Officials and financial Journalist during excursion to the factory, said the company held its first out-grower programme in 2012 and since Inception, it has created a supply chain involving up to 5,000 farm families which include more than 2,000 registered and unregistered outgrower farm families, marketers, the labourers, the traders, the transporters, the retail input suppliers.
She said Psaltry has two production lines- 20-tons per day starch factory plant which started in 2013 and an additional Production Line of 30 tons per day capacity in 2015 to meet with customer demands and satisfaction. She however said that the company accessed initially credit facilities of N264 million through the CBN agro business intervention funds which was fully repaid and it had a subsequent loan of N500 million.
Iranloye said that with the support of the company 64 farmers received a total loan of N23,899,000, and only 40 farmers received draw back. On the performance of the company, she said “The company’s asset base as at December 2015 was about $5million comprising the factory, farm land and equipment. In 2015 alone, PIL generated up to $3.5million as revenue and has saved more than $7million in foreign Exchange for the country in the last two years, the company provided employment for over 300 people comprises of 200 permanent staff and 100 temporary workers.”
PIL according to her network about 1000 farmers of about 3000 hectares of cassava farm land under 50 kilo metre radius to the factory and located in 12 villages. She said that Psaltry organises her farmers into groups which are subsumed in a relatively large clusters, adding that currently, it has six farming clusters around her factory within 50 kilometre radius. She said that apart from providing agricultural extension training and support services, coaching farmers with the farming techniques, the company also provides tractors hiring services, improved cassava varieties, herbicides and fertilizers to farmers.
Specifically, she said about 935 farmers have been trained in both technical and managerial skills essential for profitable production, adding that the company provide agricultural production support services in Nigeria
She said that PIL has also empowered and integrated smallholder farmers through information dissemination and capacity building, stressing that today every farmers has knowledge on how to use e-wallet payment that discourages farmers carrying large chunks of cash in their purse.
She said that as a result of several technical trainings and extension support, a farmer makes an average of N40,000 more than he was making in 2012 with the same cost of production. On the raw material used for the production of starch, she said “PIL uses between 150-250 tons of cassava daily to produce the 50 tons per day plant capacity and its raw material is principally sourced from three different means, out growers, company farms and independent marketers.
Psaltry currently has about 500 hecters as back up for the third party supply.
The MD of PIL said the company produces high quality food grade cassava starch and laundry starch, stating that starch is one of the most abundant substances in nature, a renewable and almost unlimited resources and it is mainly used as food but it has been convertible chemically, physically and biologically into many useful products.
According to Iranloye, many confectioners now buy cassava flour and mix on their own, as cassava flour is now cheaper than wheat flour due to the increase in import tariffs of wheat. Pharmaceutical companies, glue production companies, breweries, and food companies producing spaghetti, noodles and related foods use food grade starch.
She said that as part of company social responsibility, PIL in 2012 build a manually operated Borehole to Alayide village community which has only one stream that dries up during the dry season, adding that in 2014 the company donated another borehole to Wasimi community whose only source of water was a stream that dries up during the dry season and gets polluted during rainy season.
She said that the major challenges the company is facing in the community is lack of infrastructural facilities and key among them are power and water. She stressed the need for the the government to provide electricity and boreholes to the community, adding that half of the villagers have elephantiasis, a situation which needed urgent attention.
