A research expert, Prof. Lateef Agbaje, says Nigeria has a competitive advantage to convert its agro-wastes for economic growth.
Agbaje, Head of Nanotechnology Research Group (NANO+), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Oyo State, said this in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
According to him, Nigeria generates millions of tons of waste annually that could be utilised to produce valuable products.
He said that there was high deposit of wastes from cassava, groundnuts, cashew and rice which were often trashed, hence constituting environmental challenges and climate change.
Agbaje said that recently, the concept of zero-waste, supported by advancements in biotechnology and nanotechnology, had presented an innovative solution.
Agbaje also said that volarisation of agro-waste could create new industries, provide sustainable solutions to environmental problems, fight poverty and support the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We can produce bio-energies, bio-gas, bio-hydrogen, animal feed, citric acid and now in nanotechnology, you can valorise these materials.
“We are the world’s largest producer of ground nuts and we have lots of wastes from the shell, we have lots of waste from cashew.
“We can leverage all these agro-wastes to produce lots of products rather than allowing them litter our environment instead of contributing to climate change.
“These agro-wastes contain a lot of nutrients which can be utilised by microorganisms to produce animal feeds, fertilisers, generate energy,’’ he said.
He added that with Nigeria being a major regional player in rice production and having lots of wastes, they could be volarised and turned into a nanomaterias such as graphene, carbon nanotubes.
According to him, we can extract the chemicals, phytochemicals in the rice waste as catalysts for the production of other nanomaterials.
He said wastes from cashew which comprised a significant portion of the nut and shell, could be turned into citric acid, a valuable industrial chemical used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
“By converting this agro-waste into citric acid locally, Nigeria could reduce its dependency on imports, save foreign exchange, and create new industries in food and pharmaceutical production.’’
Agbaje further said that utilising agro-waste could impact the environment, provide additional income for farmers, among other benefits.
He said it could reduce the pollution associated with waste disposal, mitigate climate change by reducing emission from waste burning.
He stated that the bio-energy produced from agro-wastes could also replace traditional fossil fuels, thereby offering cleaner air and renewable energy source.
“By introducing farmers to new waste-to-product technologies, they can diversify their income sources and reduce their reliance on crop yields alone.
“This could contribute to poverty alleviation, especially in rural areas where agricultural activities dominate.
“This approach supports the achievement of Nigeria’s SDGs, particularly those related to poverty reduction, clean energy and sustainable agriculture,’’ he said.
Agbaje, however, said that inadequate infrastructure, lack of funding for research and development, inadequate policies that support innovation in waste management and renewable energy production were some impediments.
He said there was the need for effective government policies and incentives to encourage research and development in agro-waste volarisation technology.
The expert also said the country needed to venture into Public-Private Partnerships to scale up projects and investments in agro-waste industries, farmers education on benefits of agro-waste recycling and infrastructure development.
By Ijeoma Olorunfemi