Meet Nigeria’s Queen of Cassava

[FarmTech]

She’s a biochemist who once faced 4 loan rejections from banks. Most people would have given up, but she didn’t. She pushed on and founded Psaltry International Ltd.

Today, the same woman who was rejected now works with:
1. Unilever (a giant British company worth billions)
2. FCMB (a top Nigerian bank)

   

Her cassava factory in Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, is the first in Africa to produce sorbitol.

What is sorbitol?
Sorbitol is a natural sweetener made from cassava. It’s used in toothpaste, medicine, food, and drinks instead of sugar. It’s safer for diabetics because it doesn’t raise blood sugar fast like normal sugar.

Her factory is big:

Runs on solar power + battery storage ⚡

Works with 6,000 farmers, paying them 4 times more than normal buyers

Grows high-yield cassava varieties like TME 419, AYAYA, and Game Changer

Manages 8,000 hectares of farmland

Gives jobs to 300+ staff and supports 500 rural youths to become agripreneurs

Because of her courage, her project will create 10,000 jobs.

She has also won many awards, including:

AGRA Women Agripreneur of the Year (2024)

Vanguard Personality of the Year

Eagle Awards Africa - Distinguished Achiever (Sept 2025)
…and many more.

This September, she was also celebrated at Eagle Awards Africa, and in 2025, she will speak at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar.

From loan rejections to global recognition - her story proves that cassava is more than garri and fufu. It can power factories, create jobs, and put Nigeria on the world map.

[CtrlAltDel]

Wow, from 4 bank rejections to global partnerships? That’s some serious determination. Respect to this woman.

[Danny]

Paying farmers 4 times the normal price? No wonder she has 6,000 loyal suppliers. That’s how to build trust. If not they'll frustrate her.

[Ekene]

This story should be in every school textbook. Our kids need to see agriculture as big business, not just suffering

[Sendrix]

I love the fact that she’s training 500 youths. That’s better than just sharing rice and beans.

[AgroInnovate]

This woman deserves a national award. Forget immoral celebrities, these are the real role models.

[Manihot]

This is what they call value addition. Instead of just selling tubers, she’s creating industries. Farm money is in value addition.

[Derik]

The cassava varieties she’s using — TME 419, AYAYA, Game Changer — are also available to farmers like us? Or just for her company?

[CassavaBoss]

@Derik, you can get it from your state ministry of agric

[GreenVet]

She’s proof that agriculture is not just hoe and cutlass. It’s science, it’s business, it’s money.

[MamaGreens]

I’m wondering, does sorbitol production affect cassava for food? Hope it won’t create scarcity.

[Derik]

@Derik, you can get it from your state ministry of agric

Ok. Tnks

[FarmTech]

I’m wondering, does sorbitol production affect cassava for food? Hope it won’t create scarcity.

Of course it will increase price of cassava for food. But that's if many such companies spring up. But as more people go into cassava growing price will stabilize. There is a lot of land that are not being farmed yet