Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) has opened entries for the fifth edition of its annual Prize for Innovation, with this year’s focus on advancing cassava production and processing as part of efforts to deepen local industrial capacity.
The 2026 edition, themed ‘Innovative Practices in Cassava Production and Processing,’ targets registered Nigerian small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the food and agro-allied sector, as well as student innovators.
Under the SME category, winners will receive N5 million for first place, N3 million for second place, and N2 million for third place. Student innovators will receive N300,000, N200,000 and N100,000 for first, second and third places respectively.
Boye Olusanya, group chief executive officer of FMN, described the programme as part of the company’s broader strategy to support local innovation within Nigeria’s food system.
“Our focus on cassava is strategic. It holds significant potential for industrial self-sufficiency within the food and agro-allied space,” Olusanya said.
He added that the company has used the innovation prize over the past five years to support solutions aimed at reducing dependence on imported raw materials.
Beyond the prize money, the food-producing company said winners will gain access to mentorship and industry support aimed at helping them commercialise their ideas.
The company’s decision to centre this year’s edition on cassava comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s longstanding structural imbalance in the crop’s value chain.
Sadiq Usman, managing director of FMN Agro and group director of strategic stakeholder relations, said the structure of the programme is designed to move ideas beyond the conceptual stage.
According to him, combining funding with mentorship and access to industry expertise has enabled past winners to strengthen operations and move closer to commercial viability.
While production volumes are high, limited processing capacity, infrastructure gaps and inconsistent policy support have constrained value addition in the sector.
Although Nigeria remains the world’s largest producer of cassava, the country continues to import significant quantities of cassava-based industrial derivatives, including starch and other inputs used in food, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.
FMN said the initiative is intended to support innovations that can close this gap and strengthen domestic processing capacity.
Since its launch in 2021, the Prize for Innovation has supported 24 innovators across four editions. FMN said it has disbursed over N42 million in direct funding and provided structured support valued at over N200 million to help winning ideas scale.
Previous editions focused on areas such as reducing food loss and waste, strengthening local content, precision agriculture, and livestock development — segments considered critical to improving productivity and value addition within Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Entries for the fifth edition of the prize close on March 16, 2026, with applications submitted through the programme’s official website.
The initiative adds to growing private-sector efforts to stimulate innovation in agriculture at a time when Nigeria is under pressure to improve food security, strengthen agro-processing, and build more resilient local supply chains.
