Read the passage below carefully:
The rapid expansion of cassava processing clusters across Southwest Nigeria has significantly boosted local employment, yet it presents a severe environmental challenge through the untreated discharge of high-cyanide wastewater into nearby aquatic ecosystems. While conventional effluent treatment facilities remain cost-prohibitive for smallholder processing cooperatives, recent indigenous biotechnological interventions involving micro-algal bioremediation have offered a dual-benefit pathway. By utilizing specific strains of native micro-algae to neutralize cyanogenic compounds, these cooperatives not only purify toxic effluents to regulatory standards but also harvest the resulting algal biomass as protein-rich livestock feed. Consequently, this eco-innovative synthesis resolves the historical tension between agro-industrial growth and ecological preservation without imposing ruinous capital expenditure on small-scale enterprises.
Which of the following options provides the most accurate and concise summary of the central thesis of the passage?
- Native micro-algal bioremediation enables smallholder cassava processors to economically neutralize toxic wastewater while generating valuable livestock feed.Answer
- BSmallholder cassava processing cooperatives in Southwest Nigeria are facing financial ruin due to the high capital cost of installing conventional wastewater treatment infrastructure.
- CMicro-algal bioremediation will soon render cassava cultivation the most lucrative and environmentally sustainable agricultural sector across West Africa.
- DIndigenous processing clusters discharge untreated cyanogenic wastewater because regulatory bodies prohibit the harvest of algal biomass for animal feed.