The need to reduce importation of wheat and encourage cassava flour substitution in baking industries.

[FMINigeria]

By Ademu Josephine.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adewunmi Adesina emphasizing the benefits of Cassava Bread "The taste of the pudding" they say, "is in the eating" As many that eat cassava bread and snacks brought by Federal Ministry of Agriculture And Rural Development during their Ministry's presentation will agree with me that the taste of the pudding is actually in the eating. During the presentation, many people thought it was mere rhetoric but to their greatest surprise the story changed when they had the taste of it many nodded that the bread and snacks were actually delicious.

They were convinced that it's actually possible to enjoy bread not made of flour but cassava.

The mandate of the Ministry under Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) is to increase annual incomes by at least $400 for 1.8 farm families and create one million new jobs in Nigeria's cassava sub-sector by doubling the production, processing and marketing of cassava over a period of four years. The Federal Government through its Transformation Agenda is working in collaboration with the Ministry to create an enabling environment for private sector investment in the cassava value chain; through many policies in place to discourage wheat importation and to scale-up production of high quality cassava flour to substitute wheat.

The Federal Government has gone further to establish cassava bread development fund with the injection of $10billion. This fund was to encourage research development in the area of new innovations, training of master bakers, acquisition of new equipments and long-term financing by medium and small scale enterprises. Through research and collaboration the government in partnership with The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the Federal Institute for Industrial

Research Oshodi achieved 40% substitution of cassava flour for wheat flour in 2012. Domestic investors such as UTC and Food Concepts have successfully used between 20% to 40% cassava flour substitution in their bread and other confectionaries. The Presidency immediately directed the Ministry to commercialize the production; and it was complied within 90days.

Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, moving from fourth to overtake Brazil since 1990, producing approximately 36-40 million tons of cassava accounting for nearly 20% of global production.

Cassava is the most widely cultivated crop in Nigeria as it is grown across most States in the country which serves as a source of food and income for over 30 Million farmers. Despite this position, Nigeria contributes close to zero percent in terms of global value added for trade in cassava-based products.

However, with this position Nigeria is believed to be the highest importer of wheat, what a paradox! With an import bill of N 635 Billion annually on wheat import, yet wheat flour can be partially substituted with cassava flour which Nigeria leads in the production.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under the leadership of Dr. Adesina in his tenacity and drive to transform agriculture and move farming to a greater height has gone further with the cooperation of the Federal Government to increase the tariff on wheat importation and also eliminate import duty on enzymes used in the production of cassava bread; all equipments and machinery for the production of bread will attract zero duty.

To ensure sustained supply of high quality cassava flour, the Government had successfully secured low interest and long term financing from China Exim Bank for the importation of 18 large scales high quality cassava flour processing plants to be owned and operated by private sector. They will provide 1.3 Million metric tons of high quality cassava flour to meet the growing needs of high quality cassava flour as a result of the success in cassava flour policy.

The major challenge faced by farmers especially in the rural areas is there in ability to asses market for their products, many reasons account for that such as lack of asses' roads to their farms and transportation of products to the nearest town. Many also lack asses to micro credit loans to assist them go mechanical.

The Ministry has been working very hard to ensure total compliance especially in the areas of total substitution of cassava flour with wheat, but a lot needs to be done in the area of awareness and sensitization of the populace on the need to patronize cassava bread and snacks and even master bakers should be continuously encouraged to adhere strictly to these policies.

Ademu Josephine, a Senior Information Officer works at the National Press Centre.

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