The long wait for cassava bread
At last, the Federal Government says it is set to begin the
implementation of its policy on cassava bread. Under the arrangement,
bread manufacturers in the country will be compelled to substitute 20
per cent of the wheat flour content of bread with cassava flour, in a
move that is expected to substantially cut down the country’s total
annual wheat import bill by N127 billion. Nigeria currently blows N635
billion worth of hard-earned foreign exchange on wheat imports annually.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, who made this revelation at a training workshop organised for master bakers in Lokoja, Kogi State, recently also confirmed that the government had set aside a N10 billion development fund to back this initiative, which is aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economic base.
The decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to give full government backing to a gradual process of substituting wheat with cassava in the local production of bread in Nigeria is no doubt a commendable one. For so long now, successive governments have been paying lip service to the need to make better use of the abundant cassava in the country, even after research had confirmed that cassava is a healthier and more suitable flour for bread.
Sometime last year, the Director-General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Dr. Gloria Elemo, while re-emphasizing the desirability of cassava bread, told a catering expo in Lagos that the country would save as much as N31.75 billion annually by adding just 5 per cent of cassava flour to its bread. The saving would rise to N63.5 billion at 10 per cent cassava flour, N127.05 billion at 20 per cent cassava flour, and a whopping N190 billion at 30 per cent cassava flour.
To underscore its commitment to this new line of thinking, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry (BoI), only last December, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for N4.3 billion in support of Master Bakers Association of Nigeria, SMEs and large industrial cassava millers.
About N1.05 billion of this amount will be used to upgrade the capacity of 35 existing small cassava mills. The project would also provide assistance on a 50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant. The BoI is to provide working capital of N425 billion as loan, on a single digit interest rate. Master Bakers and industrial bakers would be encouraged to acquire new equipment and machines with N2.2 billion loans and grants on the same 50-50 arrangement. Another MOU was signed with the Bank of Agriculture – to the tune of N2.4 billion – to provide assistance to some 30,000 cassava farmers to ensure steady supply of cassava to meet the growing demand for cassava flour. Government is also expected to subsidize supply of cassava planting material 100 per cent. The aim is to bring some 35,000 more hectares of land into cassava production.
It is clear that Nigeria’s economy stands to gain a great deal from the gradual use of cassava flour in bread. Apart from the thousands of jobs to be created along the chain locally, scare foreign exchange could be deployed to other more pressing needs as the country cuts down on its wheat import bill.
Also commendable is the fact that the Agriculture Ministry is also looking to encourage about 25 bakers in each of the 774 constitutionally recognised local government areas of the country to give further push to this new policy direction.
However, we believe that the success of this laudable policy lies in closely monitoring its implementation, to ensure that the funds are not diverted, misapplied or misappropriated. Also, we have to ensure that unnecessary paperwork is not used to frustrate small scale farmers, millers and bakers from accessing all these funds, thereby defeating the purpose. We must not have another case of monies lying idle in the banks, while farmers are unable to access funds dedicated for their use, as a result of bureaucracy.
It is not in doubt that Nigerians consume a lot of bread and that a lot of foreign exchange is expended on procuring the major input, wheat. But, we cannot continue to import wheat, creating jobs in other economies at the expense of our own economy and the survival of our people. So, the 20 per cent cassava flour policy is a step in the right direction.
However, we must go the extra mile of ensuring that this policy does not now drive bread into scarcity or encourage smuggling, as we have seen with the move to ban the importation of rice. It is not just enough to make pronouncements and articulate policies on paper; government must ensure compliance and monitor the implementation.
With the confirmed local capacity for cassava production, as well as the impressive researches going on in our local institutions, it is actually possible to totally replace wheat bread with 100 per cent cassava bread. However, this does not mean we should discontinue local production of wheat – to cater for the few who would still insist on wheat bread. But, it would amount to a national disgrace for Nigeria to continue to spend so much money on importation of wheat to meet local bread consumption.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, who made this revelation at a training workshop organised for master bakers in Lokoja, Kogi State, recently also confirmed that the government had set aside a N10 billion development fund to back this initiative, which is aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economic base.
The decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to give full government backing to a gradual process of substituting wheat with cassava in the local production of bread in Nigeria is no doubt a commendable one. For so long now, successive governments have been paying lip service to the need to make better use of the abundant cassava in the country, even after research had confirmed that cassava is a healthier and more suitable flour for bread.
Sometime last year, the Director-General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Dr. Gloria Elemo, while re-emphasizing the desirability of cassava bread, told a catering expo in Lagos that the country would save as much as N31.75 billion annually by adding just 5 per cent of cassava flour to its bread. The saving would rise to N63.5 billion at 10 per cent cassava flour, N127.05 billion at 20 per cent cassava flour, and a whopping N190 billion at 30 per cent cassava flour.
To underscore its commitment to this new line of thinking, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry (BoI), only last December, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for N4.3 billion in support of Master Bakers Association of Nigeria, SMEs and large industrial cassava millers.
About N1.05 billion of this amount will be used to upgrade the capacity of 35 existing small cassava mills. The project would also provide assistance on a 50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant. The BoI is to provide working capital of N425 billion as loan, on a single digit interest rate. Master Bakers and industrial bakers would be encouraged to acquire new equipment and machines with N2.2 billion loans and grants on the same 50-50 arrangement. Another MOU was signed with the Bank of Agriculture – to the tune of N2.4 billion – to provide assistance to some 30,000 cassava farmers to ensure steady supply of cassava to meet the growing demand for cassava flour. Government is also expected to subsidize supply of cassava planting material 100 per cent. The aim is to bring some 35,000 more hectares of land into cassava production.
It is clear that Nigeria’s economy stands to gain a great deal from the gradual use of cassava flour in bread. Apart from the thousands of jobs to be created along the chain locally, scare foreign exchange could be deployed to other more pressing needs as the country cuts down on its wheat import bill.
Also commendable is the fact that the Agriculture Ministry is also looking to encourage about 25 bakers in each of the 774 constitutionally recognised local government areas of the country to give further push to this new policy direction.
However, we believe that the success of this laudable policy lies in closely monitoring its implementation, to ensure that the funds are not diverted, misapplied or misappropriated. Also, we have to ensure that unnecessary paperwork is not used to frustrate small scale farmers, millers and bakers from accessing all these funds, thereby defeating the purpose. We must not have another case of monies lying idle in the banks, while farmers are unable to access funds dedicated for their use, as a result of bureaucracy.
It is not in doubt that Nigerians consume a lot of bread and that a lot of foreign exchange is expended on procuring the major input, wheat. But, we cannot continue to import wheat, creating jobs in other economies at the expense of our own economy and the survival of our people. So, the 20 per cent cassava flour policy is a step in the right direction.
However, we must go the extra mile of ensuring that this policy does not now drive bread into scarcity or encourage smuggling, as we have seen with the move to ban the importation of rice. It is not just enough to make pronouncements and articulate policies on paper; government must ensure compliance and monitor the implementation.
With the confirmed local capacity for cassava production, as well as the impressive researches going on in our local institutions, it is actually possible to totally replace wheat bread with 100 per cent cassava bread. However, this does not mean we should discontinue local production of wheat – to cater for the few who would still insist on wheat bread. But, it would amount to a national disgrace for Nigeria to continue to spend so much money on importation of wheat to meet local bread consumption.
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