The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said Nigeria is saving N127 billion annually through the use of 20 per cent High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) in bread making.
Adesina stated this at the training conducted for Master Bakers on the inclusion of 20 per cent HQCF at the Garden City Bakery Port Harcourt.
The Minister explained that the use of HQCF would create more jobs for the youths and help farmers to build up domestic wealth.
Commenting on the need to reduce unemployment and conserve foreign exchange used for the importation of wheat into the country, so as to build up Nigeria’s GDP, Adesina said the use of HQCF will create more jobs for the youths and help farmers to build up their domestic wealth.
The Minister who was represented by the Regional Director, South-South, Martins Odeh, said the training was to empower the participants on the inclusion of 20 per cent HQCF in bread making.
He urged the participants to utilise the opportunity and learn how to use the recipe as Nigeria is a high producer of cassava and not a high consumer.
Earlier in her speech, the representative of the Cassava Value Chain Desk Officer, Olajumoke Adewulu, said the Federal Ministry of Agriculture was doing its best to improve the life of Nigerian farmers to make the country self-sufficient. She also said six high cassava processing plants approved by the National Assembly are capable of producing 40 metric tonnes of HQCF per day in the six geopolitical zones.
Adewulu also informed the participants that the Cassava Bill, which is presently with the National Assembly will be passed into law so that cassava farmers will have all the incentives required, adding that the Federal Government will do its best to sustain the 20 per cent inclusion of HQCF by clearing 530 hectares of land in 40 locations throughout the country.
In her explanation, the training is for the master bakers in the six states of the South-south with 20 participants representing each state and totalling 120 participants trained in the zone, resource persons were drawn from National Roots Crops Research Institute.
At the end of the training, a starter pack of 1kg of enzyme and one bag of HQCF was given to each participant, while the master bakers agreed to cooperate with the Federal Government on the inclusion of the 20 per cent HQCF in their bread.
Source : SunOnline
