Forty-5ix Sunday Tribune, 16 September, 2012

~cial Cas~,ava bread: la i g pub

ood initiative c awareness?

EMMANU::;L ADENIYI and COLLINS NNABUIFE examine the Federal Government initiative on cassava-wheat composite bread, which may be up against a brick wall should government and other relevant bodies fail to spread awareness about it.

W HEN Ihe Mlnlsler of AgrlcullUre, Dr Ak nwuml Adeslna. disclosed re""ntly that NI~ertll Iways spenl clo e to N635b an­

nually for ·.he 1m JOrtaUon of wheat used for bread producUon mUe ,lid Ihe naUon reall e the full weight of this revl!hUc n

Possibly In Ih' mind of the minister. who has taken the hull b) the horns 10 revamp agrtcullural sector 01 tht· e< 0 ,omy. there could be some rack· eleerlng and pl. as by some people 10 sabotage government' elfe rts In the sec lor.

Just a harp practices are recorded In lhe nauon's all &eCtOI . the lendency of agncultural sec­lor serving as a "erttable tool In U,e hands of cer­lain Indlvtduals II hoodwtnk and engage In corrup­lion Is alsc said 1I0l to be Improbable .

A I(ood ~, amp e of malpractices going on In the sec lor Is the calnpalgn of calumny being raised agalnsl th,· CB.!!Si va bread Inilialive of the Federal Governmelll \\'1- lie some people. for the reasons best knowlI '0 I h' ·m. are said 10 have cen the move as a dealt kn~1I for them and th~tr tmport busi­nesses. olllfrs u e said to have whipped up public senttment lIlalns the InIUaUn 10 prolect their eco­nomic Inler"sL ...

of cassava III Ihe world. Yet. we ar U,e largest im­porter of wheal In the world·

According 10 him U,e developmenl has compdled U,e government to explore the opUon of using cas­sava flour In bread producUon tn the country so as to reduce tons of wheat Imported 10 Nigeria.

Howt:vr.r. public opinion seems to be averse La U,e InlUaU\·e. as many people 5e~ It as a joke and one of those government's policies thaI will not stand the tesl of Ume.

A wbeallmporter. who also has a bread bakery In Lagos. told Sunday Tribune under condition of ano­nymity tlull the initio Uve would force many of them out of business. adding that their pront margin \Vould slmUarly nosedive.

"TIlere Is lItUe or no pro/ll In bread baking per se. Ulls Is why I rombtne It wIth wheal ImportaUon business to make some money. We will never proy the policy should succeed. HonesUy. as I am spcal<­Ing with you. we are meeting 10 nnd a way of how we can prevent a cut In wheat ImportaUon.

·We are not saying cassava flour should not be used In bread production. why It sbould reduce wheat ImportaUon Is what I personally don·t understand.

With lo,,~ 0'- .heal Imported Inlo the country annually and hu~e profits made by Importers and thetr aides al hOlOe and abroad. any move thaI wtll cuI Impona or 'Jf wheat InIO Nigeria Is best seen as an attempt II) dislodge lhe thnvlng bUSiness. which has 1.un",1 many Into billionaires.

Dr Adesilla. wt fie lnauguraUng U,e Cassava Bread InlUaUve tn EklU )tale recently. was reported 10 have desCribed wheat ImportaUon InlO the country as being " .. -astrful- ll1d a demonslralJon of misplaced pnonly, nc, ng U at. "Ntgerta Is the largesl produ"",

"TIley are talking of saving (orelgn exchange. are they also aware that we. Importers. contrtbute to the economic acllvlUes of the country and any re­ducllon In Import will also alTecl us. because we depend on It? They need be told that It Is from It we pay our taxes and aU that.·

In a recenl publication, It was reported thaI the House of Representatives rejected a but mandaung Inclusion of 40 per ""nt cassava flour In bread.

Though the Mlnlsler of Agnculture debunked this publication. saytng there was no such bill from the execuUve and thaI no deCision could be laken by

-Dr Alcinwu.ml Adesina. Agriculture Mlnlster

U", National Assembly on an execu Uve bill Ulat did not exist. II Is believed that cassava bread InIUallve could be up agalnsl a bnck wall mounted by power­ful individuals who rake In millions of nalTa annu­ally from wheat Importation.

Coupled with the sabotage Is also the I ue of (Continued on page", 7]

Now ~s ~ e to create local content in Nigeria's food production -Mazumdar 1~11lm.1n'In !'Iju:unldllt is the Manager, Hotel Catering and Travel Services in don·t know.

What Is responsible for this?

• An Indian, who has been at the forefront of promoting cassava­bread, calls for the inclusion of local content in food

Excerpts: Improper

InformaUon. We don't empower our people to

~u bake cassaO<l bread and

other ancLUary products In DTA and sen><! them In your

canteen, what halle been the comments of your consum.ars?

Great feedbacks from different people wbo bave eaten our produCls have been pouring In. We have tried dlJTerent recipes. Uke 20, 30 and 50 per cent cassava nour. and responses fTOm people bave been so wonderful . Nobody rejected tbe bread from the hundreds offeedback we received.

Does India use ca.s.saoa flour in the production of bread. if yes, in what way can Nigeria

-~""' .-- -.:-- learn from In<1la? I beard of It, bull have not seen

It, bowever. It does nol mean It Is not possible here _ The problem here Is bow to creale awareness

local e because th

know more. We have to do more Ln lhls area. What Is DTA doing 10 create QUlareness, since

you h.alle Identified it as a major factor hindering acceptance of the bread?

We are orgartislng trainings fOT people. We also train people 10 understand the ingredients used In making the bread and how to make good bread.

You said the price of wheat In Europe an<1 America would soon skyrocket. .. ?

Yes. This Is due to the posslblllty of sev",e drougbt In Europe and America. this will bring drown production level. Tbere Is also a projecUon that very soon there Is going to be less rood available across the globe . Wha t thts means Is that prices of food Items will grow up, thls ma.kes Itlmperauve for developing local con ten I here . Should we keep looking up.1o them and spending money that cou ld be used for creating employment. develop lhe economy and Invest In the lotal value chain of the sec lor on Importing wheal?

There Is a need for lbe use of local content. Is lhe cer of cassava In

process cassava different p Ilke garri , fqfu? can't the na process lbe crop composite You can always a marrIage of the wbeat a cassava nour produce good As It Is now. Nigeria. according to the Mlnlsler Agriculture. $3.7b for wheat, and Ihls going 10 go up . You can Imagine tbe LmpUcation of this a growing economy like Nigeria: tbe hard-earned foreign exchange sbould be used for social development, iDstead of Importl wbeat.

Sunday Tribune. 16 Sep=-te:.:mbe.:.=-.:...r....:._2--'O'--1c.:2 ____________ _

(~frompage46J

at..-eptability of cassava­wheat bread by Nigerians who hold the belief tha t t"Ollsllmlng the product Is harmCul to huma n health

A bread consumer, "'rs Janet Odugbemt. saId she and her family would never eat t h e bread. because of t h e hIgh level of toxicity In cassava used for makm g It

Proving the foregOIng wfong . President. t h e NUlr1l10n Society o f NI­geria. Prokssor Ignao us Onlmawo. said this was not truc .

Accord ing 10 him . .. . adding cassa\'a flour will nOI Increase the gly­cemIc Index of bread. 11 will nOI aggravate diabe­les. In fac l. It may lower It. The glycemic Index of wheal n o ur Is hIgher Ihan Ihal of cassava. II

Is only whole whe a l bread that has lower gly­cemic Index. "

While spealUng wllh Sunday Tribune . Mr Tunde Oshldolu . s aid

there was no difference benveen cassava-wheal bread and wholly wheal bread.

"I have ea len Ihe bread; there Is no dlITer-

ence between I t and Lhe ones I have ealen before. I will suggesl we run a campaign and educate our people lhal II has b e en sc ie ntificall y

proven thaI the b read Is heallhy and nuLri lIou .­he n oted.

Mos l p eopl e who spoke with S und ay Tri­bune are o f the opinion

Forty-Seven

t h a t cassava-wheat breac Initiative needs LO be given a deq u a le pro­motJon S CI as to c reate eno~~t- a,,"aren~s a bout II among Igerlans

"We eat 100 per cent cassava bread in Sierra Le WE tDOuld you say about Dr Gbassay Tarawall is a Sierra Leonean and Project Manager It? We have been b thaI this

CC1S$C1J>CJ bread? Do you eat Is the right th1ng. c assaua bread In your in the cassava value chain unit of the International Institute RIghI now SIerra I 00 a S and the

country as well? of Tropical Agriculture (UTA), Ibadan. He spoke with MiniStry of Agrlculhlrq haye ~CCePted I am an African who b. elleves In EMMANUEL ADEN1Yl on the viability of producing cassava- cassava bread natunlh,.. n.=y Ijlow have

the aUevtaUon of poverty and also an their own blend. nfl ~en t local one agronomIst who oeeds to feed people. wheat composite bread in NIgeria. Excerpts: we have been allng rom lime

We cal 100 per cent cassava bread In Sierra Leone. It Is the menlallty of people. they stili link ImmemOrial . bUI the one tha co Ics currenl It Is a dclJcacy. We have a way ofprepartng It. Ills everything to the past. I mean local vBJiety of recipe; and It waS copied fro!" Igem. lbe only Uke pancake made from graled cassava and fried cassava that Is biller. With blgh cyanide conlent. IImJlaUon they have now Is that they ddn't have In 011. Ills Oal. you can pUI nsh or slew In It and Did you consider tast"p~erence ofNigerian.s cassava nour Itself 10 mix with 'Vi,eal . 50 th.eyare people eat It every day, yel they survive. Once you befare coming up with cassava bread fnltiatlue planniog 10 Import frc;>m Thal fBl'Dl In Og Stale. ea l Il In the morning, you would probably be since they are used to bread made whoUyfTOI'Il Does It hau" any h.ealth bimoifJLs7 1 drinking water for the whole day. wheat? I am nOI an expert In thaI rellil'd. bUll then we

It doesn't h<me any health implication? Who brought 100 per cent wheat bread to them? have conducted researches tilt> the -jlfe-span of NOl at aU . I have been eaung It since I was a Is It not the whiLe man? I'm not trytng to be raclSI the bread. and we dlJicovered Uta. frOID themlcal

young boy. and then nothing has happened. In fact. here, but If the wheat was not there, and It had to analysis It can go for two or ilt e d1jYs though if I go 10 Sierra Leone now I Will go to 10wn to buy be mixed. do you think people wouldn't buy or eal mosL people who buy bread "l'QSUDlQ. It the same cass ava bread . I don ' l know why they dldn' , day. The other thlng about b~ I IS that who told promole II over the years, bUI It Is there. In fact. people that It should bave square shape aD \he tlmC? o ther people are capItalising on Ihe ftndJngs of lITA It Is braIt:twashIng. tt can be IUUJ:Id. ~ nat t!r oblong. here In Sierra Leone. We have to be dyoamlc and IIcxlb'Ie. TIlle)' sllouid, give US

In Nigeria. UTA and the Federal Gooernment opportunlty to ftne..tune wbat we l in: doing. urc has are advocating c:assaua-wheat composite bread. slarted mass producl1oo of the brepd, t.as anybody and peopl" are ralstog eyebrows against the oonsumJog ttdJed?TI.e president Is ~I:n csUngcassava move. what ls actually wrong? bread since they launched II. has 1JIlYlh~ happened

Why should they ratse eyebrows agaInst It? I to hIm? We are very CQDIldent of "'I~ .... -e arc doing. think It has 10 do with the psyche or menlalJty of because we have Improved var1ety Jlf f!:snva. we have the people. If you go to our 1 Bouse here, whal we the technology of prodUcing U' e nower and the serve there Is cassava bread. I was with some lecbnlquc for bakIrJg The only , Is ptJlOOIlIn and J a panese guys there recenUy who ale cookies made marketing. from cassava with me, I asked them if anythtng What have m'A and the~ ~ent was wrong With the cookJes, they said no. If you don.e to reach out to Rig r a and create eat II you would not know Ills 40 per cent cassava <nDCJr«ness to them on the of pmsumlng bread. The products: bread. cookies etc are as good cassava bread? as what you buy In England . America. There Is no The mathematJca Is stmple. ~ the MJnJsler health hazard. I'm happy that we In lITA have a of AgI1cuIt:ure In Ntger1a has ~~~ t;aSsaVB good game sptrlt. and the government has omclaUy Oour In the producUon of b e Wl~ CUt dawn accepted 20 par cent cassava bread. Now we are ImportatJon and cause a dras uctlon In foreign dOing s clentiOc evaluation for 40. and we are also exchange. Anyt.hlng Imported at ys expensJve, optimistic thallt will be accepted. All we are trying besides you will bI: proud of eatIrjg ~l yJu OUW and Lo do Is to make food cheaper. reduce our dependence on the vleijldn ~ for food.

... but c:ass<wa contaIns cyanide, a polsonous that Is whY. people are ta1kIng at>9u t~ scc:urtty. and cheml=l. and thefear of many people In the Inbdngsec:uredlngrowtngorprodud yourownfood. country ls that consuming thls chemical In What If embargoes are pIaoed 00 I JmportatloD In bread could have aduerse health "Deets In the country, which Is a gl'eat trouh.e'r ThulS why we

them? h d b A k' need to WOrk bard to feed 0Wl!d, .... , Do you know that The cyanide does nOI even gel to the bread level. "T e pro ucts: rea~ coo les people In DubaJ (UAE). SaudJ Arabia and Qther I!laces

because before you process cassava Into nower. etc are as good as what you buy have come to meel us bere that they want to stal't you have to mash. grate. pulvertze and aU that. By growtng crops In NJger1a and seD over there, becau!ie the Urne It gets 10 nower level: there Is no cyanide in J!:ngland. America" they don't have rIghJ climate. and ClSlfBVa Is ene at the any more. In (aCl, the Improved vaI1eIY of cassava O'DpS, we have the opportunlty bere ,YI:t we tIownpIay 11. we deveJo bas ve low c anlde contenl. I think .