Govt, Ekiti To Boost Cassava Bread Production

AS part of efforts aimed at popularising the Federal Government’s policy on cassava bread and making the product available, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in conjunction with the Ekiti State government, trained 150 bakers on cassava bread baking.

The training, organised with the technical support of UTC, took the trainees through the rudiments of production of cassava bread from high quality cassava flour (HQCF).

Courtesy of the Federal Government, each of the 150 trainees will receive starter packs, which include a bag of high quality cassava flour, a pack of enzymes for the rising of the dough and improvement of the texture of finished bread and some baking tools, aprons, dough scrapper, among others.

The passing-out ceremony, which holds today in Ekiti, will be attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, with Governor Kayode Fayemi as the chief host.

The Federal Government recently, through the Coordinating Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced the establishment of Cassava Fund to boost production of cassava for local consumption and export. Other incentives announced include zero-duty on equipment, increase in the levy on imported wheat flour, marketing support for growers, and exporters and so on.

This article was first published in The Guardian on 6, August 2012.

Last modified: August 6, 2012