By Rita Ohai 08/01/2012 00:00:00
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• Jonathan at the Federal Executive Council meeting promoting cassava bread
President Goodluck Jonathan in a public gesture tasted some samples of cassava bread at the Federal Executive Council meeting recently, indicating that the government was in support of this innovation. However, given Nigerians penchant for foreign goods, will they patronise cassava made bread? Asks Rita Ohai
Eager to promote self-sufficiency as well as curb the chronic dependence on foreign foods the Federal Government has begun to take strong measures aimed at clamping down on the importation of rice and wheat while promoting the use of local cassava as a main source of flour.
This is coming on the heels of the gesture made by President Goodluck Jonathan last month at the Federal Executive Council meeting where he ate from a loaf of bread made of 40 percent cassava and 60 percent wheat contents. It was baked by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan.
Offering a slice of the bread to the Vice President, the president said: “When the Agriculture Minister brought some samples to me about a week ago, that is the only bread I have been eating. I think it is proper for us in Council to formally present this bread to Nigerians. I have been eating this bread for the past one week and I will continue to eat only this bread until I leave State House. We must encourage what we have. Other countries that became great did not wake up one day and become great. For us to move forward, we must also tame our exotic taste. Some of the things we bring from outside are not as good as what we have within our country.”
In spite of the President’s verbal commitment to this home-grown staple, the acceptability of the bread, when it is made available on the shelves by Nigerians, would depend on a lot of factors including quality and affordability.
This is reflected in the response given by Mrs. Mercy Obikanyi, a trader and mother of five, when asked if she would willingly swap her white bread for that of the cassava breed: “The kind of bread I regularly buy is the normal sliced one we have around. I have not tasted the cassava bread before but if they are really going to ban the importation of flour then they should just make the cassava option they are giving us to be palatable either by putting some form of sweetner inside or refining the cassava very well so that that fu-fu taste will not be there. If they can do this, I believe it will be very edible.”
Known for its high carbohydrate content, cassava is invariably one of the highest consumed staple in the developing countries, with over 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa relying on the crop for over half of their daily food energy.
This macro-dependency rate spurred the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike to develop three new varieties of vitamin A cassava that could improve the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Africa and help put an end to malnutrition due to vitamin A deficiency.
Besides, IITA and NRCRI, the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), has also been involved in the processing of cassava bread.
The agencies which made samples of cassava bread have been organising sample-tasting workshops, as part of efforts to sensitise Nigerians on the propriety of eating cassava made bread.
In Nigeria where the average consumption of cassava is 600 grams per capita per day, the consumption of bio-fortified cassava bread with pro-vitamin A provides a cost-effective way of combating vitamin A deficiency in the region where millions are malnourished and about 20% of pregnant women and about 30% of children under five suffer from vitamin A deficiency. The resultant health implications of this deficiency include low immunity and impaired vision, which often lead to blindness and even death.
Although Nigeria was renowned as a net food exporter, poor infrastructure, lack of finance and misguided policies have led to the decline in agricultural activities. This downward spiral on the productivity level of an agricultural region once seen as the foodbasket of the continent appears to have taken its toll on the small and medium scale farmers.
Julius Etete, a farmer who deals in cash-crop posits, “In this country, it’s very difficult to survive on farming alone because the environment just makes things very difficult for us. In other places, they always have the support of their government but here, you will provide your own generator because there is no proper power supply which you need to pump water or power your machines. We do not have good roads to help us transport our goods to town and the banks continue to refuse to give us loans to support our business even though they claim to be micro-finance banks. There is a fuel shortage. There is fertilizer shortage. There is land shortage and so on. The problems are endless and that is why you find most farmers selling their lands and running away to chase white collar jobs.”
In a recent meeting with representatives of bread producers, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr.AkinwunmiAdesina, declared that “producers of quality cassava bread will from this year enjoy a 12 per cent tax rebate and be given 18 months with effect from March 31, 2012, to move to the 40 per cent substitution of wheat flour with high quality cassava flour.”
Continuing he said, “From the 2012 fiscal year, the Federal Government would raise tariff on imported wheat and all equipment and machinery for processing high quality cassava flour as well as composite flours would attract zero taxes.’’
The minister further noted that the move was aimed at encouraging the consumption of cassava bread by Nigerians and the substitution of wheat flour with high quality cassava flour for bread production.
In a bid to reduce the sky-rocketing poverty rate caused by the importation of wheat and provide small-scale farmers with the technology to efficiently produce this food staple , Adesina stated:”We will save Nigeria N250 billion used for wheat imports, currently going to farmers of other countries, while putting this money into the hands of Nigerian farmers, which is why we are already working with the private sector to establish 12 high quality cassava processing plants with an installed capacity of 240 tonnes per day, which will allow us fully meet the needed supply of the flour.’’

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/business/32442-will-nigerians-patronise-jonathan%E2%80%99s-cassava-bread%3F.html

Has anyone tried this bread?

How does it taste?

40% cassava sounds high to me. . . I'm wondering about the flavor.

How does the price compare to pure wheat bread?

Its too expensive, It cost 1bn a yr

The problem does not lies in beautiful mouth watering ideas behind the innitiatives. It would'nt have been a bad idea to patronize such bread. That said.

We the Nigerians(atleast i can speak for my self) have lost confidence in government and thier constant deciet. They usually come on air to decieve the gullibles into thinking that things are changing, while on the contrary, the business remains thesame.

Look, this cassava bread brouhaha was initially introduced by OBJ, i remember the then FCT minister, Moddibbo constant hamper on the issue and the needs to patronize cassava bread, local fibrics, locally made shoes and all that. It was more of Dora's rebranding policy.


The problem lies with policy and political will to follow up.

The cassava producers association of Nigeria, have distance itself from the continual lies from the part of government. The most important question they raised then was( i think around 2005) was, why cant the goverment enact a law mandating any bread be baked to contain atleast 30% of cassava? Just like vitamin A is mandated in suger?

If truely the government is sincere why cant the local cassava farmer have access to soft loans?. There should be a law protecting the local cassava producers, else the policy is heading to a dead rock. What is the cost of using cassava in bread and what is the cost of using wheats? All these grey areas must be strenghten before any meaningful development can be achieved.

So, the issue of cassava bread to my understanding, is far beyond a mere display of poilitical jamboree on national TV.