The Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Audu Ogbeh, on Thursday in Abuja
unveiled plantain bread made by the Concerned
Youth Empowerment Association of Nigeria
(CYEN).
Represented by the Deputy Director, Gender and
Youth in the ministry, Karima Babangida, Ogbeh
said the development had come at a time when
unemployment, diabetes, obesity, cancer were on
the rise.
He said bread was commonly eaten across the
country but for medical reasons, some were
unable to eat the regular wheat or cassava bread.
The minister said the association provided a
healthier option to cassava and wheat bread for
those with health challenges.
“Plantains are so versatile and nutritious; if you
are looking for flour alternative, then, look no
further because you can make pizza, chips,
bread, dessert and many more from plantain
flour.
“The demand is on the increase due to increase
awareness of its health benefits; it is rich in iron,
Vitamin A, B, C, magnesium and phosphorus.
“It has high resistant starch which helps to make
people slimmer and healthier, they are diuretic
and can help prevent ulcer, kidney and bladder
problems and are essential for healthy
pregnancy,” he said.
Ogbeh urged youth in the country to avail
themselves of the exciting opportunities that
abound in agricultural sector.
The minister said the agric sector needed youth
participant to change the labour composition and
replace aging farmers.
The National President of the association, Noble
Adelu, said the initiative was driven by patriotic
concern to cut down the rate of food importation
into the country.
Adelu said the initiative would build the monetary
value of the Naira for a robust economy and
enhance the use farm produce for the production
of medical and prophylactic product.
“As concerned Nigerians, CYEN wants to see a
better Nigeria and so we went into research and
we discovered that we could make use of plantain
flour in place of wheat flour which we import to
make bread.
“The flour can be used to bake bread, cake, make
`fufu’ and other pastries,’’ he said.
The president said when the initiative is expanded
it would create jobs along the value chain and
create market for plantain farmers across the
country.
He said there had been no realistic support from
the Federal Government, saying that funds to
support young farmers in CBN’s custody have
stringent and unrealistic conditions attached.
In his remarks, the Director-General, National
Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI),
Mohammed Jibrin, said depending on importation
of wheat flour was a “rape of our economy”.
Mr. Jibrin said Nigeria could not move out of
recession if it continued to spend six billion dollars
on wheat importation annually.
He said the innovation would save the country
billions of dollars and ensures more nutritious
option for wheat.
The director-general said promotion of innovative
entrepreneur ventures was the core mandate of
NBTI, saying that it shall marshal all its arsenals to
ensure the initiative succeeds. (NAN)

HungerBAD:
Plantain bread? I go fit use toilet so?

krasican:
nice one.dats how we are suppose to roll