The Federal Government has given flour millers in the country a three-month ultimatum to commence the 10 per cent substitution of cassava flour for wheat flour being imported into the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, who gave the directive during a meeting with flour millers on Monday, urged them to ensure that the initiative was fully implemented by all of them.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the 10 per cent substitution of cassava flour for wheat flour initiative was launched by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and driven by flour mills across the country. Adesina said that government would follow up with a legal instrument, stressing that a bill on the initiative would soon be forwarded to the National Assembly.
He also said? the reintroduction of the programme has become imperative because in spite of Nigeria’s position as the largest producer of cassava globally, it was not yet a player on the international market. “While being the largest producer, we only account for zero per cent of the global trade in value added, while Thailand with only 10 per cent total world production accounts for 80 per cent in the global market,” he said.
Adesina assured that with the re-introduction of the initiative, government has mapped out transformation strategies, which includes diversifying product and market opportunities for cassava, creating sustainable value chain, stabilising prices and improving on processing centres, among others.
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