.:: Bisi Daniels Books ::.

	Site Search:
Home \| The Author \| The Titles \| Reviews \| Contact \| Forum \| Articles \| Bookshops

Articles

OPEN DAY

How Not to Eat Cassava Bread

Once in a while, this corner will be opened to writers to air their views on developments in the country. Writers Only! We kick off today with this piece, that could otherwise have been titled Government Magic. It is How Not Eat Cassava Bread.

The sight of President Goodluck Jonathan eating cassava bread on television on November 30 thrilled me. It should have more inspiring than it appeared, but the reason it wasn't was neither in the person of the President, nor in his style of eating. I will tell you the reason shortly.

That day, President Jonathan declared that until he leaves the Presidential Villa, he will continue to eat bread made from cassava flour - a mix of wheat and cassava flour. He formally launched the cassava bread, shortly before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting (FEC).

Indeed two weeks before, the federal government said it had started plans that would enable it save about N315 billion from the importation of wheat, by substituting it with cassava. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), encouraged by the Minister of Agricultural Resources, Akinwumi Adesina, had come up with the bread, made from 40 per cent cassava and 60 per cent wheat flour.

"I have been eating the bread since this past one week; I think it is proper for us in Council to formally present this bread to Nigerians," said Jonathan. "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".

He continued: "Other countries that became great did not wake up one day and become great. If you look at the history of a country like China, at a time they closed their door and restructured everything, began to think again and by the time they opened their doors, the rest is known by all of us. For us as a nation to move forward, we must also tame our exotic taste. Some of these things we bring from outside is not even as good as what we even have within our country. And I believe with this, so many of the people who produce bread will start to use different percentages of cassava flour."

That day, the President directed Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to meet with her colleagues in the Ministry of National Planning, Ministry of Trade and Investment, and the Ministry of Agriculture to come up with policies to encourage those who use cassava flour for their manufacturing processes and certain other activities that encourage the use of cassava flour "because we have to give them incentives to encourage them".

Well, the President meant business because Cassava featured prominently in the 2012 Appropriation Bill. Cassava flour equipment is duty free, importation of cassava flour will be banned, and arrangements have been made for bakeries and others to adjust to the use of Cassava flour.

All Good! But this is what took some shine off the Jonathan Cassava Show. Nigerians have been taught a big cassava lesson and how not to eat it. Once upon a time, (yes, once upon a time because many victims have been forced to delete it from memory), Government took the nation on that same road and ditched the bus painfully.

In July 2002, the Obasanjo Administration inaugurated the Presidential Initiative on Cassava with the objective of promoting cassava as a foreign exchange earner for the country and towards achieving self-sufficiency in food production.

Under the Initiative, the Federal Government made it mandatory for the 10 per cent inclusion of cassava flour in wheat flour production; 10 per cent blending of ethanol with premium motor spirit; and for the national use of cassava starch by industries.

Apart from the advantage of reducing importation of wheat and boosting local industries involved in the processing of cassava products, exports were projected to yield some $5 billion annually.

Of course, increase in the demand for cassava meant large employment generation in the country. Farmers all over the country embraced the initiative that also attracted a large number of both the rural and urban unemployed.

On the demand side of the chain, the Initiative stirred the interest of entrepreneurs in cassava processing firms. And with the support of international development organizations some 120 micro cassava processing centres valued at over N1 billion were established across the six geo-political zones.

With this heightened tempo, it came as a surprise when the late President Yar' Adua administration revised the 10 per cent cassava flour input by flour millers downwards to five per cent.

Also shocking was the relaxation of the ban on importation of cassava and cassava products like flour, chips and starch. The revised import prohibition list on trade, which was expected to run from 2008 - 2012, allowed the importation of cassava products and banned only the raw tuber.

The National President of the Cassava Processors and Marketers Association was miffed. It claimed that even at the five per cent requirement and a demand-induced reduction of the price of cassava floor, the flour millers had completely stopped buying cassava flour. They said the five per cent requirement was not being enforced. So, in the familiar Nigeria tradition, the Initiative died.

The failure defied all economic sense and simple logic! In spite of the country's oil and gas resources, it remains a major agricultural country, blessed with vast arable land.

Cassava can and is cultivated in every part of the country, engaging over 70 per cent of the rural population. According to the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, with a production capacity of 49 million metric tons - about 19 percent of world production.

Commercialising cassava production to raise its status above a staple food therefore made good economic sense. Even smaller cassava-producing countries made significant economic gains from the common farm produce.

Leveraging an export-led growth, Thailand had become a major processor of cassava and exporter of cassava products, mainly to European Union countries. It is now the world's largest processor of cassava - 40 million tons a year - mainly into vegetable starch.

Some flour millers refuted the claim and blamed the reduced intake of cassava flour on low quality flour caused by poor quality control during the proliferation of small-scale cassava processing factories.

But whether it was Jonah who swallowed the whale or the whale that swallowed Jonah in the popular Biblical story, there was a swallow as one joke goes. In this case, the Cassava Initiative died.

Long story cut short, both farmers and the processors who embraced the initiative with hopes of benefitting from its numerous advantages were left in the cold to count their losses. Even some of the major processors, including a modern one in Ogun State, were forced to close down.

It was not difficult to locate the blame: The usual loss of focus and the lack of conviction by government to nurture productive economic dreams that benefit the generality of the people.

It therefore flowed from a simple psychological logic that Nigerians took President Jonathan's promises with cautious optimism or even a snub.

He has to demonstrate much more seriousness and consistency to win back cassava bread lovers. It is a lot of work! But that is the price for taking a people for granted!

Countries are known to have developed very fast by using their comparative advantage! Nigeria should wake up.

Bisi's Latest

Visitor No:

Contact | Check Mail

Follow me on: