By Gabriel Ewepu

In actualisation of the Federal Government’s cassava transformation agenda and the cassava inclusion policy in bread flour, the minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adesina Akinwumi, launched the first commercial 10 per cent composite cassava flour products in the country during the week.

Cassava farm

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said at the launchthat government’s goal is to ensure Nigeria becomes the largestcassava processor as it has occupied the position of the largest producer of the commodity in the world.

Adesina said: “This government is determined that Nigeria will unlock the potential of our agriculture and reverse decades of dependency on food imports. The results are showing.

“The agricultural transformation agenda has added N 780 billion to the economy within the past three years. And our aggressive approach to ensure that we process and add value to all our crops is beginning to open up new income streams for our farmers. A good example is the case of cassava. Today, we have turned cassava into gold for our farmers.

“Today we are gathered to launch the first commercial 10 per cent composite cassava flour product, from Nigeria’s number 1 and number 2 flour millers, Flour Mills of Nigeria and Honeywell, and to commission equipments that will enable our bakers raise the bar of inclusion to 20 per cent and beyond.

Speaking at the Occasion, the Group Managing Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc., Mr Paul Gbededo said the company as the leader in the industry has significantly and strategically invested in some food and agro-allied value chains to align with Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

Gbededo explained that the launch of Golden Penny Multi-purpose flour, which is a combination of wheat flour and 10 per cent high quality cassava flour is a testimony to the government’s agenda.

“ The new Golden Penny Multi-Purpose Flour will complement Flour Mills other baking flour products like Golden Penny Prime Flour, Golden Penny Confectionery Flour and Eagle Wheat Flour.”

He added that a good instance of this group synergy is the acquisition of Thai Farms in Ogun State by Flour Mills of Nigeria, for the cultivation and production of cassava tubers.

“Thai Farms has the capacity to process 300 tonnes of cassava flour per day which is about 75 tonnes of high quality cassava flour. We also have 10,000 hectares of farmland at our Kaboji Farms, Niger State and 5,000 hectares in Shao, Kwara State among others for the cultivation of cassava to supplement our food business.”

Mr Gbededo said that FMN continues to be one of the largest promoters of Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda with on-going investments in agro allied initiatives that support their concept of integrated food basket of products with home grown produce, “that is designed to maximize local content in our final products as we remain committed to our policy of being involved at all stages of the food value chain from ‘Farm to Table’.