By Segun Otokiti, Abuja– A bill seeking to mandate inclusion of cassava flour in edible wheat flour produced locally or imported has passed second reading at the Senate.
The bill, sponsored by Saliu Mustapha, the senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), specifically seeks to mandate inclusion of 20 per cent high-quality cassava flour in wheat by all producers of edible flour in Nigeria or imported into the country.
The bill was read for the second time at the Senate and was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, directed the committee to report back to the Senate within four weeks.
Mustapha, while leading a debate on the bill, stressed the need to use cassava as parts of the recipe for wheat flour production in order to reduce the cost of importation of wheat which presently stands at over $3b per annum.
He complained that the continuous importation of wheat has impacted the Nigerian economy negatively by causing trade imbalance, loss of foreign exchange and fueling food dependency.
The senator argued that when the bill is passed into law, it would stimulate job creation in the agriculture sector and increase Nigeria’s market share of cassava earnings in foreign exchange.
He also noted that the law would enhance the efficiency of cassava productions and processing operations to poverty alleviation, economy growth and food security.
With majority of the senators supporting the bill the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, said the bill is in the interest of the country.
Jibrin noted that including cassava in wheat flour production is good for bread making but Nigerian bakers have refused to adhere.
“This bill is all about our national interest. It is important to utilise what we produce everywhere in this country. In the north, in the south and everywhere every state produces cassava. It is one of the crops that you can find everywhere.
“Experts have concluded that using a certain amount of cassava added to wheat is good for us in bread baking. Yes, we need legislation because this thing has been said over and over again.
“However, the bakers have refused to go in line with the study that experts have made about the bread we need to produce in this country. Now, legislation should be enacted to enforce them to use this formula.”
The Deputy Senate President also argued that the implementation will increase production of cassava in the country and subsequently increase income of farmers.
“It will allow us to allow our farmers to produce more now and reduce the money we use in importing wheat every year. And so, it will help to conserve our foreign exchange. It’s as simple as that. It will help our country. It will help our farmers. It’s something we produce everywhere.
“Let’s use what we have instead of using wheat all around, 100%. We can now use 20% and cut the cost of importing wheat to conserve our foreign exchange. It’s simple,” he added.
The immediate past Senate President, Ahmed Lawan recalled how former president Goodluck Jonathan supported local production of bread made with cassava.
Lawan, the Yobe North Senator urged the incumbent government to diversify the economy.
