{"id":57099,"date":"2024-11-27T11:15:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T11:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=57099"},"modified":"2024-11-27T11:15:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T11:15:17","slug":"senate-pushes-for-cassava-inclusion-in-flour-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2024\/11\/27\/senate-pushes-for-cassava-inclusion-in-flour-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Pushes for Cassava Inclusion in Flour Production"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adenike Lawal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Senate has advanced a proposal to integrate cassava into flour production and its derivatives, aiming to reduce Nigeria\u2019s reliance on wheat imports.<\/p>\n

The initiative gained momentum with the second reading of a bill sponsored by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central).<\/p>\n

Presenting the bill, Senator Mustapha underscored the economic pressures caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has led to soaring wheat prices.<\/p>\n

Bread, a staple food in Nigeria, has been particularly affected, exacerbating food insecurity and economic challenges.<\/p>\n

He noted that Nigeria\u2019s heavy dependence on wheat imports has strained foreign exchange reserves, worsened trade imbalances, and deepened the country\u2019s food dependency.<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation seeks to mandate a 20% inclusion of high-quality cassava flour in both locally produced and imported flour.<\/p>\n

It also aims to promote cassava farming, establish a sustainable market for cassava flour, and regulate the ratio of cassava to wheat in edible flour production.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the bill offers tax incentives for producers and importers who blend wheat with cassava flour, incentivizing adoption across the industry.<\/p>\n

Senator Mustapha highlighted the broader benefits of the bill, noting that it would spur job creation in the agricultural sector, improve cassava production efficiency, and boost Nigeria\u2019s export earnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cCassava is a vital crop for rural development, poverty alleviation, economic growth, and food security,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, alongside other senators, expressed strong support for the bill.<\/p>\n

Jibrin emphasized that it promotes local agricultural products across Nigeria, as cassava is widely cultivated nationwide.<\/p>\n

Experts have also indicated that cassava inclusion could enhance bread production, though many bakers have yet to adopt such practices.<\/p>\n

Senator Mustapha argued that legislation is essential to enforce compliance with expert recommendations for bread formulation.<\/p>\n

The bill received unanimous backing during the debate and was passed for a second reading.<\/p>\n

The Senate directed its Agriculture Committee to conduct public hearings on the matter within four weeks, signaling a commitment to advancing the cassava agenda for national development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Adenike Lawal The Senate has advanced a proposal to integrate cassava into flour production and its derivatives, aiming to reduce Nigeria\u2019s reliance on wheat imports. The initiative gained momentum with the second reading of a bill sponsored by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central). Presenting the bill, Senator Mustapha underscored the economic pressures caused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":57100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57099"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57104,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57099\/revisions\/57104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}