BUSINESS FG trains 2,000 bakers on cassava bread

Determined to boost the production of cassava bread nationwide, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Resources, yesterday, flagged-off a two-day training programme for 50 bakers drawn from North- central and Southwest states.

13 states including the host Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Minna, Nasarawa, Benue Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti, are participating in the training aimed at imbuing bakers with the requisite skills and expertise to produce cassava bread. It would be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan launched the Cassava bread initiative in 2012.

The Technical Adviser (Cassava Value Chain) to the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mrs. Adetunji Oluwatoyin , said that the federal government has trained 2,000 people on cassava bread production with another 740 billed for training in two weeks.

She said: “For this particular event, we are training 50 for the south-east, we will train 150 again and in another two weeks time we will be training another 740”.

Addressing participants at the opening of the workshop, Oluwatoyin urged them to embrace the initiative which she noted would create jobs, uplift rural dwellers and boost the nation’s economy.

She said the federal government as parts of it transformation agenda was diversifying into nonoil sector of the economy by taking advantage of the potentials in agriculture sector.

Chairman, Cassava Growers Association in Kwara, Engineer Fashanu Gabriel, noted that the initiative would uplift cassava growers in the country.