Since late last year, I’ve been developing and implementing a custom Web Marketing System for a Farm Business Support Professional (a Professor in one of the nation’s leading universities) who travels locally and internationally to support Farm Businesses and Stakeholder groups by facilitating learning events.
Apart from capacity building, one of the key areas of focus this real world focused academic offers valuable support to players in the farm business sector across Africa, is Agribusiness Vocational Skills development training.
In that regard, this gentleman continues to impress me with his demonstrated hands-on proficiency in very practical vocations. A good example is the use of agricultural food products in making snacks.
But one particular area I’ve been most excited to see his work has been that relating to the use of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) as a replacement for more expensive conventional wheat flour in baking of bread, and snacks like doughnuts, pies and chin-chin.
For those who do not know it, HQCF is costs about 50% less than wheat flour. Yet, continuing research and trials are showing that it has the potential to deliver similar benefits in the baking and snacks foods production chain that wheat flour currently deliver.
More people need to be made aware of what HQCF can do. We grow Cassava all over this continent. If more of us embrace the production of HQCF from Cassava that we grow, and we make use of it in larger amounts in place of Wheat, the implication for savings of scarce Forex resources are huge.
Reports have it that Ghana has long established itself as a leader in pursuit of this goal and is doing quite well.
I share the report from the FAO below, in the first of many efforts I will be making to create more awareness about this opportunity, out here, for more of us to follow up.
This is why I’m supporting my client with various promotional resources, so he can get increased marketing exposure for the training workshop on use of HQCF for snacks production that he offers.
FAO: ‘Promising’ cassava flour can drastically cut costs for bakers
Flour made from cassava can be up to half the price of regular wheat flour, holding great promise for bakers amid commodity volatility, says the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
