IITA and relevant government agencies have been urged to support the Cassava Equipment Fabricators Association of Nigeria (CEFAN) to develop an efficient and cost-effective made-in-Nigeria flash dryer for the production of quality cassava flour for the baking industry.
This was the resolution of participants at a recent meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the implementation of the national policy to incorporate 10% of cassava flour into bread. The meeting, held at IITA, was chaired by Mrs Oluwatoyin Adetunji, Special Assistant to the President on Food Security.
More than 300 units of flash dryers with capacity for 3–5 tonnes/day are required in Nigeria to meet current dem ands of cassava flour. In view of the huge cost of imported dryers, IITA scientists commenced the procurement of such a dryer from Nigerian fabricators. One year later, only five fabricators are manufacturing the equipment, and their total output is a meager 5% of FMAN cassava flour requirement.
Addressing participants at the meeting, Dr Lateef Sanni, IITA Food Technologist/Postharvest Specialist remarked that locally manufactured flash dryers were not yet efficient. He called for openness among the manufacturers so that they could gain from each other’s expertise. Dr Sanni assured CEFAN members that IITA was willing to support this initiative by bringing into the country any required components of the machine that were not readily available in Nigeria.
In a similar development, the milling sector recently established a N500 million fund to support Nigerian cassava farmers, processors, and equipment fabricators. Announcing this at the meeting, Mr Yemi Ogunyemi of the Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, said the fund was being administered by the Bank of Industry (BoI). He added that Cassava Growers Association of Nigerian, CEFAN, and cassava processors should approach the bank for information on how to benefit from the fund.
IITA is collaborating with the Federal Government to encourage large-scale cassava production across the country.
Dr Sanni gave an update on cassava flash dryers installed by the Integrated Cassava Project in southsouth, southeast, southwest, and north central parts of Nigeria. He also said that there is now an efficient tunnel dryer (Malaysian made) with a private processor (Vesa Foods, Agbor road, Benin city).
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