Accra, June 25, GNA- Flour produced with cassava and maize was on Wednesday introduced into the Ghanaian market to provide a cheaper alternative for bakers in view of the rising cost of wheat flour. Manufactured by Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the composite flour could be used for all bakeries and have similar taste as compared to the wheat flour. A bag of wheat flour, which was selling at GH 39 cedis in January now costs over GH 66 cedis, resulting from the global food crisis. Mr. Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in-charge of Crops, who launched the product in Accra, said the initiative was commendable to harness the best from local staples. He said this was necessary to empower farmers to stay in production and help boost the national economy, adding, "we have to save the economy from collapsing by patronizing our local foods." According to the Deputy Minister, the price of wheat flour currently stood at GH 1,600 per metric tone, while high quality cassava flour was also selling at GH 900 cedis.

He stated that bread had become an important commodity with consumption of about 2 kilograms per household and accounting for not less than 15 percent of monthly household budget, hence the new product could contribute positively to the economy. Mr Eledi indicated that the Ministry was negotiating with flour mills to produce more of the cassava flour for supply and would also work at gradually subsidizing import on wheat flour to make that of cassava more acceptable.

He said if countries such as Mozambique and Nigeria have been successfully in the usage of the flour, developing taste for it could make it work for Ghana too.

Ms Paulina Addy, Deputy Acting Director of WIAD said the development of the flour was supported by the Food Research Institute, the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, among other research institutions.

She said although dietary habits were difficult to change, previous efforts to introduce the new flour was accepted by some consumers and expressed the hope that the product would be widely patronized. Ms Addy pledged that WIAD would do all it could to sustain the production of the cassava composite flour. She asked the country to strategically develop and refine local food and should not wait until hard times, as was the case in 1983. 25 June 08