The National Agricultural Marketing Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO) is giving assurances to the public that its alternative to wheat flour, available at its Farmers’ Markets, just might be what the country needs to get through the current food prices crisis affecting the globe.
An official statement issued by NAMDEVCO today is encouraging the public to fully explore what alternative flour products can do and is inviting the public to take advantage of an opportunity to learn how to use the different types of flour produced locally.
“We are aware that countries are being faced with limited supplies of wheat flour which is likely to create an imbalance in the supply and demand of wheat for domestic use,” NAMDEVCO said. “This Sunday at the Queen’s Park Savannah Farmers’ Market, NAMDEVCO will have a recipe demonstration on the different types of locally produced flour from cassava and sweet potato.”
Person kneading wheat flour to make bread. Image by Giulio Perricone from Pixabay .
According to NAMDEVCO, local farmers have the capacity to produce alternative sources of flour.
“Our monitoring records indicate consistent quarterly production of 1.15 million kg of sweet potatoes and 1.07 million kg of cassava, which can be readily converted into root crop flour. This data shows that farmers continue to successfully produce a wide range of root crops despite external factors that can affect production, inclusive of climate change,” the organisation reported.
It added: “These composite flours are easily accessible and nutritious. Flour made from both cassava and sweet potato sources are on sale weekly at a number of our Farmers Markets, inclusive of the Queen’s Park Savannah Famers’ Market.”
Sweet potatoes and eddoes on sale at a NAMDEVCO Farmers Market in April 2022. (Image courtesy NAMDEVCO)
NAMDEVCO recommends that combining local flours with wheat flour can help, without sacrificing nutritional value.
“NAMDEVCO encourages the use of composite flours made using a ratio of root crop flour and wheat when preparing meals, which are easily accessible and nutritious,” the company said.
“We remain committed to providing the public with an avenue to acquire local goods and produce, at consistent and reasonable prices… from ‘Farm to Table’ to meet our food and nutrition security demands,” it added.