Synopsis
What brought about the Millet Flour Initiative:
“Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly 30% of the global wheat trade. As a result, Russia’s 2022 military invasion of the Ukraine sent global wheat prices soaring, with Ukraine’s production ability compromised and many countries restricting or shutting down trade relations with Russia. Russia is also a major supplier of fertilizer, which is vital to maximizing crop yields, which adds another layer of complication for farmers.” – Culled from World Population Review
This situation has adversely affected wheat import into Nigeria and ensured the soaring of price of wheat flour. A ripple effect of this has negatively impacted the confectionery and baking sector as a whole as the price of a bag of flour (50kg) as at 3rd week in August 2022, hit an astronomical price of N33,200.00!
Photo Credit : Visual Capitalist
Why Millet
Millet on the other hand is a grain belonging to the Poaceae family, commonly known as the grass family. It is gluten-free, high protein, fibre, and antioxidants. The most popular type is called pearl millet and it’s abundantly available in the savannah regions of sub-Saharan Africa including Kwara, Niger, Kogi States of Nigeria.
As Africans we cannot sit still and wait for a miraculous turnaround of price of flour especially because we also have other great alternatives like manioc flour (cassava), soy beans and millet amongst a vast array of grains.
After several test bakings till an approved recipe was agreed upon, Chef Juls of Bourffe Bakeries Ltd, brand owner of Cakeflair shared findings with the community had several consultations with stakeholders in the industry to introduce millet as a viable, sustainable option for our national staple. Hence, coming together with one voice to initiate “THE DOMESTIC GRAIN INITIATIVE: Millet Bread” movement to not just introduce the grain to our local consumers, we want to encourage them to re-engineer their palates around our own readily available grains.
The idea of embracing our “low hanging fruits” option through hybrizisation of millet in bread production will not only keep the price of bread low, but will advantageously nourish our communities and encourage more backward integration interventions.
Photo Credit : Pristine Organics
The goal of our domestic grains initiative is to:
- Design Innovation for Bread: In support of MDG 8: A hybrid grain option will help improve global partnership for development
- Food Safety Practice: More nutritive alternative to traditional commercial bread will help prevent malnutrition
- Market Connectivity – In support of MDG 1 which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger as millet is readily available and affordable by low income communities.
Our Mission: To Promote Backward Integration for the Nation one grain at a time
It’s time to change the narrative about bread!…
” Wheat flour, the major ingredient for making local staple is derived from a temperate grain not grown originally in Africa, which means we source our daily bread from an imported grain. As a stakeholder in the wheat value chain, we are deconstructing this co-dependency and encouraging our hardworking Nigerian bakers to start taking ownership of the source of our bread value chain by adopting a hybridization approach. let’s reconstitute this important staple with our domestic grains.”
We need to re-engineer our palates folks!
This is how we revive our economy…”
– Chef Juls
Bourffe Bakeries Ltd
