Zürcher Nachrichten - I.Coast eyes cassava for its bread as wheat prices surge

EUR -
AED 4.049778
AFN 78.834299
ALL 99.033342
AMD 431.456343
ANG 1.973823
AOA 1005.540147
ARS 1184.510488
AUD 1.740106
AWG 1.984619
AZN 1.871047
BAM 1.951157
BBD 2.225918
BDT 133.95119
BGN 1.953417
BHD 0.415629
BIF 3226.660051
BMD 1.102566
BND 1.473074
BOB 7.618042
BRL 6.190801
BSD 1.102437
BTN 94.108603
BWP 15.256919
BYN 3.607729
BYR 21610.297969
BZD 2.214448
CAD 1.554541
CDF 3167.672699
CHF 0.949657
CLF 0.027281
CLP 1046.908381
CNY 8.028391
CNH 8.030442
COP 4581.504452
CRC 555.45727
CUC 1.102566
CUP 29.218005
CVE 110.006211
CZK 25.045922
DJF 195.947771
DKK 7.461959
DOP 69.623267
DZD 146.912551
EGP 55.769964
ERN 16.538493
ETB 145.130438
FJD 2.566609
FKP 0.849767
GBP 0.842206
GEL 3.042781
GGP 0.849767
GHS 17.089472
GIP 0.849767
GMD 78.830087
GNF 9541.515201
GTQ 8.509592
GYD 230.665979
HKD 8.575705
HNL 28.207398
HRK 7.54001
HTG 144.267713
HUF 403.661068
IDR 18465.889357
ILS 4.082247
IMP 0.849767
INR 94.030872
IQD 1444.233926
IRR 46431.844181
ISK 144.314781
JEP 0.849767
JMD 173.672773
JOD 0.781606
JPY 161.04578
KES 142.506807
KGS 95.60528
KHR 4409.646484
KMF 500.014042
KPW 992.369183
KRW 1600.661596
KWD 0.339262
KYD 0.918627
KZT 552.612033
LAK 23885.559894
LBP 98786.765454
LKR 327.39557
LRD 220.466371
LSL 20.781097
LTL 3.255591
LVL 0.666932
LYD 5.33219
MAD 10.487244
MDL 19.686991
MGA 5027.940557
MKD 61.511679
MMK 2314.787019
MNT 3851.769118
MOP 8.833576
MRU 43.813776
MUR 50.023376
MVR 16.990372
MWK 1911.842309
MXN 22.023316
MYR 4.897654
MZN 70.451818
NAD 20.780251
NGN 1695.23982
NIO 40.564638
NOK 11.404074
NPR 150.576289
NZD 1.901293
OMR 0.424466
PAB 1.102556
PEN 4.048086
PGK 4.549174
PHP 62.857624
PKR 309.248804
PLN 4.227851
PYG 8845.546281
QAR 4.019435
RON 4.978193
RSD 117.17297
RUB 92.685108
RWF 1572.964625
SAR 4.136492
SBD 9.180809
SCR 15.773594
SDG 662.092022
SEK 10.787111
SGD 1.473199
SHP 0.866444
SLE 25.171542
SLL 23120.263604
SOS 630.003648
SRD 40.298877
STD 22820.894741
SVC 9.647255
SYP 14336.339478
SZL 20.788701
THB 37.64133
TJS 12.001035
TMT 3.870007
TND 3.373498
TOP 2.582323
TRY 41.871279
TTD 7.474586
TWD 36.451059
TZS 2924.510568
UAH 45.517981
UGX 4017.56488
USD 1.102566
UYU 46.573677
UZS 14239.435486
VES 77.098718
VND 28451.721382
VUV 136.24344
WST 3.123386
XAF 654.272445
XAG 0.034516
XAU 0.000355
XCD 2.97974
XDR 0.825967
XOF 654.373081
XPF 119.331742
YER 270.845622
ZAR 20.688194
ZMK 9924.417531
ZMW 30.622794
ZWL 355.025874
  • RBGPF

    -0.2800

    67.72

    -0.41%

  • CMSC

    -0.2400

    22.26

    -1.08%

  • BCC

    -7.4400

    94.63

    -7.86%

  • RELX

    0.4600

    51.44

    +0.89%

  • RIO

    -1.4700

    58.43

    -2.52%

  • GSK

    1.3700

    39.01

    +3.51%

  • JRI

    -0.2200

    12.82

    -1.72%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    9.8

    +0.2%

  • BTI

    1.6700

    41.92

    +3.98%

  • NGG

    3.6100

    69.39

    +5.2%

  • SCS

    -0.7200

    10.74

    -6.7%

  • CMSD

    -0.1600

    22.67

    -0.71%

  • VOD

    0.2500

    9.37

    +2.67%

  • BCE

    0.8400

    22.66

    +3.71%

  • BP

    -2.4700

    31.34

    -7.88%

  • AZN

    1.7000

    73.92

    +2.3%

I.Coast eyes cassava for its bread as wheat prices surge
I.Coast eyes cassava for its bread as wheat prices surge / Photo: Sia KAMBOU - AFP

I.Coast eyes cassava for its bread as wheat prices surge

As wheat prices are driven upwards by the war in Ukraine, bakers in the West African state of Ivory Coast are starting to use locally produced cassava flour to bake bread.

Text size:

The baguette, the stick of bread that is much loved in the former French colony, is commonly seen as a benchmark of the cost of living.

But Ivory Coast does not produce wheat domestically, instead importing up to a million tonnes of the grain per year, mainly from France.

Surging wheat prices have stoked concern about the impact in a country of 25 million where the average wage is less than 250,000 CFA francs ($400) per month, and which was shaken by a wave of violence less than two years ago.

Both Ukraine and Russia are large wheat producers, and lost harvests and other uncertainties have driven up prices of the global staple.

In response, Ivorian authorities have pegged the price of a baguette at between 150 and 200 CFA francs ($0.25 and $0.30) depending on weight, channelling subsidies worth 6.4 billion CFA francs (about $10 million) to the country's 2,500 bakeries.

Bakers, with the government's support, are also starting to substitute a small portion of wheat flour with flour from cassava, a root vegetable.

Cassava, also called manioc, is Ivory Coast's second largest crop after yam, with 6.4 million tonnes produced each year.

- 'New flavours' -

The cassava substitution plan ticks the boxes for economy and sustainability. But what do Ivorians think?

"Everything has become expensive in the market," said Honorine Kouamee, a food vendor in Abidjan's Blockhaus district who was cooking pancakes made of wheat mixed with coconut flour.

"If we can make bread with local cassava flour it will be better. People are willing to eat local products."

The national consumers' confederation has thrown its support behind the cassava substitute.

"It will provide a stimulus for manioc producers and maintain the price of bread," said its president, Jean-Baptiste Koffi.

But image and taste are important and some bakers are cautious.

"It's not a done deal," said Rene Diby, a baker.

"For Ivorians, bread made with cassava is associated with poor-quality bread. Consumers will have to be made aware of these new flavours."

The authorities will have to run a promotional campaign, he said.

Cassava is high in starch and is a good source of dietary fibre.

But high proportions of cassava flour lower the mineral and protein content in bread, compared with traditional wheat, a 2014 study in Nigeria found.

Financially, even using just a small portion of cassava flour would provide the government with some relief.

Last year, 10 percent of the national budget of around $16 billion was spent on food imports, despite the country's fertile soil.

Ranie-Didice Bah Kone, executive secretary of the state-run National Council for the Fight against the High Cost of Living (CNLCV), says it is time to unlock Ivory Coast's rch agricultural potential.

"It's a question of thinking long term, about our food security, it's a question of thinking about how Ivory Coast will ensure it is less dependent on world prices," she said.

During a visit to a cassava flour processing plant in Abidjan, she called for immediate measures to increase the supply of local flours, in addition to subsidies for the wheat sector.

- 'Africanise baking' -

Concerns in West Africa about dependence on imported wheat are not confined to Ivory Coast.

On July 19, bakers from across West Africa will meet in Senegal's capital Dakar to launch an association to lobby for setting a regional benchmark of setting up to 15 percent of local content in bread products.

Using local products in bread could "solve food crises," said Marius Abe Ake, who leads a bakers' association.

"We need to Africanise baking to help lower manufacturing costs, fight poverty and avoid damaging unrest."

Ivory Coast has a history of turbulence.

In 2020 scores died in pre-election violence -- an episode that revived traumatic memories of a brief civil conflict in 2011 in which several thousand people were killed.

In 2008 riots broke out when the cost of rice, milk and meat soared.

W.Vogt--NZN