Bong County – As the world’s population heads toward a projected 9.6 billion by 2050, producing enough healthy food in a sustainable manner will be a challenge especially in Liberia where most commodities are imported.
Report by Willie N. Tokpah – [email protected]
But a non-profit organization, First Avenue International says it has a piece of the solution, Bread Fruit.
The group has embarked on the Africa Breadfruit Initiative, using the tropical food, breadfruit to help tackle world hunger.
“The fruit that’s being hailed by many as a possible solution to world hunger also contains compounds that could help prevent mosquitoes from spreading serious and deadly diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and dengue fever” Global Bread Fruit Initiative Founder Josh Schneider registered.
Global Breadfruit Institute noted that the fruit first gained infamy in the 18th century, when William Bligh, the captain of the British navy ship HMS Bounty, was sent on a mission to take breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies as an inexpensive, nutritious food for slaves, a mission that was aborted due to an uprising.
Bligh later returned to Tahiti and took breadfruit plants to St. Vincent and Jamaica he stated.
The program according to Tacarra Birmingham, Program Coordinator of the Africa Bread Fruit Initiative is an initiative of the Global Breadfruit program which has benefited people of the Pacific for over 5,000 years.
She said the introduction of the program to Liberia is aim at promoting the country’s agro-base activities which would accordingly subsidize the huge demand of the country’s stable food rice.
Madam Birmingham told FrontPage Africa at the launch of the Breadfruit Initiative in Bong County Tuesday, that the fruit is resourceful to Liberia, relying on its ability to cope with tropical climate and long life spam, adding that the Cuttington University is being used as its base for the nationwide venture.
“We’ve been working with Cuttington University since 2014 to see how best varieties of bread fruit can grow in Liberia and talk to people about the value and benefits,” Birmingham said.
The Africa Breadfruit Initiative further registered that breadfruit is not only a substantial food source capable of containing food insecurity but also provides multitude of environmental advantages and value added opportunities for the continent.
She noted that breadfruit is important to Liberia and African at large due to its added provisions such as Gluten-Free Flour, Insect Repellant, Latex, Construction Material, Fabric and animal food among others.
Birmingham stated that the fruit should not be considered a backyard tree but to produce essential food products including flour and bread amongst others.
“People had eaten it during hard time and war time but what they fail to realize is that the breadfruit holds quite a nutritional value and is one of the tree crops considered to be a stable crop. It will reduce the amount of wheat flour that Liberia can used,” Birmingham asserted.
She revealed plans by the organization to set out a processing station for the breadfruit program at Cuttington which will process a diversity of food kinds.
With less than US$70,000 estimated to carry out the project, the Africa Breadfruit Initiative hopes the tropical fruit would play an important part in feeding millions across Africa including Liberians.
Also making remarks, Bong County Agriculture Coordinator Monica Horace noted that sufficiently knowledge on breadfruit would encourage Liberians to invest in the product rather than solely depending on rice and cassava.
Madam Horace remarked on the importance of value addition to breadfruit in making it a part of the Liberian diet.
She encouraged Liberians to take advantage of the breadfruit initiative as an important agriculture product, citing “it is also important to encourage our farmers to get some of these varieties and I like to appeal to the Breadfruit Initiative to bring in more of these seeds so that we will be able to give it to every farmer to help in improving our diet.”
Madam Horace lauded the Africa Breadfruit Initiative for the project thus far which she said will be more beneficiary to the Liberian agriculture sector.
Fast forward a few centuries and the Breadfruit Institute is attempting to tackle hunger and deforestation by working with non-profit groups to plant breadfruit trees in such countries as Liberia Kenya, Rwanda, Pakistan and Zambia.
The fruit is plentiful, starchy, and packed with nutrients. In addition to being a valuable, nutritious food, research revealed that breadfruit is used in Hawaii and other regions to control insects. People burn dried clusters of flowers technically known as “male inflorescences” to repel flying insects, including mosquitoes.