People in the state have been urge to absorb whole grain brown rice in their diets
This was delivered at an engagement meeting with Kano Multi stakeholders with techno serve business solutions to poverty.
In her remarks, the country director, Techno serve Adesuwa Akiboro said that presently the organization is working in thirty five countries across the world.
She said techno serve is to empower people in developing countries in other to build sustainable farms, businesses and enterprises to break the cycle of poverty.
“ we know that there are a lot of hardworking people all around the country, in the farms people are very hard working but you find out that this same people working in the farms are the poorest people you can find, what we do we support them we link them with the skills they need, we link them to the market, we link them to the information, we link them to the finances that they need to pull themselves out of poverty because we believe that they are so hardworking that should not be poor, as many of them should be able to send their children to school as a result of the work they are doing she said”.
Akiboro said they have piloted a project on West African fortified parboiled unpolished rice (WAFPUR) which is implemented in Kano and ogun states for eighteen months.
As the aim of the project is to improve incomes of local rice sellers as well as combat the issue of malnutrition by promoting the consumption of brown rice the state.
Adesuwa, added that WAFPUR project will support two rice millers and intend to expand the scope.
“We are starting the pilot with two rice millers DDrice and kura bothers, not only to produce the rice they farm but expand their production and produce nutritious rice, so we supporting them to produce parboiled brown rice which is actually nutritious she said.”
The country director said that they are supporting them to build a more robust local economy and improving the quality of live for families in communities in Kano state.
On her part, the project manager Technoserve Ava Bawa said that our of a hundred children fifty eight percent a malnourished in Kano state that is why the intervention was implemented to address the issue of high burden of malnutrition in the state.
Low consumption of whole grain brown rice is due to globalization and urbanization we have shifted our diets as this brown rice that we are talking about in this project is what is involved, as we have shifted our diets to more refined foods”.
Bawa said that the WAFPUR project is advocating on the dietary importance of consuming brown rice.
She said that the project is to use the implementation strategy to work with the national and state home grown school feeding program to reach a target beneficiary of one point four million primary school children within the two states that is being implemented.
As the project is supported by Rockefeller foundation.
“ we want to empower rice processors to build their capacity particularly women who are the food vendors who are contracted to cook the food to train them on safety, hygiene and consumption of brown rice.”
The project manager added that the de-husk rice has much nutritional value to the well being of the human body.
