In order to provide added value to the corn and cassava sector, WAAPP Cote d'Ivoire initiated, as a priority activity, the development of local flours made from these products in bread making. This project aims to the adoption of production and consumption of composite bread made with local flour by bakery and pastry professionals and the population.

The technology adopted from Senegal under WAAPP is to produce bread and bakery products by substituting a percentage of at least 15% of wheat flour by the local corn flour or tapioca through an improved manufacturing process.

As part of knowledge and technology transfer, a mission led by the Interprofessional Funds for Agricultural Research and Advisory (FIRCA), the WAAPP National Coordination Unit composed of researchers and bakers, visited Senegal to learn from it experience. During this mission, the delegation was trained on theoretical and practical aspects of the bread making of composite flours.

Following this mission in Senegal, WAAPP Cote d'Ivoire in collaboration with the Union of Bakery Owners of Cote d'Ivoire has implemented the pilot phase of the project in 10 bakeries in Abidjan.

In view of the tremendous progress of the pilot phase, the project was expanded to 50 bakeries and pastries in Abidjan and in two towns inward the country (Bouaké and Korhogo). WAAPP has therefore contributed to strengthening the technical capacity of bakeries involved in the project by providing spiral mixers, electric scales, thermometers and display cases.

In addition, a pilot bakery was installed to enable the training of stakeholders in bakery and pastry using the new improved techniques. It will also serve to train young researchers in the development of new bread processing techniques and bakery products using local flour.

The project will also provide 50 bakeries with cassava and maize flour needed to produce composite bread for its duration. At the end of the project, cassava and maize producers as well as millers and bakers will develop a mechanism that will sustain the composite bread production.