Demand for top quality cereals high

The Cereals and Other Produce Board of Tanzania (CPB) Marketing and Sales Officer, Mr George Mboje said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that, the board is currently focusing on meeting huge domestic demand for cereals than exports.

“Local demand for high quality processed maize flour is still very strong that call for more players in the processing industries,” he said adding that, some of the packed maize flour in the market is of very low quality for human consumption. He said, most of the food processors deploy unhygienic ways in the processing food commodities like maize flour.

He said, some farmers and traders use of poisonous chemicals in the storage of cereals and other food commodities that make food consumed with metal particles thus endangering people’s health develop serious diseases.

In most regions, farmers and traders use chemicals used to treat mosquito nets by spraying into the cereals but have far reaching impact into the health of the final consumers. Apart from maize, other cereals grown in the country include sorghum, wheat, barley, millet, oat and varieties of beans.

He said, the CPB deploys high technology in processing to high quality cereals and other food commodities before introducing them to the market. Currently, CPB has high tech milling in Iringa that processes maize from the southern highland regions to be distributed countrywide.

He said, another high tech milling for processing maize and sunflower seed from Dodoma, Singida and neighbouring regions which is located in Dodoma Region is set to start operations soon. Similarly, the sharp rising demand for animal feeds for poultry, cattle and pigs is the new area which is creating pressure in the supply of cereals and other products in the country.

Source: Daily News

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