Online Reporter
The Herald, 12 November 1999
AFRICAN countries need to concentrate on micro reforms after placing greater emphasis on macro-economic changes so far, International Grains Council Executive Director Germain Denis said.
“There is obviously a gap developing between macro-level reforms and policy changes and the micro level,” Denis said on the sidelines of a Cairo conference on commodity development in Africa.
“This is a big matter of concern for those participants who I have heard here.” In one case, Denis said, a state marketing board had been dismantled as part of liberalising reforms, but had not been replaced by any coherent framework for producers.
The main focus of the work of the conference, organised by the Amsterdam based Common Fund for Commodities, Denis said, was to help governments and the private sector in Africa to make markets work in the field of commodities.
Senegal had been working on a project to remove impurities such as sand and small stones from millet flour, and had been able to share its success with neighbouring countries like Mali, Guinea and Guinea Bissau, Denis said, after chairing a grains working group meeting.
A regional grains trading centre was developing on the borders of those countries, he said. “This is what making markets work for their development is all about. They are modest but positive examples,” he added.
Another delegate was keen for information on any research conducted internationally on making flour from sweet potatoes. Many participants were interested in the culinary applications of composite flours derived from grains other than just pure wheat, including sorghum, millet and cassava.
Cassava was sometimes used because of its high carbohydrate value, Denis said. “There is a lot of potential in making bread from sorghum flour. Experts are working on this and it’s very encouraging.
