Municipal Director of Agric for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality in the Central Region, Ms. Victoria Abankwa, has compelled the government of Ghana to have breadfruit adopted as a locally grown crop for large-scale cultivation like cocoa, palmnut, and coconut.

According to Ms. Abankwa, Ghana stands to recoup immensely should the advocacy on the adoption of breadfruit be embraced, as the staple food bares a lot of potential to augment the country's economy.

Breadfruit, botanically referred to as 'Artocarpus Altilis' is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family, believed to have bred in Polynesia from the breadnut (Artocarpus camansi), spread into the Oceania through the Austronesian expansion and to other tropical areas during the Colonial Era.

Speaking in an interaction with Sompa TV's Eric Annan at the ongoing 'Central Expo' 2025 fair held in Cape Coast, she described breadfruit similar to root tuber like cassava and sweet potato. Only that breadfruit is plunged off the tree unlike root tuber foods which are uprooted when ripe.

She eulogized that should the fruit be largely considered by the state and grown nationwide, can in few years help to address food shortages often experience at various secondary schools, thereby assisting in the country's school feeding program with its usage for porridge, fried chips, bread, boiled and foods, among other delicacies.

Considering the enormous benefits breadfruit possesses from nutrition to economic, the Agric Director implored the need for Ghana to shift maximum attention on the fruit to further motivate farmers to go into large-scale breadfruit farming.

Ms. Abankwa enlightened that aside the considerable amount of starch breadfruit contains which only makes it valuable on the trade market with starch production, can as well be use for flour, yoghurt and other finish products for exportation.

On food security issues confronting Ghana, she bemoaned the fact that the country is vastly limited with regards to food variations and nutritional benefits with crops widely cultivated being maize, plantain, and cassava. 

Championing the course for variety in food nutrition, the KEEA Agric Director proposed breadfruit as best for diabetic patients with its rich nutrients in fiber as it improves digestion and offer adequate stability to the immune system, coupled with its protein content which makes it a plant protein hence making it good for vegetarians as well as its richness in vitamin A, B, and C.

Sompaonline.com//Eric Annan