Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agribusiness

Micro-Agro-processors benefit from expert training in bread baking using cassava and sweet potato

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

Effort is aimed at affording women an opportunity to learn the art of baking using starchy crops and to improve the production, preparation, distribution and handling of food products.

 

A major outcome of the session was to identify persons who will commit to further develop this new bread baking concept and identify markets and destinations.

Antigua and Barbuda, 2 May 2017 (IICA). Agro-processors, rural women, food and nutrition teachers and chefs from public institutions learned how to blend and use mash from cassava and sweet potato to produce composite bread and other baked products in order to increase consumption and expand opportunities for value adding from local farm produce, thanks to an initiative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA, in collaboration with the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI).

In a one-day practical workshop at the Uncle Sil’s Bakery, in Swetes Village, participants made bread, pies and cake processed from sweet potato and cassava, and gained practical exposure in raw material preparation, processing parameters and their relevance and equipment usage.

IICA’s National Specialist, Craig Thomas and CARDI’s technician, Bradbury Brown, identified the need to continue the implementation of the bread baking training to assist the food and nutrition teachers and members of the Antigua and Barbuda Network of Rural Women Producers (ANBNROP) in building capacity in bread baking, in an effort to afford the women an opportunity to learn the art of baking using starchy crops to improve the production, preparation, distribution and handling of food products.

Training was facilitated by Delroy Jackson and Romeo Skepple, bakers who received training from the master baker of the Caribbean Agri-Business Association (CABA), under the Agriculture Policy Programme (APP).

A major outcome of the session was to identify persons who will commit to further develop this new bread baking concept and identify markets and destinations.

“The promotion of linkages between agriculture and processed products should help to create economic opportunities, support growth in rural communities and improve the chances for sustainable development in these two sectors”, stated Thomas.

The 25 persons who participated in the training session had high praise for the information and new techniques demonstrated by the facilitators in introducing these new baking techniques using locally grown crops.

The focus of the initiative is to support youth and women, a goal to which both IICA and CARDI are committed. Other collaborative institutions for this activity were the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs (MALFBA) and the Wadadli Nature Parks.

 

More information

Craig Thomas, IICA’s National Specialist in Antigua and Barbuda

craig.thomas@iica.int

 

Photo gallery

 

Share

Related news​

El presidente de la Bolsa de Cereales de Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ricardo Marra, durante su participación en el diálogo hemisférico Experiencias transformadoras y escalables para una nueva generación de políticas públicas para los sistemas agroalimentarios.

San José, Costa Rica

October 10, 2025

At IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica, Ricardo Marra, President of the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, calls for all stakeholders to be involved in the construction of sustainable agrifood policies in order to produce better

He emphasized the importance of the issue during the hemispheric dialogue, “Transformative and scalable experiences for a new generation of public policies for agrifood systems”

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

October 10, 2025

Experts from international organizations, attending a meeting at IICA, argued that the challenging global environment calls for a new generation of public policies for agrifood systems

Various experts from international organizations attending a meeting at the Headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) agreed that the challenging global environment of geopolitical changes, extreme weather phenomena and ecological transformations calls for the development of a new generation of public policies for agrifood systems.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

México

October 8, 2025

Gisela Illescas Palma, a rural leader enamored with the countryside and a promoter of sustainable development and a unique coffee brand, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Illescas stands out for her work aimed at driving the development of dozens of farming families in her region, her efforts to defend rural women’s rights, and her passion for the land and coffee, which serves as an inspiration for others.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins