Tutu Rural Training Center (TRTC), from Taveuni in Fiji, held a breadfruit symposium in May 2021. The aim of the symposium was to empower farmers on alternative cropping by using sustainable farming practices. They also mapped out a value chain of how to cultivate breadfruit to bringing it to a dish. The symposium also focused on adding value adds to enable a more resourceful use of the crop. There were also discussions based on the commercialization of breadfruit as the participates of the event began to understand the demand for a gluten-free product.
The Tutu Rural Training Centre’s ongoing involvement in the development of breadfruit as a commodity continues to open up doors for a bright future. With TRTC working together with the Pacific Breadfruit project (via PIFON) they have discovered that for the future, there are major opportunities in supplying processed breadfruit products to export markets. These markets are divided into two broad segments: the gluten/grain-free product market, and the market based on processing advantages potentially offered by breadfruit.
The Tutu breadfruit symposium concludes with a finding that a substantial increase in breadfruit consumption can make a significant contribution to the reduction of NCDs and thus have large social and economic benefits for our economy. The recent display of value-added products from breadfruit flours opens up doors for new development.
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