“CWRS makes life better for me as a miller—it is one of the best wheats in the world,” said Chinedu Epeuchi, an assistant miller at Crown Flour Mills in Nigeria who recently attended a Cereals Canada program in Nairobi, Kenya.  

In September, a team of technical experts from Cereals Canada traveled to Nairobi to facilitate a training workshop with millers and mill staff from six African countries. It was the first time in almost three years that an in-country training program was offered by the agricultural organization. 

“This workshop marked our return to in-country programming and hands-on technical training, which had been suspended since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Cereals Canada Milling Manager, Norbert Cabral, who led several sessions and open discussions focused on milling wheat and flour quality. “It was an exciting week, both for our team and the 14 millers and quality assurance managers who took part in the program.” 

The week-long workshop that was led by Cabral and his colleagues, Karen Pitura, Technical Specialist, End-products (Baking), and Kristina Pizzi, Manager, Analytical Services, was held at the African Milling School, a professional training facility that trains highly skilled millers for Africa and the Middle East.  

Canadian wheat exports to sub-Saharan Africa have increased by approximately 500,000 tonnes from 2012 to 2020 driven by population growth in Nigeria, Canada’s largest wheat import market in the region, as well as by economic growth in other markets like Ghana, one of the most urbanized countries in West Africa. Canadian Western Red Spring wheat (CWRS) makes up most of Canadian exports to the region. 

Emphasizing the benefits of using Canadian wheat, the packed agenda included presentations and hands-on activities in analytical testing, milling, blending, and baking with Canadian wheat. All the activities were specifically designed to target the unique needs of millers from this key region for Canadian wheat exports.  

“CWRS makes life better for me as a miller—it is one of the best wheats in the world,”

Chinedu Epeuchi, an assistant miller at Crown Flour Mills in Nigeria

“CWRS is typically purchased to add strength in blends with lower strength, lower priced wheats of other origins,” said Cereals Canada CEO Dean Dias. “With the large amount of lower quality wheat being imported into Africa, providing technical support and understanding of the excellent functional quality of wheat that comes from Canada continues to be a high priority.”  

Connecting the Canadian cereals value chain to global customers is an integral part of the mandate of Cereals Canada. Through dedicated, targeted programming, offered in-country, online, and at its Winnipeg headquarters, Cereals Canada engages with customers to discuss wheat quality and functionality, and help them get the most out of Canadian wheat.  

“We make use of Canadian wheat a lot so (I came here) to get an idea of the milling and baking properties of the wheat, and to understand how to better make use of Canadian wheat,” said Epeuchi.