BATN establishes oil palm plant in Cross River

This assurance was given by the British American Tobacco Nigeria foundation (BATN) when they established an oil palm processing cottage industry valued at N10 million in Itighidi, Abi Local Government Area of the state.Director of BATN foundation, Mr Freddy Messanyi, said that the foundation will remain committed to poverty reduction in Nigeria by supporting smallholder […]

This assurance was given by the British American Tobacco Nigeria foundation (BATN) when they established an oil palm processing cottage industry valued at N10 million in Itighidi, Abi Local Government Area of the state.
Director of BATN foundation, Mr Freddy Messanyi, said that the foundation will remain committed to poverty reduction in Nigeria by supporting smallholder farmers to adopt productive ways of managing and earning a living from natural resources in a sustainable manner, adding, “this is one of the reasons why we have come to establish this oil palm processing cottage industry as a way of boosting efforts of local farmers, especially those that have formed themselves into cooperative societies.”
In his remarks, Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, Mr. James Aniyom commended BATN Foundation for the initiative, adding that it will help compliment the efforts of the state government in the agric sector through the provision of employment for people of the community.
Aniyom who was represented by the Director of Administration in the ministry, Mr Francis Adie said, “Cross River State government believes strongly in processing and value addition which will help boost the capacity of our farmers and provide jobs.”
Chairman of the Itighidi farmers cooperative society, Mr Ikpete Stephen Etta, said oil palm processing cottage industry is of greater importance to the cooperative society and the people of the community because in the past, the people of the area were used to manual processing which made many of them to stop the oil palm business but with the industry in place, “we now know that many people will be employed.”