Export ban: FG to commence mapping of shea tree areas in 2 weeks
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council has said it will commence the mapping of shea tree areas in the next two weeks, following the federal government’s six-month export ban. Director General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, while interacting with journalists in Abuja recently, said the […]
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council has said it will commence the mapping of shea tree areas in the next two weeks, following the federal government’s six-month export ban.
Director General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, while interacting with journalists in Abuja recently, said the president has taken the right decision, which the council has always advocated.
“When I took over as the DG of the RMRDC, one of the things I started campaigning for was that you do not export raw materials without adding 30 per cent value to them. And we took it to the National Assembly, it went through first, second and third readings at the Senate. So, the president took the right step on this goal that we are pursuing because it is in the overall interest of the country.
“Instead of talking of volumes of exported raw materials, we should be talking about the value of exported semi-processed raw materials or even fully processed raw materials, because in that, employment is created. Even our currency gets strengthened,” he said.
He said the studies the council has done internally show that the country produces more than a million metric tons, adding that, “you can easily get a million metric tons of shea nuts from 21 states.”
“And over 90 per cent of this output is exported. So basically, what we do is think in terms of the volumes of export of shea nuts. And this is a highly demanded raw material. But we just basically throw it away. Counting volumes of what we’ve exported without also thinking in terms of the value that we would have gained in terms of foreign currency and the employment it would generate locally,” he noted.
Next steps
The DG said the first step is to bring together stakeholders to review the existing roadmap, to ensure sustainability by ensuring that there are enough and adequate supplies of shea nuts for utilisation by other processors that will be coming up.
“The second thing that we are going to do is to map, to conduct a special mapping of shea trees in the country, based on the quantity available and also the qualities. You know, the shea tree that is in Niger is significantly different in terms of its quality and characteristics from the shea nuts that you see in Sokoto. And each of those varieties also has what they are more relevant for, the kind of products and, you know, the value chain they support, the better. So, with that mapping, which we are going to commence almost immediately, is going to support those who are going to invest by following the trail of the federal government’s decision at this time.
“So that they have the information required to make investments in the shea processing business. We are going to commence that effort in the next two weeks. At present, we have started discussing with researchers and enumerators, and those are going to help us collect this data across the 21 states that are actively growing shea trees.
“In the next two weeks, we are going to be rallying all stakeholders for a review of the five-year roadmap, which has now elapsed. That roadmap was developed in 2019. It’s now elapsed.
So we are going to be reviewing that roadmap to ensure that there is adequacy of shea nuts because as more interest in the shea industry is encouraged by this decision of the federal government, the supply chain is also effectively sustained,” he said.
Prof Ike-Muonso said the third thing the council will do is to launch a national women cluster cooperative to engage and train women.
“The biggest problem is in collection because it’s grows in the wild and women need to be trained on safety, but also how to pick the best quality shea nuts, and also in some processing, because even for smallholder processors, the quality needs to improve. So, this capacity building would be launched across the country simultaneously in the next two weeks.
“We are also going to seek the support of state governments and other agencies, collaborate with them, to see how we are going to roll out processing equipment at the cluster level too. To enable smallholder operators to also engage, participate in this new industry. That way, we can all work together to activate and make sure that the intentions of the president and the federal government are realised.
“SOther things we intend to do are the cultivation. We are going to be talking and working with other state governments to quickly launch and see how we can get them to participate by also donating significant acreages for planting of shea trees,” he said.
He said the council has also developed a mechanism for reporting back to the presidency, on regular updates on capacity utilization, the jobs created, foreign exchange saved, on account of the FG export ban decision, adding that “we feel and we believe that this is a critical role to play, to encourage the presidency to take additional decisions, that support the processing of raw materials before export.”