NEPC Tells Adamawa Farmers to Enhance Export

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has advised farmers in Adamawa State to tap into organic farming, stressing that it will open up a lot of export opportunities as well as diversify the Nigerian economy. Mrs Nonye Ayeni, Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, conveyed this message at a special training for small-holder farmers in Jimeta, Yola. […]

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has advised farmers in Adamawa State to tap into organic farming, stressing that it will open up a lot of export opportunities as well as diversify the Nigerian economy.

Mrs Nonye Ayeni, Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, conveyed this message at a special training for small-holder farmers in Jimeta, Yola.

According to Mrs. Ayeni, “The main objective of the Initiative is to “DEVELOP CAPACITY FOR A PROSPEROUS ORGANIC EXPORT ” Mrs. Ayeni highlighted.

The programme is carefully designed to give farmers the edge in obtaining Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) — a key to the operation of cooperative farming groups — certification and to improve their ability to comply with the strict, ever-evolving international organic standards, she explained.

The strategic objective of the Council is to position Nigeria as the source of certified quality organic products.

NEPC CEO highlighted the fact the demand for organic food is growing worldwide, adding that it has become a strong industry.

With the global organic market estimated at over $97 billion and forecast to skyrocket to $437 billion by the year 2028, Ayeni said Nigeria had a great responsibility to cash in on it, especially as demand from areas such as the European Union was high.

Reiterating the Federal Government’s resolve to diversify the economy through non-oil exports, Ayeni said organic agriculture is a key area.

She emphasized the need for stringent organic certification and buyer specifications for Nigeria produce to be globally competitive, calling on both public and private sector operators to galvanize support for strategic interventions.

As a demonstrable intervention under farm inputs support scheme of the NEPC, Mrs. Ayeni said the NEPC would also provide support to the groundnut farmers in Adamawa.

Groundnut Farmers, Processers and Marketers Association of Nigeria Adamawa State will be provided with 300kg of an improved high-yielding SAMNUT 22 variety of groundnut seed to be produced on eight hectares as a cluster model demonstration farm at Malkoli in Yola South.

This project, she added, would be extended to other commodity associations and farming clusters in the state.

Speaking in support of the project, Mr Peter Irimiya, who stood on behalf of the state Commissioner for Agriculture David Jatau, promised to have a robust negotiation with officers of NEPC on the issue of exportation.

He pledged his own commitment to moving from inorganic to organic farming and urged all of those attending to participate attentively in the training, to become “planners at the villages for export” in the state of Adamawa, as well as across other borders in Nigeria.