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BUSINES50I\Y: www.bU5inessdayonline.(om
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Wednesday 08 August 2012
Apapa Port accounts for N83.1bn agric export first half 2012
Tapping into Nigeria's N24bn cashew trading, export
452,355 metric Ions of various agrle commodities lotalllng N83. 122 billion
OLUYIHKHLAVIOOE
of2012.
Nr ~:':':~'~"~
the comman d 's a r ea comptroUcr who made this known In a press briefing In hi s office sa id the
tie however lamented that the command fell s hort of N7 billion in ils
commodities are cashew nUIS, sesame seeds. cocoa
Ihe nationwide strike in January
Yalcubu
a n d expor t,
1: lfrrentl y worth N24 bil Uuo, s till has more roolO fur investors, according TO SOlonye Anga, public rela tions office r, N;lIio n II Cashew Ass ociation o f Nigeria (NCAN). - Th e indus t r y whi c h is woru! abOlt NI trillion In te r ms of a ~ selS and volume o r ill'ljvities has over 1 million people who depend all it directly a nd indirectly, anil there Isstill room for inv~S(ors; says Allga.. Ileexphin::, ~Currently, Nigeria has a i)(l ut 600,000 s urviving cashew Irees s pread ac ro u th e EaSI West. Soulh ami Northern Nigeria, with .In average yield of about 200kg to '100kg per hec ta re bu t over 80 percent ofth. ~se cashew trees are over aged - over 60 years o ld. '[1::ough they are s tlll [ruitiI:g this Is the rea s un behlo. 1 t h e 101Y productiviryof t. ur cashew trees. So, Investors are needed to go iru o p lanting o f cashew I.rr:es so as to give boo s t Itt cas h ew productivity.I-Ie adds , "Cashew ha s become a national c rop. Every f rt of II Is sdul In o ne industry or e oth e l. Cuhew nuts ien prot:essl!CI are eaten soael. l o cally and e rnalionaJ ly II is a lso 'd as an ingredient by .... y food CtlDlpanies In 'eloped coulltries. It is d as a Dun y ingredient Ice 路c ream s and
were exported through the Apapa Port In the firsl hair
beans, ginger. hibiscus nowers, processed rubber, and 50 on. Garlco a lso revea led that his command raked In N 139.2 biUion from January
Garko,
to June, 2012.
first quarter target due to
Abia distributes free cocoa seed lings, agro-input to farmers
AkinwumI Adesina, honour.JbIe .mister of egricultura (1rictIe) Tala Fa$Cf\/, (I) national prC$ident, .a.ng. Sotooye, national pubie ~ oIIIcef. NWonaI C.srewAssociaIiort 01 N"QIria (NCAN) III !he Nigerian eesr-Induslry Iransfo!mrion m.ting held ill lagos lecenIIy
chocolates, sweets, gravies, In production of cashew nut flour, etc, Because ofilS high level of vitamins a nd minerals, it is a lso usdul In the pharmaceutical Industry .~
Anga furtllc r said, -Apan from the nuts whi ch are processed and markete d locally and intemationall)', t he (ru lt can be used in producing Juice. But the re is no standard cashew Juice process ing fa c tory in Nigeria. This ca lls for mas s ive Investment as cashew juice Is more nutritional than orange Juic e. Rather than e xpo rtin g the fruit s for Industri es abroa d , th e juice can be produced he re in Nige ria and expo rted c reati ng jobs and wealth for inves tors'But the industry like o th ers In Nigeria h0 5 its own fair share of
challenges. Anga says, "The to the cashew. Anga says, jute bags which are used In .oWe have to plant 300,000 packaging abou t 70kg raw new high yielding cashew cashew nuts sel ls for about varie ties between 2013 and N500 per bag. As a result, 20 1'1 to gradually replace produce rs use nylon bags the over age d cashew which COSts NSO per bag trees . This way, we will and its qua lity deteriora tes create job s , empower and this reduces Its market our peopl e, pay high er value Internationally. for raw cashew nuts and "So, we want t he protect our market. Today, government to subsidise In ou r s upermarke ts you jute bags like o tlier inputs find various brands or for (armen . We also p rocessed cashew nu ts expect more s upport in which are bought by various othe r areas from Nigerians even though government so as to make they are very expensive. our international trade of ' If we look Inwards, we cashew more co mpetitive .~ will realise there Is a huge He says the cas hew local market for processed indu s tr ), ha s be e n cashew nut in Nige ria that l a r ge l y neg lected by Is largely untapped: pa s l gove rnm ents, and The m inis ter howe ver therefore cashe w farm e rs has confirmed that the have remained poo r,. va lu e c hain of cashew but Adewunllli Adeslna, farming Is quile rewarding. th e c urre nt minis ter has pointing out that th e promised support to the prospect for the business sub路sector. today is very currently high, Currently, Nigeria reiterating that agriculture produces 120,000 tOilS of is a business and must be cashew nuts and 95 percent treated as such. of the annual production Is He said recent ly, "I exported as raw produc ts. don' t want to be. minister Thissltuation has rendered over poor farm ers. I am the cashew industry, which ready to give it all it takes p ro vides ov er 600,000 to transform the agrlc Jobs. to be vul nerable, sector. As a s tep forward, Impove rished and eas ily I have Included cashew exp loited by var iou s as one of the na tional co untrie s that buy raw trandormatlona l crop cashew nuts (ro m Nigeria. and as minis ter of ag ric Therefore , NCAN Is I will support and build concenlrating its resources the cilshew va lue chai n , o n establishing cash e w and by so doing, c reate pro ceSSi ng cenlres that employment and empower will process and add value our people ,~
GODFREY OFURUM
Aba he Abia S tate government ha s commenced the distribution of free Improved cocua seedlings and agro.lnputto farmers to boost cocoa production in the state. Ike Onyenwaku , the Slate commissio n er for agriculture, In a n address a t the Inauguratio n of Ihe programme, affi rmed that the event was organised to make cocoa produclion in the Slate more attractive to investors, young schoo l leavers and generally to create awareness on the huge economic potential in cocoa production. Onyenwaku explained that the ministry had been bubbling with ac tivities, especially In tbe last few weeks, following ac ti ve finan cial and moral suppon or the GovemorTheodore Qrji to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government on aclion plans on cassava, cocoa, rice , 011 palm , aquaculture, leather, sheep, goat and pig production. The commissioner reveale d Ihat the state had com m e n ce d th e disburse me nt of Nt billion
T
agricultural loan to boost the capital base of poor farmers in the state. According to him, Abla has enormous potential in cocoa production. The rich soil and the I!'\-enly distributed rainfall can be harnessed not just for cocoa production, but also for the commercial produ ction of other ca sh crops and livestock. He ther e fore urged potential inves tors to tap 1010 the rich ag ri c ultural resources for production' and processing of va rious ClOps and Ih"eStock. including cocoa, saying -I thank ow farmers, particularly, those engaged in cocoa production for their patience, support and understanding. Some of you have made Abla proud by winning national laurels. We promise to do whatever Is needed to enable you excel in your chosen vocation and Improve ourcunent rating in cocoa production: He fuuher urged the farmers to make good use of th e In puts by properly applying the sldlls they have acquired fr om the cocoa farmer field schools as well as consider th e comi ng together of farmers' schools as coopera ti ve s ocieties to es tabli sh cocoa seeds processing plants In thestate. Apan from seedlings and chemicals. the farmers were also given free rain boots.