lHEGUARDlAN. Monda)lJulY4.20U
8U5INESS 123
Govt moves to boost shea butter production From Joke Akanmu, Abut. r~r than Lhlft shea 1~ buuerproductng(Ommu
'" 10
a~ to brnefit from the ·0", Village one Produ~ In lttattvr aimed at boosting shea butU:r production In ....buJa and Its environs.
nitirs
Abu~ Em,,!,""
Ag'"""
The~efidarycommunitlrs
include Nuku ilnd Rlmb.t community In a nd Rubochl community n Kuje arra council This Is coming from the ~solve by the FederOlI Govemment to boost shea butter production for export so OIS to Increase fo~ig n exchOlnge eOlmings. em ployment gener.lllon. W!'alLh CR-i!.tlon OInd income ge ner.ltlon. The Permanent Secmary In the Federal MiniStry of ....griculture and Rural Development, Mrs. FOItimOl Bilmldele disdmrd this while
Abal·'
inaugul"Olting a technical com· mittee on the National Shea Development InAbuja.. Bamldele observed thOlt Nigeria p~ntly producrs 50 per cem of the Wrst Afrian production of sheOl nut esti· mated at 600,000 metric tonnes ~ on lr.Ided volumes Wad of Benin. BurkinOl faso, Cote d ' l vol~. Ghana, MaliandTogo. She laments that cumntly the shea processing method In NIgeria Is laborious and Ihe product of low qUOllity hena the poor export perfonnance nolative to the production potmlial. The Ptrmanent Secretary urged stakeholders In the Industry to close ranks In repositioning the SKlor for optimum penonnana. Membrrsl)lp of the National Shea Develo pment Committee Is drawn from the
ministries of agTiculture, commerce OInd industry, finance. nolevOlnt agencies. NGOs. developrm"nt pOIrt:ne:rs and rrp~ntlll~ frOm shea produdng Slates with the Pe.rmanent SecrrGlry, FftIelC\l Ministry of ~curtu~ and Rural Development as Chairman. The Managln~ Dirrctor, AEA. Mrs. Altine JiOOn. while sensltislng the communities about the project decried the crude method of shea butter production In the communities, adding Ihat the local tech· nique had orten reduced the market valueofthe product. She explained that, "One vilLage One product". is a sua~ gy borrmVed from lapan, to promote local produa In the
communlty,and adding value to the product In such a way that such product become OItmaM (0 both IOGII and In(('maticnal market. She submltted ~Because the local community lliIV!' pro!). lem of tr;msporutlon, it Is dlf· ficult for them to interface with the cities, but If con· sdou5 effon is made to develop the ~roduct that they haw, the dues, the IntemOltlonal community will be looking forthem 10 get tile produ~. Pointing out thOlt 100ck o f machine fiad oftm hinckmJ production COIpOlclty o f the buner producers. me chair· man disclosed that a new set of machin~ composed of a processor, miller. crusher, roaster and a lister engine to
power the engines would be distributed to lhe thrre communities to boost their prod uction. Tocompliment thls.she said expens would be brought In to rn.ln them on how best 10 do this product In such a way that would mee t Interna· tional standard. The MOIdald of Nuku village, Mr. Ezddellohn while 100ud· Ing the Inlt alive. said it was part of conscious effort to reduce poverty, throu~ the provision of avenue ror the women to be self-t"mployed. He me ntioned that shea butter production in the community Is very high, but because there was no encouragement, the butter was locally produced.
"But now with the look of things. steps are being taken to modemue the production process for them. I believe that this would bring a lot of developmenllo the community. the encouragement would boost them to rise up to expectOltlon,· he noted. The \ll IIOIge Se'C~t;1f}\ Mr. lsa Sokwo said that shea butter is the major means of li vell· hood of lhe communi ty. hinting thOlt the production of the duo ha ve been thrrat· ened because of lack of .......ter. He appealed to the govern· ment to assist the vlllagl' with the provision of portable water to fu rther boost the shea production In the community.
Sokoto spends NIOOm on agro-chemicals THE
Sokoto Stlte J.Govemment has spent
NIOO million on the purchase
of assorted agrochemlals for sale to farmers in the state. The Commissioner of Agrlcultu~ and Natural ~urces. Dr. 'abbi KUgono gave the 6gu~ on FridOlY In Solano in an Interview with the N~s Agency of Nigeria (NAN~
Silld dlat the governmen[ decided to buy the chemicals to saft'gUilrd food Kilgo~
'""" ['omthat ""'"the chemicals He said llad sInce betn distributed to zonal offices OIcross the state for .sal~ to fannel'S at g~rn· ment<ontrolled price.
He SOlid Wt In an clfon to boost food production. the government also procured and dls01buted 150 lr.Ictors. worth about N9S0 million to large-scale Canners and cooper.Jth~ societies on loan. -we will do aU that we can to ensu~ massive: food produc[ion forourconsumptlon and exporution.~
The commissioner also appealed to the people not to h~it;1te to report any out· bnoak of epidemic ror quick anention. HI" saId that the g~nunent had also taken comprehen· sive measures to safeguard food crops during OInd after the rainy season.
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