Post by Trade facilitator on May 23, 2014 11:54:22 GMT 1
The Federal Government on Wednesday said it would convert Nigeria’s comparative advantage in sesame seed and sheanut butter production to competitive advantage in the global market.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, stated this in Abuja at a workshop to mark the end of the Standard and Trade Development Facility programme.
The programme is specifically targeted at expanding the exportation of sesame seed and sheanut butter through improved capacity building for both the public and private sectors.
The NEPC boss stated that despite the fact that Nigeria was the seventh largest producer of sesame seeds in the world and the second largest in Africa, quality issues associated with aflatoxin contamination along the value chain had restricted the Federal Government’s effort to penetrate the European Union market.
The implication of this, according to him, is that it has limited the economic benefits derivable from the exportation of the products.
Awolowo said the NEPC, as part of efforts to develop the product for export, had entered into collaboration with its technical partners, the National Cereals Research Institute and National Sesame Seed Association of Nigeria.
He said the collaboration had led to the training in about 10 states of over 2,000 sesame seed farmers, with the objective of increasing yield through improved technique.
The NEPC boss said, “Nigeria is the seventh largest producer of sesame seed in the world and only second behind Ethiopia in Africa.
“Quality issues associated with aflatoxin contamination along the value chain have restricted Nigeria’s effort to penetrate the EU market and had limited the economic benefits derivable from the export of sesame seed.
“Over the past 10 years, demand for Shea products has grown in the EU and the United States, necessitating Nigeria and other West African countries to go into the export of value-added Shea products.”
Also speaking at the event, the Director, Product Development Department, NEPC, Mr. Henry Otowo, said the country would witness huge growth in Gross Domestic Product through improvement of non-oil exports.
He said through the STDF project, the country’s objective of expanding the export of sesame seed would soon be achieved.
SOURCE:PUNCH
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, stated this in Abuja at a workshop to mark the end of the Standard and Trade Development Facility programme.
The programme is specifically targeted at expanding the exportation of sesame seed and sheanut butter through improved capacity building for both the public and private sectors.
The NEPC boss stated that despite the fact that Nigeria was the seventh largest producer of sesame seeds in the world and the second largest in Africa, quality issues associated with aflatoxin contamination along the value chain had restricted the Federal Government’s effort to penetrate the European Union market.
The implication of this, according to him, is that it has limited the economic benefits derivable from the exportation of the products.
Awolowo said the NEPC, as part of efforts to develop the product for export, had entered into collaboration with its technical partners, the National Cereals Research Institute and National Sesame Seed Association of Nigeria.
He said the collaboration had led to the training in about 10 states of over 2,000 sesame seed farmers, with the objective of increasing yield through improved technique.
The NEPC boss said, “Nigeria is the seventh largest producer of sesame seed in the world and only second behind Ethiopia in Africa.
“Quality issues associated with aflatoxin contamination along the value chain have restricted Nigeria’s effort to penetrate the EU market and had limited the economic benefits derivable from the export of sesame seed.
“Over the past 10 years, demand for Shea products has grown in the EU and the United States, necessitating Nigeria and other West African countries to go into the export of value-added Shea products.”
Also speaking at the event, the Director, Product Development Department, NEPC, Mr. Henry Otowo, said the country would witness huge growth in Gross Domestic Product through improvement of non-oil exports.
He said through the STDF project, the country’s objective of expanding the export of sesame seed would soon be achieved.
SOURCE:PUNCH
