MARKET DEVELOPMENT
NEPC Vows to Ensure Palm Oil Earns More Foreign Exchange
NEPC Vows to Ensure Palm Oil Earns More Foreign Exchange
10/03/2017 (BusinessDay) - The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has vowed to ensure that every palm oil leaving the country for export meets the international standard.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, who made the vow in Enugu, said, the council would do everything possible within its powers to teach oil palm farmers on how to key into the best farming practices for enhanced produce yield and quality.
Awolowo, who lamented at a capacity building workshop for oil palm farmers in Enugu, on best farming practices for enhanced oil palm yield and quality, said, Nigeria could make more than $35 billion dollars from palm oil, if farmers followed the correct processing system.
The NEPC chief executive, who was represented by Mathew Adebayo, the director of National Export Office of NEPC, said the farmers’ major challenge in the international market was that Nigerian oil palm are having very high Free Fatty Acid (FFA).
According to him, “the permissive level is five percent; anything less is higher quality. But when you make it higher, it is poor quality. And Nigerian’s oil palm is ranging between seven percent to 18 percent. We want to be a player in the international market,” he added.
He said that with the kind of resources Nigeria has in palm produce, it would not be fair to waste the abundant resources; adding that the nation has to get it right. “That is why we have brought the team of experts to teach our people how they can do it, so that Nigeria can benefit from the market that is worth more than $35 billion. If we get five percent to 10 percent of the oil palm market share, it will be good,” he added.
“Our main aim for organizing the workshop was for our people to get the processing of the oil palm product right, on the best international practices for palm oil producers. The key issue is that everything in life has a way it is done, and if you miss out the way it is done, you are not going to get the right product out of it,” said Awolowo.
He further encouraged the oil palm farmers to belong to cooperative societies as a way of getting engaged in wealth creation; and work collectively with others to get themselves into the business of working and producing goods and services, and adding value.
Awolowo noted that Nigeria has embarked on several sensitization campaigns and capacity buildings workshops for various categories of exporting commodities, in line with the mandate to bring to the fore benefits derivable from exporting made-in Nigeria goods, to foreign markets.
Gertrude Ukoanam, regional coordinator of NEPC, Enugu, said, it was very important to say that palm oil was one of the 13 national strategic export products (NSEPs) earmarked by the Federal Government for intensive value chain and quality development to drive the Nigerian economy, hence the importance of the workshop.
She also said that Enugu State was strategically positioned to contribute immensely to the growth of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) through harnessing the potentials inherent in the cultivation of oil palm in plantations, and export same from the state.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, who made the vow in Enugu, said, the council would do everything possible within its powers to teach oil palm farmers on how to key into the best farming practices for enhanced produce yield and quality.
Awolowo, who lamented at a capacity building workshop for oil palm farmers in Enugu, on best farming practices for enhanced oil palm yield and quality, said, Nigeria could make more than $35 billion dollars from palm oil, if farmers followed the correct processing system.
The NEPC chief executive, who was represented by Mathew Adebayo, the director of National Export Office of NEPC, said the farmers’ major challenge in the international market was that Nigerian oil palm are having very high Free Fatty Acid (FFA).
According to him, “the permissive level is five percent; anything less is higher quality. But when you make it higher, it is poor quality. And Nigerian’s oil palm is ranging between seven percent to 18 percent. We want to be a player in the international market,” he added.
He said that with the kind of resources Nigeria has in palm produce, it would not be fair to waste the abundant resources; adding that the nation has to get it right. “That is why we have brought the team of experts to teach our people how they can do it, so that Nigeria can benefit from the market that is worth more than $35 billion. If we get five percent to 10 percent of the oil palm market share, it will be good,” he added.
“Our main aim for organizing the workshop was for our people to get the processing of the oil palm product right, on the best international practices for palm oil producers. The key issue is that everything in life has a way it is done, and if you miss out the way it is done, you are not going to get the right product out of it,” said Awolowo.
He further encouraged the oil palm farmers to belong to cooperative societies as a way of getting engaged in wealth creation; and work collectively with others to get themselves into the business of working and producing goods and services, and adding value.
Awolowo noted that Nigeria has embarked on several sensitization campaigns and capacity buildings workshops for various categories of exporting commodities, in line with the mandate to bring to the fore benefits derivable from exporting made-in Nigeria goods, to foreign markets.
Gertrude Ukoanam, regional coordinator of NEPC, Enugu, said, it was very important to say that palm oil was one of the 13 national strategic export products (NSEPs) earmarked by the Federal Government for intensive value chain and quality development to drive the Nigerian economy, hence the importance of the workshop.
She also said that Enugu State was strategically positioned to contribute immensely to the growth of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) through harnessing the potentials inherent in the cultivation of oil palm in plantations, and export same from the state.