66 beneficiaries from FG’s crops processing programme

No fewer than 66 persons have benefitted from the Cottage Crops Processing Factory Programme of  the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(FMARD)

Mr  Owolabi Olusegun, a Deputy Director in the Federal  Department of Agriculture, said this in Ibadan on Wednesday  at the 2^nd  workshop on Cottage Crops Processing Factories in Nigeria.

Olusegun also said  38  factories for  intending beneficiaries were being processed.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the crop processing factory  programme  is a Public Private Partnership project involving government, the private sector  as well as the  Bank of Industry (BOI) which is the fund manager.

NAN also reports that government acts as  facilitator while the private sector runs the business.

Olusegun said that the programme was aimed at moving the sector from traditional processing activities into organised  models  which  pay attention to standardisation, packaging  and marketing in collaboration with NAFDAC and SON among others.

“The programme is fast growing and becoming  acceptable to  Nigerian  farmers, potentials processors through the increasing expression of interest most especially in cassava, oil palm and rice,’’ he said.

Dr Bukar Hassan, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said  the workshop would give stakeholders opportunity to discuss the prospects and challenges that had  been recorded over the past years.

Hassan, who was represented by Mrs Comfort Awe, the ministry’s  Regional Director in  the   South West Zone, said the workshop was the outcome of  concerted efforts  of government to ensure that agricultural  development was  brought to the door steps  of  the rural populace.

“With this programme,  the beneficiaries would meet the processing needs of the people, provide employment, raise the condition of living of the populace and reduce youth restiveness.

“The agriculture promotion policy  of  President Muhammadu Buhari is on to move agriculture from developmental project to a business project.

“It is the desire of government to achieve this by involving all stakeholders and bringing  all aspects of  agriculture along value chain from production ,subsequent value addition to final product to the rural areas and particularly to the farm gate,’’ he said.

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Hassan said  that an average of 50 per cent of yearly produce was being  lost due to poor handling during harvest, transportation, processing, packaging and storage.

He said that food availability was not synonymous with food production, adding that the ongoing increase in production needed  to be matched with better processing facilities to achieve a quality product, eliminate  wastage and ensure a pass of any market test.

Hassan said that the aim of the Cottage Crops Processing Factory Programme of  the ministry was to promote crop value addition as a business.

This, he said, was through the establishment of an all involved cottage crops processing factory and promotion of  rural crops processing around farmers clusters.

He said that this would help to avert loss of produce, prolong produce shelf life as well as increase  farmers’  income.