Lack of certification blocks Nigeria’s agro-allied products from Europe, US

The inability of Nigerian farmers to get the Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP) certification is limiting the country’s ago-allied exports to Europe and the United States, analysts say.
The Global GAP certification opens markets for producers to expand sales to major supermarket chains, school systems, restaurants, and other market outlets across the world.
BusinessDay’s checks show that in order to obtain the Global GAP certification, producers must undergo voluntary audits that verify that fruits and vegetables are produced, packed, handled, and stored as safely as possible, to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“Global GAP is a massive platform for exporting agro-allied products to Europe and the United States because all well known supermarkets demand this certification, especially for perishables,” said Madu Obiora, chairman, export group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
“It is very expensive to obtain the certification and mostly engineered by the government of most countries with the certification,” he said.
With Nigeria in dire need of scarce foreign exchange, experts say Global GAP certification can cushion the effect of recession if farmers can export home grown produce to Europe, America and to over ten million Nigerians in the diaspora.
Diaspora Nigerians are estimated to spend an average of $10 weekly each, on exports from Nigeria, making about a hypothetical spend of $5.2 billion a year, given there are  an estimated ten million Nigerians overseas.

Oluwatoyin Temitope, president, Nigeria Vegetable Exporters Association told BusinessDay that the standard for exporting to Europe and  the United States is that farmers must have the GAP certification which is very expensive to acquire, making it difficult for farmers to get.

“How can a farmer supplying vegetables of not up to N500, 000, afford to enrol for the Global GAP certification which costs over N280, 000?” Oluwatoyin asks.
She urged the government to assist farmers with funds to obtain the certification that would enable local farmers export their produce to the lucrative European and US markets.

Kenya is leading the African continent in the acquisition of the Global GAP certification as it has 1,879 certifications on agricultural best practice; South Africa has 1,797; Egypt has 671, Cote De ’Ivoire- 355, Burkina Faso- 146, Ghana has over 124 certification, while Nigeria just acquired one, a few weeks back, through the Air Business Express, (ABX) World.
“Kenyan is a good case study for any country in Africa that wants to get the GlobalGAP certification,” Obiora added.
The certifications are available for three scopes of production, which are crops, livestock, and aquaculture.
Obiajulu Nwoye, chairman, Yam Growers Association, Anambra State Chapter, told BusinessDay that the certification has a standard, which must be fulfilled before it can be obtained, and which is far-fetched from what is obtained in Nigeria.
“Some of the basic things learnt by farmers in the GAP training are ways to imbibe safety precautions on the farm, instructions and directions guiding visitors on areas that are hazardous and non-hazardous, as well as farm produce that are in high demand by various countries.
“Farmers are also taught on best outfit to put on while farming, ways to maintain sanitary standards, quantity and quality of insecticide and herbicides to apply and proper packaging and labelling, as requested by countries where the products will be exported to,” Nwoye added.
John Okakpu, managing director and chief executive officer, ABX World, said that there has been a rising need for products such as yams, vegetables, melon (egusi), ogbono and yellow pepper in Europe and America.
Okakpu reiterated that what is expected of government is putting policy direction and structures in place to empower subsistence farmers.
Experts say provision of critical infrastructure such as good roads and storage facilities play a key role in helping farmers meet standards required for the certification.
“We need to have good roads, cooling vans, good storage facilities and cold rooms to ensure that farm produce still remain in their fresh state for longer time,” said Rizwan Kadri, managing director, Skyway Aviation Handling Co. Limited.