The Lagos State Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) project has tasked farmers, especially those in Lagos and beneficiaries of the initiative to contribute to the growth of the Nigeria economy through the export of agricultural products.
Speaking at a three-day training organised for farmers, Olayiwole Onasanya, permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, congratulated the beneficiaries for being part of the APPEALS project.
He said that part of the mandate of the project is to develop the export potential of the beneficiaries and to ensure successful linkage to international market, noting that the meeting with the certification and regulatory agencies is one of the strategic ways in achieving the feat.
Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, Lagos State coordinator of APPEALS project, charged the farmers to work towards standardising production and processing of aquaculture, rice, and poultry for the export market to earn foreign exchange.
Sagoe-Oviebo said the goal of the training tagged ‘Meeting of Certification and Regulatory Agencies with APPEALS project Beneficiaries’ was to increase the export potential of farmers who are beneficiaries of the initiative.
The coordinator while stressing the urgent need for farmers to begin to contribute to the country’s foreign trade through the export of agro commodities said farmers should be abreast of the standard that will earn their products premium prices.
“We are training our farmers on best practices that will ensure that they get certification from relevant agencies and to ensure that they are getting premium prices for whatever they are selling,” she said.
“A lot of our beneficiaries are encouraging us with the pace at which they are adopting the technologies we have demonstrated to them,” she further said.
She noted that the project had over 70 beneficiaries in the second quarter.
She also disclosed that the project had acquired a rice colour sorter machine to further prove the quality of rice and enhance the productivity of rice farmers in the state.
The coordinator revealed that 5,000 farmers had been trained and 720 beneficiaries supported with the grant for technology adoption so far in the three value chains of the APPEALS project, which are rice, aquaculture, and poultry.
Speaking also, Sadiq Yunus, deputy director -export division of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said the training was necessary for a better understanding of export procedures to help cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on farmers.
Yunus said that NAFDAC was ready to propel Medium-Small Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) through facilitations at no cost.
“All our processes for product registration are automated and online. Local products that are exported with NAFDAC license have more value in the host country,” he said.
“There are processes to certify a product satisfactory to issue health certificate for that product.
“This training is to teach them what to do to ensure that their products are considered safe and of good quality, not only for the local markets but also for the international market,” he added.
Speaking on standardising the production and processing of aquaculture products for export and high earned market, Olanike Oladosu, representative of the Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF), said farmers should identify potential customers, meet the standards of the importing country and ensure to achieve competitive pricing.
She also highlighted reasons why farmers should target high earned market, high-class point of sale and presentation, and product packaging.