Niger Delta ginger farmers eye $2.67bn global market, targets N630bn revenue per year

The ‘Rivers Ginger Revolution’ launched in Rivers State few years ago seems to move with faster pace after successful execution of the pilot scheme involving planting one hectare under international standards (organic system).

The product was sent to the ginger laboratory in Kaduna to confirm that it can grow in the south. It was said to have passed all tests and was found to have better taste and spicy bites.

David Busari, Rivers State chairman of the National Ginger Association of Nigeria (NGAN), who disclosed this to BusinessDay, said as a result, all national agencies and organs promoting ginger economy including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) invited the Rivers head and sent him to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for further training.

Now, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) which began at day one with the ginger farmers in the region has assembled support agencies and private sector groups to help Niger Delta NGAN and the Rivers chapter to meet their targets.

According to Busari, their target is to hit N630bn each year by developing at least 5,000 hectares in each of the nine states of the South-South, making 45,000 hectares.

Each hectare is estimated to require N4.5m to plant, nurture, harvest and process. The group expects a hectare produced with organic farm methods to fetch up to N14million revenue, making N630bn in all their locations in the South-South.

This is expected to help Rivers State and the South-South fight for a bigger share of the global market estimated to be over $2.69bn per year.

Giving insight into the global ginger economy and where Nigeria stands, Joe Itah, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of NEPC, told BusinessDay that Nigeria contributes a mere three pecent of the global export market, a market said to be topped by India.

Speaking at a one-day ginger workshop in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, Itah said NEPC has discovered that ginger worldwide has huge value in export of about $2.67bn.

He said: “Nigeria is still getting only three percent, despite being the second largest production country. In terms of production Nigeria is distant second after India with 1,788,000 metric tonnes produced from 10,902 hectares of land, whereas Nigeria produces 691,239MT per annum coming from 8,213 hectares of land. China follows with 605,123MT on 10,816 hectares.”

He further told BusinessDay that Nigeria has a gap to meet; “While Nigeria produces 31mmt of Ginger, the nation needs 65mmt. So, locally, there is huge need, apart from job creation, health, etc. That is why you may find out that sometimes, Ginger comes from outside Nigeria. We want Ginger to come from within. This is what would stabilise the economy, absorb some restive youths, and parents can earn money to pay school fees. That is why the NEPC is determined to promote this.”

Ginger has quick wins – NEPC zonal boss

Speaking further, Itah said NEPC has seen Ginger as a quick-win commodity. He said the major exporters are not even India that is the highest producer but China exporting about 500mmt as derivatives, followed by Netherlands and then India.

“Demand for Ginger comes from the US, Japan, Pakistan, and Netherlands in that order. It looks like the market is huge in Asia because of the advantages of what Ginger can bring in food safety and pharmaceutical areas, plus job creation and health. So many drugs and cosmetics do come out of Ginger,” he said.

On what NEPC is doing about Ginger, Itah said the Council has deemed it necessary to bring the Ginger Cooperative Society Limited to a table to expose them to what they can gain in the value chain either in cultivation, marketing, processing, or adding value to the derivatives. “That is why we came up with this workshop,” he added.

According to him, “We also used the opportunity to present Ginger splitting machines to farmers in Rivers State. It has been discovered that Ginger can do well in the South-South and in Rivers State.”

He added that not long ago, NEPC launched the Ginger network in the oil region and they went to their sites to see things. “They have done their pilot and have even harvested. This is a crop that does not take up to a year to yield results,” he said.

MOM (Market Orientation Mission)

Itah went on: “Because of what we discovered about Ginger, we are presently in Netherlands, courtesy of Netherlands Embassy through the Centre For Promotion of Imports (CPI). They have taken 17 SMEs on tour on Market Orientation Mission (MOM) to help them see the market around Ginger. It is to have exchange on policy formulation that would make Ginger sustainable and improve the quality and certification. At the end of the day, SMEs are not going there alone. Staff of NEPC went with them for the two weeks tour.

“Outcome of this tour would move Ginger from where it is to a new level in terms of quality and quantity. The team would end up in Paris to attend Food Ingredients Europe (a global platform that takes care of all the value chain in exports).”

With focus on ‘Export for Survival’, NEPC held a one-day workshop at Juanita Hotel in Port Harcourt on ‘Cultivation, Processing, and Packaging of Ginger and its Derivatives for Export’. The first paper was on At the event, the topic, ‘Boosting Nigerian Agricultural Produce For Export: NIRSAL as Strategic Partner’ was handled by Mabel Douglas, head, NIRSAL, Rivers State, The next expert paper was on ‘Processing Ginger and its Derivatives in Internally Acceptable Standard for Export’ by Anosike Udoka, a Ginger processing expert, who had a stint at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture but is now working somewhere in Port Harcourt.

In his opening remarks, Itah, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of NEPC, noted that the Council was proud to inaugurate the Rivers State chapter of NGAN and that they have been working hard to the point of doing the pilot farm scheme successfully.

“We believe it is time to move to the next level. We want to see how to improve the value chain and that is why we have lined up experts to help build you up. Let Ginger be your retirement package, and its right to get involved.”

In his goodwill message, the NGAN state boss said the day was special for Ginger farmers in Rivers State, and that NEPC has been wonderful.

“They have been training us, helping us. Results from activities of NEPC will be big. We have everything ready to meet NIRSAL with all requirements. NEPC is hot in the South-South. The South-South coordinator is a great leader. We have got to the last bus stop for final takeoff and for success.”

NIRSAL has $500m to support agric – Mabel Douglas

In her presentation which treated the entire essence of Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing system for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), the state head, Douglas, gave an overview that seemed to motivate the audience.

She said: “NIRSAL came into existence in 2013 with a $500m provision for lending to the agric sector. It is to operate on a public private practice. It was floated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the commercial banks through the Bankers Committee, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

“It is to boost lending to the agric sector which was a mere seven percent and to boost insurance in agric practice.”

She said NIRSAL works and walks on four pillars including the mandate to finance up to 75 percent of risk sharing in agric sector through the banks (secure bank loans in agric sector), with about $300m set aside for this.

She said some $30m is set aside for insurance of products. The second pillar is to create frameworks for financing agric value chain; to handle rating of actors/lenders; and finally to support exports.

Mapping to Market (M2M) scheme

Douglas took time to explain how the Mapping to Market scheme works, saying it is the totality of support to the agric value chain. “It is noted that primary producers suffer the most in the value chain. The scheme is to make them relevant again, and to make it possible for them to enjoy the fruit of their hard labour.

“So, we bring all the players in the value chain together; We help find market, finance the planting process, processing, and the off-taking process. We take away the financial obstacles along the value chain so each segment will just concentrate on delivering value as a primary duty.

“We calculate cost per hectare in each segment; from bush clearing to planting, fertilizer, weeding, harvesting, processing, and to the market. We support Ginger Geo-Cooperatives (producers in same location). We even support export through NEXIM Bank. Agric sector accounts for N880Bn import while export is a mere N170bn.”

She mentioned the obstacles on the agric value chain as threats to farming, expensive inputs, diseases, price volatility, poor compliance to rules, high risk perception (even banks have negative perception of agric financing), and huge apathy especially by the youths. “This is due to the many problems associated with farming.”

She said NIRSAL is the only organisation that can step in and turn it from the black hole to gold mine. “Agric has been segmented from pre upstream, to upstream to medium stream to downstream (marketing, retail, export, etc). We are ready to work with NGAN, Rivers State.”

In answer to questions especially on why northern farmers seemed to enjoy all the FG agric support loans and facilities, the NIRSAL head in the state said: “People say the north gets more attention or all the loans, but its because the governors there show interest.

“They help the groups to meet the conditions for loans. They work with NIRSAL to get things done. But that’s not the same story in the south. We have been trying to get southern governors to partner with us, to no avail. It is only Edo State where the governor showed interest and they handled land clearing. NIRSAL does not give loans, banks do.”

Processing Ginger for Export – Anosike Udoka

Udoka said sorting is the most consistent part of processing, and urged farmers and processors to sort at every stage.

He also warned that washing is crucial to make it sand free because any dust and sand at the export end would lead to rejection at export point or even by local factories.

He said: “Avoid injuries to Ginger fingerlings. Taste can show decayed ginger. Sort the decaying ones one side for other uses. There is no waste.”

For export, Udoka mentioned three things that must be done right; sorting, washing, and drying. He said there is sun-drying which cannot be for commercial quantity, and the heat exchanger system. “The heat comes from a source but is passed through a chamber to get to the Ginger in regulated heat levels of not more than 70 degrees Celsius.’

Ginger is the new gold but state govts must step in – Busari

The NGAN chairman, who is also the executive member of Isiokpo Rivers Value Chain, in an exclusive interview updated the revolution.

He explained thus: “We have planted a demonstration farm and we have harvested. In fact, we have taken the sample to Kaduna for testing. It was like if we planted Ginger in the south-south, because of the environment, it would not have the same quality as it is in the north. We said no, it is not about the environment, but the soil texture.

“If we want to talk about that, we here have better texture because of water and forest soil which is better for planting. The north is more of rocks and dust.

“We have been able to prove to the whole world that Ginger can not only do well in the South-South but will do far better in quality and quantity. That has been established.

“It was because of this that the NEPC headquarters in Abuja sent for me to represent this region in a training in IITA so that some of the aflotoxin issues can be handled. I am an aflotoxin ambassador. The national body has recognised this.”

Read also: Nigeria’s ginger exports grow seven-fold on rising interest

He poured encomiums on the leadership of NEPC in the zone, saying the good thing that has happened is that the South-South Zonal Coordinator of NEPC, Joe Itah, has taken it up to give much prominence to Ginger to the point that the group members now feel that they have found a replacement for oil, the mono-cultural product.

“We have a huge opportunity. Yes, we are the second largest producer in the world but our export exposure is very small because of poor agric practice, poor processing, etc.

“Because of lack of knowledge, there is gap. Thank God today, we have learnt a lot, yet this is just one of such workshops by the NEPC for Ginger group. They have thrown their weight behind us. They have given us a splitting machine which is a very important machine in the value chain.

“We want to be able to trace our produce because traceability is keen in the business. We plant, we process, we package, and market. That is our focus in the south-south.”

He said the CBN at the national level is already working with NGAN. “Some 17 SMEs are abroad now to understudy the Ginger business. We are not just going to produce. That has been the politics. You will produce and they will say, no, we won’t take it.

“That is why we have been talking about organic practice so we can play at the international level. Now, we are at the point of taking off. Thank God NIRSAL is here today. We will soon meet to see how we can progress from where we are. We have a roadmap. We will show them where we are and where we want to go. They will show us how to make progress.”

He thanked the NEPC for huge support, not just on paper but for true support to SMEs to quickly key in especially in the zone in non-oil export strategy.

On access to land to scale up, Busari said the group has done soil test analysis for 5,250 hectares of farmland in various locations in Rivers State; same in Delta State. He said Government even gave them land in Delta State. In Rivers State, he said they have lease agreement with farm owners for 5,250 hectares. He said they can scale up.

On talks by members that farmers in the north were having it rosy, he said: “NIRSAL products require state government partnerships to activate by signing a Counterpart Funding Agreement. The moment that is done, a whole world of heaven is open for anything you want to do. When that is not there, it limits the take off.

“We have had meetings attended by acting permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agric; meeting with the permanent secretary for Hotel and Investment in Rivers State. We have been able to pass through those organs, we have been to Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) at Rukpokwu. We believe that they will be the ones to push to the state government to relay the message that some people have a robust plan to develop this product. We have been to the NDDC, etc, to show we have the capacity to do well in agric in the SS.

“WE are still pushing for that government support in Rivers State. It is not there yet.”

Conclusion:

Southern farmers may have to wait till eternity to get massive support by their state governments to enter into partnerships with national and international agencies to boost farming.