With global increase in demand for organic food, the Nigerian Export Promotion Commission (NEPC) targets $200 million revenue within 10 years from the development of organic farming of seven priority commodities for export.
The commodities include: Hibiscus flower, Sesame seed, Cashew, Tiger nuts, Moringe Oleifera, Ginger and Tumeric, as major export commodities.
Currently, global organic food and drinks export is said to have a market share of $97 billion.
This was disclosed by Olusegun Awolowo, executive director of the NEPC, on Tuesday at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the NEPC, local farmers and TAK Integrated Solution held in Abuja.
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Awolowo pointed out that the objective of the project was to contribute to the Federal Government policy in developing the potential of non-oil sector of the economy focusing on the organic farming of seven priority commodities.
The project, which is a collaborative effort between the NEPC, local farmers and TAK Integrated, and NICERT Limited as offtakers, targets 10,000 farmers in each geo-political zone within an estimated 100,000 hectares of land over a period of three years.
The project, Awolowo said, is aimed at equipping farmers with the requisites skills required for farming through capacity building under the Good Agricultural Programme initiative when the seven commodities are produced.
Annabel Kamuche, managing director of NICERT, told BusinessDay on the side lines of the MoU signing that Nigerian farmers would now have easier access to $97 billion Europe and American markets under the certified organic programme.
