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Abdulazeez Abubakar
1 month ago
Overview
New dawn beckons as AfDB-backed agro initiative targets end to rejection of Nigerian produce abroad
he repeated rejection of Nigerian agricultural exports has dealt a heavy blow to the local economy, undermined farmers’ confidence, and slowed the Federal Government’s efforts to achieve food security.
This worrisome trend persists not because of poor quality, but largely due to alleged non-compliance with global packaging and processing standards.
In a bid to reverse the tide, a series of initiatives backed by the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) flagship Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) project is changing the narrative. With pilot rollouts in Cross River and Kaduna States, the programme is being scaled to all 36 states, KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR reports
The federal government is also intensifying efforts to harness the agricultural value chain to boost foreign exchange earnings. This aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s broader economic diversification agenda.
To realise this goal, the administration is working closely with international development partners like the AfDB to implement sustainable solutions.
Nigeria, endowed with year-round arable land, grows a variety of food crops with global market potential comparable to crude oil.
Recognising this, the previous administration identified 22 non-oil products for export under the National Export Promotion programme.
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), in collaboration with the private sector, has projected over $150 billion in potential annual export value through its zero-oil plan. Key crops include palm oil, cocoa, cashew, soybeans, rubber, rice, ginger, cotton, shea butter, and others.
Despite these efforts, the country has seen a decline in agricultural exports due to international rejections citing poor packaging, inadequate documentation, and non-adherence to export standards.
Among the frequently rejected products are yam, hibiscus (used in zobo), mushrooms, bitter leaf, fluted pumpkin leaf, waterleaf, garden eggs, shelled groundnut, and crayfish.
Through renewed commitment and structural reforms spearheaded by the SAPZ initiative, Nigeria aims to turn the tide and reclaim its place in the global agro-export market.
While the Shippers Association of Lagos (SAL) estimated that the seized or prohibited items make up 82 per cent of the country’s exportable agro-allied produce, the World Bank projects that Nigeria and other developing countries are expected to lose between $12 billion and $15 billion by 2025 to rejected exports.
Last year, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Nkonjo-Iweala, said Nigeria lost its leading position in the agricultural export markets because its agricultural commodities do not meet the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements of the foreign markets.
Nkonjo-Iweala’s counterpart in the African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, knows the problem and its solution – a well-funded Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) that is built closer to rural farmers.
Following tested models in other African countries, the AfDB, in partnership with development partners, has begun “the new era of agricultural transformation” across the 36 states, beginning with the recent rollout of the SAPZs Kaduna and Cross River States.
The SAPZ Nigeria Programme, a flagship initiative of the African Development Bank Group’s Feed Africa strategy, has a three-pronged approach of infrastructure development for agro-industrial zones, institutional capacity building and business environment enhancement, and agricultural productivity support, skills development, and private investment facilitation across value chains.
https://thenationonlineng.net/new-dawn-beckons-as-afdb-backed-agro-initiative-targets-end-to-rejection-of-nigerian-produce-abroad/
