The Nigerian Agribusiness Group (NABG) has said that it is important for Nigeria to standardise its agro commodities Grading System to meet international benchmark, especially on exportation level.
Its Director-General, Jafar Umar, made the call over the weekend in Abuja at a media briefing on the forthcoming ‘Agro Commodities Standard Grading System National Validation’ program, coming up this week in Abuja.
He said that the organisation believed that agriculture being a major player is capable of lifting Nigeria out of its socio-economic crisis.
Umar also highlighted the NABG’s ongoing efforts in collaborating with various stakeholders, including public, private, and donor institutions, to enhance the business environment for agribusinesses.
Hisvwords: “We represent the voices of agribusinesses in Nigeria. The NABG has been involved in several activities to improve the landscape.
“Over the years we have been making strategic partnerships with several public, private and donor institutions where we share the same goal of improving the business environment for agribusinesses and ensuring that smallholder farmers and other value chain actors receive fair value for their efforts and products that are being produced.
“One of such partnership that we have is with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where we are currently implementing a project titled: ‘Advocacy for Small Scale Producers.
“This project is very instrumental in supporting the NABG to advocate for the voices of small holder farmers and other value chain actors within the agricultural space.”
Umar added that the aim of the forthcoming program is to ensure that all farmers and various value chain actors receive fair value for their efforts.
He said, “As highlighted by other speakers, it is extremely unfair that you put in all your time, effort and resources to produce certain commodities only for it to be priced the same way with someone who hasn’t done the same thing.
“We as NABG recognise that gap and now more than ever with the food security challenge we are facing with the dwindling incomes and challenges with foreign exchange, this policy framework is critical at this juncture.”
Also speaking, the DG/CEO, NiNAS, Celestine Okanya, said that the NABG was focused on ensuring that agribusiness people and small holder farmers get the best out of their investment.
On his part, the Chief Agric Officer, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Shaibu Ishaka noted that standardisation was not new in Nigeria as it even predated the nation’s independence, when Nigeria was a leading exporter of agricultural products.
He expressed hope that Nigeria could regain this glory with the commitment of all stakeholders to achieve the target.