Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has trained owners of agro-allied Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on how to add value to their products in order to meet the requirements by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Project manager, business support of GAIN, Mrs. Mercy Olorunfemi, disclosed this at the three-day training, Tuesday in Lafia, Nasarawa state.
She explained that the training focused on building the capacity of MSMES on procedures of registration, plant layout and workflow, appropriate processing equipment, as well as their specifications, sourcing and nutrition information labelling.
She explained further that most agro-allied products in Nigeria are being sold without NAFDAC registration which limited the scope of their market, hence technical assistance to meet NAFDAC regulatory requirements.
“We understand that it is always difficult for business to register with NAFDAC due to lack of understanding of the process, most of the businesses we are working with, so, we brought in NAFDAC to explain the procedure for registration to the SMEs around.
“We work to deliver specific solutions to the daily challenge of food insecurity faced by poor people,” she added.
Speaking, North-Central Director of NAFDAC, Pharm. Shaba Mohammed said the agency intends to use the training to empower SMEs on how to register their products to get certification to operate without limit.
He explained that the thorough screening and inspection of facilities by the agency was to ensure that only food products that are safe for consumption are allowed into the market.
