The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has trained oil palm farmers, processors and other key stakeholders on the modern techniques for oil palm production and processing in Akwa Ibom state.
The Deputy Director, Akwa Ibom State Coordinating Office of NEPC, Mrs Pauline Ndulaka, at a one-day workshop for palm oil farmers and stakeholders on Thursday in Uyo said the training was aimed at boosting oil palm production in the country for export.
Ndulaka noted that the workshop was to showcase modern processing technology to farmers to aid them produce palm oil in line with the global best practices for export.
She stated that the choice of Akwa Ibom was based on the fact that the state has a high comparative advantage in oil palm which is in line with NEPC’s new policy of One State -One Product (OSOP).
The deputy director stressed that, the effort would empower the state and its communities towards achieving economic growth through adequate usage of their locally available resources and ultimately boost the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the process.
She lamented that despite Nigeria being one of the biggest producers of oil palm, the country is still producing palm oil for local consumption and not enough for export.
“The place of palm produce in our National Development cannot be overemphasized be it in the area of oil palm fruit, palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm kernel cake (PKC), refined palm oil, palm shell, empty fruit Bunch (EFB), palm fibers, sludge, oil palm roots, oil palm trunk, oil palm leaves, etc.
“In 2014, the Federal Government of Nigeria listed 13 strategic export products drawn from the three core areas of agro-industry, mining/allied produce, and oil and gas industry and palm oil is among the thirteen products under agro-industrial products.
“The NEPC in furtherance of the policy came up with a supportive programme- One State -One Product (OSOP) initiative which is designed to create employment in the states through value-addition e.g. identified products, among others.
“All the States in the South-South listed palm produce as one of their major OSOP products, it is pertinent to mention that Akwa Ibom State has chosen palm oil as their number one OSOP product,” she added.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the Association of Nigerian Exporters, Obong Joseph Idiong admonished the potential exporters not to relent in efforts to engage in export business to attract foreign currency.
Blueprint reports that the farmers were shown and given high-yielding oil palm seedlings and were also exposed to Small Scale Processor Equipment designed and fabricated by engineers at the Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR).