The Kogi government says it has put in place necessary measures to ensure implementation and strict enforcement of agricultural produce laws to arrest adulteration of cashew nuts produced in the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, disclosed this at a one-day workshop on “Cashew Nuts Quality Control and Regulations” organised for stakeholders in the cashew value chain in Anyigba, Kogi State.
The workshop organised by Federal Produce Inspection Service (FPIS) of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment attracted participants from farmers’ associations, licensed buyers’ agents, exporters, processors and government agencies.
Oloruntoba, who was represented by Mr Emmanuel Idenyi, Permanent Secretary of the ministry, said “Nigerian cashew used to be the best and of the highest grade in the world, but unfortunately, the quality has been on the ebb in the last two years.
“To forestall further depreciation of quality, we came up with a lot of measures that will prevent and arrest the adulteration of our produce by producers from other states.
“We are now going on strict enforcement of the produce laws. We will ensure 100 per cent compliance to arrest anyone collaborating or indulging in sharp practices.
“The bags to be used are coded and branded with Kogi’s name and seal. Any unbranded produce that is intercepted will be impounded.
“Security agencies have been informed, Produce Guards have been mandated to enforce the laws and they are going to be everywhere, at the warehouses and even on the farms too”.
Mr Idris Dafang, Coordinator of the programme and Deputy Director in the Federal Produce Inspection Service said quality of cashew nuts from Nigeria in the international market had become an issue of great concern to the federal government.
He said that the programme was not happy with the serial rejection of cashew nuts from the country last year and needed to ensure that every produce leaving the shores of Nigeria met required international standard.
Dafang said there was a glut of cashew nuts in the international market two years ago as some other countries went into its production creating a highly competitive market environment with quality as the main determinant for demand.
He said that in 2017, the Federal Government met with representatives of the markets from Vietnam and India in Abuja over the issue of glut, standardization and quality control leading to eventual mop-up of the cashew nuts in warehouses in Lagos.
The Coordinator said that more sensitization would be carried out across Kogi State and hopefully, in the next two years, the state would assume its position as the top producer of cashew in Nigeria and the nation would reclaim its number one position in the international market.
In her goodwill message, Amina Abdulmalik, Director Produce at the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Lokoja Smart office, decried the level of rejection of Nigerian cashew nuts in the international market.
She attributed this to the fall in standard and urged the participants to imbibe necessary knowledge to enhance quality and improvement.
Alhaji Ichapi Mohammed, National Leader of National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) said the production chain could not be said to be complete until the product got to the final consumer adding that the chain was being impeded by paucity of funds.
“The impediment to our production is finance. We know what to do to improve the quality of our cashew but our farmers are impeded by finance. BOA, NEXIM and NEPC need to carry us along”, he said.
Credit: Daily Trust
