NCX grills farmers on postharvest management
…Problem accounts for high rejection of nation’s agro export
By Charles Okonji
Piqued by the high rate of agricultural produce wastages due to poor post-harvest management by farmers in the country, the federal government has embarked on a nationwide enlightenment of farmers to tame the tide.
Part of the strategy is the on-going nationwide capacity building workshop organized by the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) meant to educate farmers and other stakeholders on the various aspects of NCX commodity trading operations as well as the mechanisms of its trading infrastructure of which post-harvest management is key.
According to the Managing Director of NCX, ZAHEERA BABA-ARI, the capacity building workshop has already been held in some states across the country including Benue, Kogi, Borno, Plateau, Anambra and Gombe, among others. NCX boss revealed this at the capacity building for farmers and stakeholders held in Abeokuta, Ogun State yesterday.
Zaheera who was represented at the occasion by Benson Lawal, the General Manager (GM) operations of NCX said another important objective of the exercise is to attract the patronage of NCX trading floors by commodity associations domiciled in Ogun state and environs as well as local and international investors that have a stake in the Nigerian agribusiness sector.
This he stated has become necessary as the Exchange is now poised to give them the benefit of an efficient and cost-effective commodity trading platform.
“NCX would assure the commercially viable procurement of required volumes of high-quality commodities at the best market prices.You may wish to know that Nigeria Commodity Exchange, NCX, was established by government to avail buyers and sellers of Nigerian agro-commodities an organized trading platform where there will be price discovery and the teeming small holder farmers will be able to warehouse their produce after harvest for sale at a later date when they will get remunerative prices.
“A major objective of government for setting up NCX is improve the livelihood of the farmers, increase economic productivity and create employment for Nigerians, especially in the Small & Medium scale enterprises sector, thereby boosting the nation’s GDP”, Zaheera stated.
She lamented the poor remuneration most farmers in the country get from their agribusinesses due to poor post-harvest management practices that force them to part with their produces at very cheaper rates.
According to Zaheera, poor post-harvest management of agro produces by farmers in the country accounts for the high rate of rejection of the goods in the international markets.
“Some of you may recall the mandate issued by Mr. President in his Independence Day speech of October 1, 2021 to relevant government agencies such as NCX, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and National Food Reserve Agency, directing them to put heads together to ameliorate the rising domestic food prices and general inflationary trend in the nation’s commodity trading sector.
I hereby call on Nigerian investors in the country’s agro-commodity trading sector to link up with NCX to boost their business as the President’s mandate is poised to generate improve operations in the Exchange”, She stressed.
She specifically called on Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Sesame Seed Association of Nigeria, Cotton Association of Nigeria and other export-oriented agro-commodities groups to synergize with NCX to boost their operations, other farmer and merchant groups such as All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, that are operating in Ogun state are encouraged to key into NCX to enhance the business activities of their members.
Speaking with journalists at the occasion, Lawal stated the recent rejection of Nigerian yams exported to Europe was rejected because the exporters were not aware that there is an alternative platform like the NCX through which the export should have been done properly.
Lawal opined that awareness creation about Community Exchange is still at its barest minimum which makes it necessary for holding of the capacity workshop.
“Commodity Exchange is a new initiative that most people are not aware of, it is a new innovation, it’s a new idea. If those yams were exported through the exchange, proper examinations and certifications could have been done, so it could have been very difficult for anybody over there to have rejected it.
“We would have given them quality certificate, which would have accompanied the export. And with quality certificate, all they need to do was to accept and reconfirm”, Lawal disclosed.
Also speaking at the event, Mr Ego Okwechime, Head, Warehouse, NCX, stated that NCX is a trade support service within the agricultural supply chain.
Okwechime explained that warehousing is the professional storage of goods for and on behalf of depositors, which are also known as the suppliers, by a warehouse operator until such goods are sold to the final buyer or end user.
“Warehousing services provide employment and income for a section of the populace such as storage experts, farmers, traders and Marchants, laborers, logistics experts etc,” Okwechime expressed.
