Food Export: Council calls for improved standards for global markets
NAN-H-53
Exporters
By Esenvosa Izah
Lagos, Feb. 8, 2017 (NAN) The Executive Director, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, has urged exporters of food products to key into international standards in order to scale up local standards for the global market.
Represented by Mr Abdullahi Sidi-Aliyu, Director, Policy and Strategy in the council, made the call at the 1st Nigeria Food Safety and Investment Forum held on Wednesday in Lagos.
He spoke during a panel discussion on Nigerian Value Chain Improvement.
“We need to comply with the best practices and other food safety conditions that are necessary to launch us into the global market otherwise we will continue to import foods.
“We need more investment, both private and public on how to provide safety for the movement of agricultural goods and services from the farm gates to the exit market.
“We should move toward the improvement of the quality of our products and ensure the conformity to the international standards.
“Otherwise we will continue to consume what we produce and remain a closed economy,’’ he said.
The director-general said that there was high demand for the country’s food products from Nigerians in diaspora.
He said, however, supply of food products was a challenge, therefore the need to find ways to address it.
“The population of Nigerians in diaspora is estimated to be about five to 15 million all over the world with the largest in the UK, US, South Africa and even Sudan.
“We need to open up; if we are talking about globalisation and you want to participate in the global system, you have to adopt the good agricultural practices,’’ Awolowo said. (NAN)
EEI/ENN/MST
Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Muhammad Suleiman Tola