The Federal Government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation are to establish seven sites of staple crop processing zones in the country.
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Ibukun Odesote, revealed this in Abuja on Wednesday.
She made this known in her keynote address at a ‘Methodology workshop for development of master plan for establishment of staple crop processing zones across the country.’
Odusote, who was represented by a director in the ministry, Mr. Chudi Uwandu, said the sites would be designed to be multi-crop processing and would be sited close to high production areas.
She recalled how the Federal Government engaged UNIDO in December, 2012 ‘’to coordinate the process of bringing together relevant international and national reputable experts’’ for the nation’s agricultural production.
“Let me inform you that six zones out of the fifteen Staple Crop Processing Zone sites, which are already secured for this establishment will be handled by UNIDO in the first phase, in seven states.
“These sites include Kadawa (Kano) for rice, tomatoe and sorghum; Agbadu (Kogi) for cassava, Badeggi (Niger) for rice, Ketu (Lagos) for aquaculture; Omor (Anambra) and Adani (Enugu) for rice; and Okorolo (Rivers) for aquaculture.
“The sites will be designed to be multi-crop processing zones, located near high production catchment areas with concentrated processing activities at a single site,’’ she said.
Staple crop processing zones are areas where a combination of commercial and smallholder farmers are clustered for one or more crops and located close enough to existing or potential processing plants and markets.
The turnout is such that crop value chain and production of end-products are optimised.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, had said in November, 2012 that the Federal Government would establish staple crop processing zones in some parts of the country.
He said the idea was to enable processors to establish their processing plants in areas where food production was high, giving the assurance that the Federal Government would prioritise basic infrastructure in the zones.
Odusote explained that the idea of the staple crop processing zones was in pursuance of the objectives of the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, noting that it had given prominence to its establishment.
She added that it was a platform that was private-sector driven, government-enabled, value-added agro-processing investment to increase production capacity and reduce post-harvest losses.
She also said that the policy would enhance food security, create jobs and stimulate rural agro-industrialisation.
The Permanent Secretary said the workshop would enhance the development of concise, workable and widely-acceptable master plans for both local and international development partners, as well as the private sector.
She added that it would touch on issues of infrastructure, agri-business analysis and arrangement, risk and vulnerability, implementation and preparation, stakeholders mapping and legal framework.
Earlier, UNIDO Representative in Nigeria, Dr Patrick Kormawa, said the workshop would give stakeholders the opportunity to share with UNIDO and other experts information and expectations from the government.