From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Construction giant, Julius Berger, said it has concluded plans to venture into cashew processing in Nigeria, using its state-of-the-art cashew processing plant in Epe, Lagos.
The company said the move was borne out of the fact that global cashew trade was a booming industry with the United States’ imports valued at $1.6 million in 2018, while Asian countries contributed 44 per cent, and Africa contributed 56.5 per cent to the global production.
Julius Berger said its findings indicated that Nigeria is one of the top contributors to global cashew market, being the sixth largest producer of cashew in the world.
It made reference to Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) report which indicated that Nigeria has an untapped potential of $3.4 million from exports of cashew kernels, with EU, Japan, Canada, and UAE as the top five markets with the highest potential for exports.
Julius Berger’s Cashew Project’s Commodity and Marketing Manager, Oyindamola Asaaju, who spoke at the Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) conference, in Abuja, said her company has made a bold diversification of its investment portfolio into the agricultural processing sector of the nation’s economy.
The 2022 ATVET conference which was a pioneer initiative between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, attracted both local and international corporate and research organizations in the cashew production and processing value chain.
It also attracted government presence, including the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, and other directors and heads of departments.
A significant part of the conference was dedicated to filling observed skills gaps within Nigeria’s cashew farming and processing sector, addressing critical questions around food and nutrition security, as well as highlighting Nigeria’s opportunity to position herself globally as a major player
There was discussion on the status of Nigeria’s food and nutrition security, employment opportunities along the agricultural value chain, access to finance for innovation, agropreneurs, and small holder farmers, quality assurance, requirements and standards, and opportunities and challenges of international trade including German Supply Chain Law, EU-Import Regulations, and opportunities of AfCFTA.
There was also discussion on the benefits of bringing together stakeholders across the entire cashew value chain, matching producers with potential off-takers, promoting investments in the cashew sector, identifying skill gaps in the value chain, and introducing innovative training delivery and competency based training approaches.
In her presentation, Oyindamola highlighted the factors that would define and drive the company’s operations and productivity in the cashew processing industry in Nigeria where, she stated, that only five per cent of Nigeria’s cashew production is locally processed.
She registered Julius Berger’s displeasure that private sector and international stakeholders chose to focus on a value chain approach, notably, production, processing, market links and industry organization, stressing that specific vocational training as well as National Occupational Standards (NOS) remains in need of development in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Head of Corporation, European Union delegation, Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, Ms Cecil Tassin-Pelzer, gave the welcome addresses as well as goodwill messages.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, who was represented by the Head of Cashew Value Chain Programme in the ministry, M.T. Usman, delivered the first keynote address.
Executive director, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Dr. Patrick O. Adebola, gave the second keynote address at the conference, while Issaka Mohamed Salifou of ComCashew Initiative, Anthony Lewis of Fairfood; and Olorunfemi Oloruntoyin, Country Director, USDA West Africa PRO-Cashew, also shared cashew operations field experiences.
Denis Steppuhn, Project Manager, Corporate Development, led Julius Berger’s delegation to the ATVET conference.