Previous Next

NEPC, GIZ to streamline cashew, rice exports

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) are partnering to  ensure  Nigeria's export of Cashew and Rice derivatives conform to buyer’s requirements and reduce export rejection considerably.

The Executive Director CEO Nigerian Export Promotion Council NEPC, Nonye Ayeni disclosed this at the NEPC, GIZ interactive session for cashew and rice value chain actors in Abuja, stating that this is aimed at the federal government's Agenda of Value Addition and products diversification for export through inclusiveness, innovative technology, Smart Agriculture, capacity building and thematic research.

Ayeni said the council is committed to this project and the continued partnership with GIZ-MOVE will ensure successful delivery of the remaining components of the MOU signed. 

"There is no better time to drive the non-oil exports.   This is our chance and we will work assiduously to promote non-oil exports from Nigeria to a greater height.

"This programme is as a result of Memorandum of Understanding MOU signed in August 2023 between the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Market Oriented Value Chains for Jobs and Growth in the ECOWAS Region (GIZ-MOVE).

"The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with about 1.3 billion people presents enormous opportunities for Nigeria's high value rice and cashew products. It will interest you to note that the rice we are seeing today is used to produce rice flakes, rice cereal, rice flour etc. Predominantly, women play an active role in the rice sector, hence, a great opportunity to achieve inclusiveness in non-oil export.

"Given that today’s world trade in non-oil exportable products has become highly regulated, fundamentally because of safety, health and environmental considerations, the exporters are demanded to conform to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), secure necessary Certifications, utilize appropriate documentations, packaging and labeling which if not properly addressed, becomes Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT),” Ayeni said.

She noted that small, medium and large scale farmers, aggregators, processors, Service providers, exporters were invited to ensure inclusion  The import of this exercise is to identify possible gaps that will provide the basis for implementing future programmes. In 2022, it was estimated that Nigeria produced 5.4 million metric tons of milled rice and about 300,000 metric tons of raw cashew nuts (RCN).