Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) are working together to increase the production and processing of Cashew, which market size is estimated to be worth $7.57 Billion.
This was disclosed by the Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GIZ in Abuja under the Market Oriented Value Chains for Jobs and Growth in the ECOWAS Region tagged – GIZ MOVE.
Dr. Yakusak who was represented by the Director, of Product Development, Mrs. Evelyn Obidike reiterated that the collaborative effort was in line with the Federal Government’s non-oil export diversification agenda which seeks to stimulate expertise, inclusiveness, innovativeness and competitiveness.
“The overall outcome is to achieve a paradigm shift by repositioning Nigeria as an exporter of a wide range of value-added high-premium quality cashew products to certified global niche markets and expedite a successful internationalization process for local stakeholders in the cashew value chain in Nigeria”, he added.
He said he was optimistic that the partnership will be characterized by tremendous up-scaling of production of high-yielding cashew varieties, increased local processing, enabled compliance to mandatory certification and sustainable entry into niche export markets.
According to him “We also expect that the collaboration will further support gender empowerment, reliable data from empirical research for effective policy formulation and implementation, technical exchanges as well as export competency development.”
“The NEPC together with GIZ MOVE is determined to leverage our unique competencies to deliver direct benefits to local farmers, aggregators, processors, packers, exporters, importers, service providers, export facilitating agencies and prospective investors novel solutions”. Dr Yakusak added.
The Programme Leader (GIZ MOVE) Mr. Florain Winckler while speaking expressed optimism that the partnership between both parties will further go a long way in adding value to the Cashew sector by building the capacity of the operators, increasing production and processing of high-quality cashew and thereby make the product competitive in the global market.
Olusola Akintonde
