Niger hopes to grow its IGR with Shea Butter production
Niger State government is to explore the production of shea butter to shore up its Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR), the Commissioner for Investment, Commerce and Industry, Hajiya Rahmatu Mohammed Yar’Adua, has said.
She spoke during the shea-butter development training organised by the American Shea-Butter Institute, an internationally recognised group in innovation and dedicated to the advancement of Shea Tree. The group is based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
She said: “The training has exposed the Niger State delegation and the state at large to global best practices in the development of shea butter industry and ways to penetrate the international market.”
She said the President of the American Shea Butter Institute, Dr. Samuel Hunter, had confirmed that the state shea butter consultant was collaborating with the group to map out strategies to develop the shea butter industry to increase the value of the product in the state.
The commissioner said the immediate benefits of the proposed action plan towards exploring the full potential of shea-nut include training and equipping of the participants to show efficiency of the training curriculum and quality control protocols developed in the road map.
Other benefits, he said, are the evaluation of the regulatory framework for establishing a certification centre in the state for shea products and training on the requirements to build a certification centre.
The people, she said, would be trained to assist local women in shea fruit harvesting, adding that the government would ensure that the commodity complies with the certification of ISO 17065, European Union (EU) and NOP fair trade, organic farm products and organic cosmetics certification.
Other factors, she added, is the enumeration of trees in the state, production and verification of other relevant data for shea products, review of existing legal framework for the implementation of environmental protection plan for sheatrees, exploitation control for shea fruits, nuts and derivatives as well as draft necessary amendments and/or new laws for an effective legal framework.
She also said her visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, she told him that the state produces 60 per cent global of shea-nuts, adding that if properly utilised, they would go a long way in boosting the revenue of the state and job creation.
0 Comments