Afrigather Director-Basic of the World Commerce Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said that Nigeria has misplaced out in agricultural export markets and has grow to be a web importer of meals<<
She said this in the course of the inauguration of the $1.2 million programme to enhance the export normal of Nigeria’s sesame and cowpea merchandise.
The ex-Minister of Finance said that though Nigeria’s agriculture sector has the capability to considerably increase export diversification and create jobs, many of those alternatives are nonetheless untapped as a result of present obstacles.
She mentioned, “Everyone knows the story about Nigeria being a big exporter of palm kernel, groundnuts, palm oil, cotton and cocoa, however the nation has since grow to be a web importer of many of those items.”
“In reality, Nigeria has not solely misplaced out in agricultural export markets, it’s a web meals importer spending about billions a 12 months for items, lots of which we will additionally produce right here.”
“Nigeria was a formidable agricultural exporter. As much as the mid-Nineteen Sixties, the nation’s share of world agricultural exports was multiple per cent.”
“Nevertheless, agricultural exports collapsed because the financial system shifted in the direction of petroleum exploitation, and by the mid-Eighties Nigeria’s world market share for agricultural merchandise has dwindled to lower than 0.1 per cent,”
Challenges of Nigeria’s agricultural exports
The director-general highlighted that trade-related points on the provision facet are a part of the rationale for Nigeria’s untapped potential, which the challenge intends to handle.
She famous that Nigeria is the main producer and shopper of cowpeas globally and a significant producer of sesame, exporting to the EU, Türkiye, Japan, South Korea, and different Asian nations.
Nevertheless, Nigerian exports of cowpeas and sesame have confronted rising rejections in numerous worldwide markets as a result of failure to fulfill the Normal Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) necessities.
Okonjo-Iweala defined that the challenge’s aim is to reinforce the understanding of market entry necessities amongst stakeholders within the sesame and cowpea worth chains.
She added that the initiative would deal with enhancing agricultural practices, together with pesticide use, hygiene, harvest and post-harvest processes, and meals security<<
