Specialists within the agro processing and packaging have referred to as for correct branding and wrapping of merchandise in order to boost their marketability each domestically and globally.

They made the decision at a spherical desk assembly organised by the Affiliation of Ladies in Agro Processing and Packaging (AWAP) which held in Lagos underneath the theme: “spherical desk assembly in the direction of better 2025 in agro processing, branding and packaging’’.

In line with the contributors who embrace; ladies in agro processing, representatives of NAFDAC; SON; Financial institution of Business; Company Affairs Fee (CAC), Nigeria Export Promotion Council; Lagos State Employment Belief Fund amongst others, it might be unnecessary to provide merchandise that can not be exported or be acceptable in tremendous markets because of poor packaging and branding.

Talking on the assembly, president, Affiliation of Ladies in Agro Processing and Packaging (AWAP), Racheal Eyitayo Ariori regretted that many of the merchandise of girls in agro processing usually are not acceptable in shops including, “majority of those ladies, their merchandise usually are not been accepted by shops, the merchandise can’t be exported as a result of the ladies do not need entry to finance, they’re struggling and crowing, l really feel that there are a lot that’s out there with this present administration.’’

Nevertheless, she pressured the necessity for the federal authorities to help processors to allow them to purchase packaging machines that may in flip stop postharvest losses.

Explaining additional, she mentioned: ‘there are processors which can be already within the enterprise, the federal government can empower them to allow them to buy packaging machines, most of those machines are costly, a person can’t afford it.

In her phrases: “everyone knows that packaging machines and supplies are very costly, should of those ladies do not need it, but when we’ve got a central processing and packaging hubs, the place a girl can convey cassava, then she is going to exit together with her packaged garri, tapioca, packaged starch, that may scale back the postharvest losses that we’re experiencing on this nation, we’ve got an issue of postharvest administration and it’s affecting our meals safety as a nation, as a result of we produce extra and we lose extra due to the postharvest administration, we’ve got no freezers no chilly rooms, no photo voltaic panel that we may help protect these merchandise.

“Take for example, while you go to the market, you’ll uncover that in each one tone of tomatoes, half a tone will get unhealthy as a result of there aren’t any services to protect them, if we actually wish to develop and be higher, we have to have manufacturing and processing hubs the place ladies can protect their merchandise’’.

This she defined would generate cash for workers that may handle that services and thereby improve meals safety.

Additionally talking on the gathering, Managing Director DeLuxe Flour, Chioma Ononye pressured the necessity for collaboration amongst ladies in agro processing and branding, including that such partnership would strengthen their capability as ladies.

She recognized data hole as one of many challenges dealing with ladies in agro processing and packaging and opined that such hole might be crammed with coaching.

Driving her level residence, she mentioned: “no matter be the data cap might be coated up by coaching. To make 2025 an excellent yr, we should have a holistic assessment, to take a look at what labored in 2024 and what didn’t work in 2024 for us to have the ability to make sufficient adjustment, after which 2025 we should have a transparent image of the necessity for a correct branding, the shoppers idea about branding shouldn’t be what the producer has in thoughts, you will need to suppose like the buyer to have the ability to meet their expectation in packaging, additionally trying on the development for packaging , it isn’t simply copying what has been, a number of attraction and creativity should are available to packaging to make it engaging to shoppers.’’

Among the representatives of the companies that participated in the course of the assembly counseled the organisers of the occasion, saying such gathering would go a protracted approach to encourage ladies in agro processing and packaging to achieve better peak come 2025 and past.