By Ahmad Saleem
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has urged soyabean growers and processors in Kano State to embrace value addition, saying processing the commodity into finished products would generate higher incomes and strengthen Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings.
The Northwest Regional Coordinator of the NEPC, Amina Abdulmalik, made the call on Thursday at a technical support workshop for soyabean growers and processors organised by the council in Kano.
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The workshop, themed “Importance and Benefits of Soyabeans Value Chain,” brought together farmers, processors and other stakeholders to explore opportunities in the commodity’s value chain.
Abdulmalik said soyabeans had enormous economic potential beyond household consumption, noting that the crop serves as a key raw material for the food, livestock feed, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries.
She said adopting the value chain approach would strengthen production, processing, marketing and exports while creating more value for farmers and processors.
According to her, many growers in Kano produce soyabeans in large quantities but have yet to take advantage of opportunities available through value addition.
“We are here to educate farmers and processors on how to move beyond producing raw soyabeans to processing them into products that attract greater value in both domestic and international markets,” she said.
The regional coordinator said soyabean products were exported to more than 100 countries, where they are used for various industrial and food purposes.
She explained that exporting processed soyabean products rather than raw grains would enable Nigeria to earn more foreign exchange and improve the incomes of producers.
Abdulmalik said the workshop was designed to provide technical support, build participants’ capacity and strengthen collaboration among stakeholders in the soyabean value chain.
She reiterated the NEPC’s commitment to promoting non-oil exports as a strategy for diversifying Nigeria’s economy, describing soyabeans as one of the country’s strategic export commodities.
She urged participants to actively engage in the training and apply the knowledge gained to improve product quality, enhance competitiveness and access export markets.
“I want to see at least 75 per cent of the participants adopt the value chain approach by processing their soyabeans into products that command better prices in the international market,” she said.
She added that strengthening the soyabean value chain would empower farmers and processors, create jobs and position Nigeria as a more competitive player in the global agricultural export market.
