Federal Government has pledged to provide an enabling environment for Gum Arabic Farmers in the country and investors in the industry.
The Director of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Hajiya Karima Babangida gave the pledge at a Gum Arabic stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, in Kano, under the theme: “Sustainable exploitation of gum Arabic for economic development in Nigeria.”
She noted that the purpose of the meeting was to review the activities of the Gum Arabic value chain with a view to developing a robust road map that would take advantage of Nigeria’s potentials in the production of the commodity.
Represented by Zonal Director, North-West FMARD, Mr. Abdulkareem Durosinlorun, she added that the Federal Government was ready to partner with any stakeholder who was interested in the development of the Gum Arabic sub-sector.
The Director said that the ministry had established a Gum Arabic testing laboratory for quality assurance at the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN) station in Gashua, Yobe state.
“In the same vein, the ministry has also established a cottage Gum Arabic processing center at Damaturu in Yobe state.
“We are supporting the Gum Arabic association with tapping knives, storage bags, cyclone, crushers, color sorter machine and digital moisture meters to various farmers, she added.
According to the Director, the Federal Government will establish two additional Gum Arabic processing centres in Kano and Borno States, before the end of 2021, as part of efforts at improving the production of the commodity.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Ernest Umakhihe, said the workshop was organised to induce a combination of appropriate agricultural techniques, policies and institutional arrangements that could generate surplus in the gum Arabic sub sector.
He said that the Gum Arabic value chain was among the agricultural commodity value chains being promoted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Represented by Mr Ukattah Bernard, Deputy Director, Tree Crops, the permanent secretary explained that the main objective was to increase the area under Gum Arabic production in organized and unorganized plantations.
In addition to improving its processing by adding value, to obtain grade one gum and achieve export substitution and global competitiveness, he added.
The ministry produced and distributed free 384,391 Gum Arabic seedlings to farmers in order to boost value addition, he said, adding that the participants would do well to take advantage of the meeting to build a sustainable agriculture for the country, so as to achieve self-sufficiency.
Also speaking at the event, Eze Chidume Okoro, the National President of Gum Arabic Producers, Processors and Exporters of Nigeria (NAGAPPEN), said the plan was to restore the glory of the Gum Arabic sector in the country.
Okoro called on the ministry of Agriculture to seek the collaboration of Ministries and other national agencies working in the gum Arabic sector, so as to ensure a coordinated development of the sector.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts in providing an enabling environment to Gum Arabic farmers in the country.