Notore Chemical Industries Plc (formerly National Fertilizer Company, NAFCON) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is to float a food company that would buy up what the company calls surplus food produce in the market. A company official who disclosed this in Port Harcourt at the weekend said various agric policies and mass farming schemes in Nigeria have resulted in food glut that may cause a disincentive to farming.
Raymond Agbi, General Manager/Group Head, Shared Services of Notore, made the disclosure at a NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women(NNEW), said the boost in fertilizer production and massive awareness campaigns on the right way to apply fertilizer has spurred most Nigerians into farming as a business. NECA, Nigerian Employers Consultative Assembly, has set up a scheme for women in entrepreneurship.
Agbi said: “High awareness and high participation in agric has led to high yield, and this has led to a glut. Because Notore is behind massive agricultural practice, we do not want the glut to cause a relapse. So,we are coming out with a food company as a subsidiary to off-take the surplus produce”.
He said the food company would buy off the produce and sell to food processing companies or for export, using its national and International networks. Agbi said farming has emerged as a lucrative business because food processing companies are no longer importing but now depend on local produce. He said farmers must follow specifications and produce what companies want. He also said most chief executives in other sectors were quitting lucrative jobs to go into farming, saying some CEOs in Notore have followed suite.
He also mentioned companies that have pumped huge sums into out-growers’ schemes to produce tomato for local processing.
The chairperson of NNEW Port Harcourt, Mercy Bello Abu, said the Back to Agric objective was to create agro-entrepreneurs after the three weeks training and to boost agric practice especially in women. She said it was bad for Nigeria to be buying what it can easily produce.
NNEW lined up experts such as Paul Awoyesuku (a lawyer turned massive farmer), Ebinime Joe-Ansa 9head of NNEW agric section), and Rivers State commissioner for agric,Ominim Jack (a lawyer) to speak and educate the agropreneurs.
Ignatius Chukwu
