From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has disclosed that Nigeria spends $600 million annually on palm oil importation.
He also explained that the country’s share in the global palm oil market has declined to less than 2 per cent, with local production standing at about 1.4 million metric tons annually, while national demand exceeds 2 million metric tons.
Kyari made this known at the inauguration of the National Palm Oil Traceability Framework and Inter-Agency Committee, held yesterday in Abuja.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Marcus Ogunbiyi, he said: “Today, our share has declined to less than 2 percent, with production standing at about 1.4 million metric tons annually, while national demand is over 2 million metric tons.
Each year, Nigeria spends over 600 million US dollars importing palm oil.”
He further explained that the Palm Oil Traceability Framework Committee is aimed at tackling adulteration and poor processing, adding that the committee operates under the National Initiative for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS) in Nigeria. He stressed that Nigeria must not only produce for local consumption but also for export in order to boost the country’s revenue.
According to him, the committee will serve as the driving force behind the traceability system, fostering coordination across federal and state government agencies, private sector actors, farmers’ cooperatives and processors, market associations, development partners, and donors. “The establishment of a national traceability system for palm oil is a clear demonstration of our determination to modernize agricultural value chains, enhance global competitiveness, and promote responsible production and sourcing throughout Nigeria’s oil palm sector.
“Traceability is essential for boosting consumer confidence and upholding product integrity. It helps eliminate adulteration, enforces compliance with national and international quality benchmarks, and strengthens the competitiveness of our palm oil in key industries such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
“By establishing a transparent, accountable supply chain from farm to factory, traceability helps curb environmental degradation, prevent post-harvest losses, and reduce unregulated trade that drains government revenue.”
On his part, Programme Manager, Oil Palm of Solidaridad Nigeria, Kennechukwu Onukwube, said four states — Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, and Kogi — have been used to test the initiative.
Onukwube said: “So we have proof of concept that Solidaridad has been able to facilitate in four states. These include Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, and Kogi states.
Other organizations, also supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, include the IDH, which is specifically working in Edo State, doing the same thing.
“Now, Solidaridad has borne the responsibility to midwife a process that has, first, opened the consciousness of people to the need for a traceability system for our oil palm in Nigeria — because that is currently non-existent — and the need for all stakeholders to align around a common policy that will enable us to process a sustainable future.
“We need to be able to understand what is happening in the global and domestic markets of oil palm, and we must set or put our house in order through a traceability system.”
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