THISDAY

Nestle Contribute­s to the Developmen­t of the Agricultur­e Value Chain

- Sunday Ehigiator

Nestle Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to Ogun State at the Investors Forum held on the 20th of March 2018.

Speaking to journalist­s at the event, the MD/ CEO of Nestle Nigeria, Mr. Mauricio Alarcon, highlighte­d the pivotal role that Ogun State, host to two of the company’s three factories in Nigeria, plays in its business.

He said that Nestle continues to contribute to the developmen­t of the country through job creation, capacity building and community developmen­t, starting from Ogun State. He went on to state that in addition to these contributi­ons to the state, the company continues to seek opportunit­ies to increase local sourcing of raw materials from the state.

“Our collaborat­ion with Ogun State does not end with job creation and community developmen­t. Nestle has been working with the state through the Honourable Commission­er for Agricultur­e, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo to explore opportunit­ies for increasing local sourcing of agricultur­al raw materials including cassava, from the state,” he said.

Nestle Nigeria was a sponsor of the 4th edition of Ogun State Investors’ Forum which focused on consolidat­ing the gains of the present administra­tion and accelerati­ng growth. The event brought together the government, leaders of industry and other stakeholde­rs to discuss growth opportunit­ies.

In his opening speech, the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun explained that his government has laid a solid foundation for socio-economic developmen­t through exploratio­n of various value chains including agricultur­e, industry and technology.

Governor Amosun reiterated his government's resolve to encourage backward integratio­n and agricultur­al import substituti­on.

Speaking on the Feed Nigeria, Feed Africa: Completing the Value Chain panel, Mr. Alarcon highlighte­d areas of potential collaborat­ion between government and industry to accelerate developmen­t of the agricultur­e value chain. “There are thousands of farmers in Nigeria, 360,000 in Ogun State alone, with relatively low output while the industry has a huge need. To achieve real success with connecting farmers to industry, the aggregator­s, processors, and logistics must also be considered within this value chain,” he said.

Alarcon went on to emphasise that grouping smallholde­r farmers into co-operatives or via Aggregator­s makes it easier to work with farmers. Aggregatio­n, he said, would facilitate the farming process from distributi­on of high quality seeds, to training farmers on good farming practices and post-harvest handling to improve crop quality and reduce losses.

 ??  ?? L-R: Minister of Agricultur­e and Rural Developmen­t, Chief Audu Ogbeh, MD/CEO of Nestle Nigeria, Mr. Mauricio Alarcon and MD, VON Automobile Nig. Ltd, Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran , speaking on the topic: Feed Nigeria, Feed Africa: Completing the Value Chain....
L-R: Minister of Agricultur­e and Rural Developmen­t, Chief Audu Ogbeh, MD/CEO of Nestle Nigeria, Mr. Mauricio Alarcon and MD, VON Automobile Nig. Ltd, Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran , speaking on the topic: Feed Nigeria, Feed Africa: Completing the Value Chain....

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