Operators eye 80% local agro-sourcing

No fewer than 25 agribusiness, private and public sector players have committed to sourcing at least 80 per cent of their total viable raw materials and ingredients from within Nigeria by 2035.

These companies, at an event in Lagos on Wednesday, committed to meeting this target by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to become parties to the Nigeria Foods Systems Transformation Alliance.

IDH, a global agro-trade organisation, hosted the alliance, which participants comprised banks, food processing companies, and agro-dealers, including Access Bank, AFEX, Reelfruit, and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

IDH, which is also known as the Sustainable Trade Initiative, also signed an MoU with the National Agricultural Development Fund.

By signing to the Nigeria Foods Systems Transformation Alliance, the companies pledged to collaborate to meet targets which lead to food security and sovereignty for the country, including a 10-year plan to increase local sourcing by 80 per cent, local food production by 20 per cent, boost commercialisation and growth for small and medium enterprises and integrate climate-resilient and regenerative production supply chain practices into the country’s food value chains.

IDH Country Director for Nigeria, Eniola Fabusoro, explained that the alliance can unlock high-worth investments.

“While we have not quantified it yet, increasing production and value addition can reduce importation, for instance in wheat, by substituting it with cassava by about 10 per cent. That is over a N200m investment,” Fabusoro stated.

He added that the alliance aims to create opportunities for partnership among agriculture sector actors interested in building resilient value chains that can generate targeted value.

The IDH Country Director revealed that the alliance will establish a steering committee to operationalise the agreement to ensure parties achieve the targets.

In his opening remarks, IDH Global Director of Value Chain Transformation, Kebba Colley, pointed out that Africa needs large food processing.

He encouraged the alliance members to work together to create Fortune Global 500 companies capable of employing more people, which the continent presently lacks.

Colley also urged agribusinesses to leverage the continent’s large population to boost gross domestic product growth. He explained, “(Africa’s) GDP and population growth are not going hand in hand. If we cannot balance out, we will face economic growth, job creation and food security problems.”

Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Omoboyede Olusanya, represented by the FMN Director of Group Strategy and Stakeholder Relations, Sadiq Usman, presented a keynote address on localising sourcing and globalising Nigerian foods manufacturing companies.

Usman remarked that Nigeria remains a predominantly fragmented smallholder farming economy suffering productivity gaps, as local farmers’ conditions limit local sourcing possibilities affecting access to raw materials feedstock for the processing value chains.

He urged the actors to address the sourcing challenges for a steadier and more resilient supply line.

The FMN called for high-yield seeds to encourage doubling yield in commodities like Maize. “Based on the data I have seen, Nigeria can double its maize yield in the next five years; it can feed Africa,” Usman added.

Further, the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit commended the alliance as the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture and the Executive Secretary of the PFSCU, Marion Moon, described the alliance as “a critical step towards transforming Nigeria’s agricultural sector and ensuring that agribusinesses of all sizes can thrive, scale, and compete in formal markets.”