The Kogi State House of Assembly has urged the State Ministry of Agriculture to safeguard economic trees and strengthen the cashew value chain.
Hon. Bello Oluwaseyi Victor, representing Kabba Bunu State Constituency, raised the motion on the floor of the House, emphasizing that rural communities rely on economic trees like cashew for their livelihoods. He stressed the need to protect the cashew value chain as an essential local industry.
He highlighted that the cashew value chain—comprising exporters, merchants, licensed buying agents, sub-buyers, and farmers—must be properly regulated to prevent the indiscriminate activities of foreign buyers involved in agro-commodity procurement.
Bello also called on the state government to mandate the Ministry of Agriculture to implement mechanisms ensuring strict compliance with the cashew nut value chain.
Additionally, he proposed restricting exporters’ activities to major towns within the state.Seconding the motion, Hon. Ochidi Usman Shehu, representing Dekina/Biraidu State Constituency, emphasized the necessity of the motion, stating that it aimed to protect the interests of the people they represent.
Supporting the motion, Deputy Speaker Comfort Ojoma Nwuchiola Egwaba urged the Ministry of Agriculture to launch a comprehensive sensitization campaign to educate cashew farmers on the importance of preserving their cashew trees.
In his ruling, Speaker Aliyu Umar Yusuf directed the House Committee on Agriculture to engage with the relevant authorities for immediate action.
KOGI STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, LOKOJA
MOTION CALLING ON KOGI STATE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE TO PROTECT OUR ECONOMIC TREES AND STRENTHEN THE CASHEW VALUE CHAIN.
SPONSOR: Hon. BELLO OLUWASEYI VICTOR
The Rt. Hon. Speaker and my distinguished colleagues, cashew nuts are one of Nigeria’s most significant non-oil exports.
As a major player in global cashew market, Nigeria and by extension Kogi state stands to benefit immensely by introducing and implementing measures designed to strengthen the cashew value chain.
The Rt. Hon speaker and my distinguished colleagues, according to data from the National Bureau of statistics (NBS), Kogi State is the leading producer of cashew nuts in Nigeria.
The Rt. Hon. Speaker and my distinguished Colleagues, recall that the 8th Assembly recently passed an executive bill; Kogi State Commodity Exchange Market and signed into law by the Executive Governor, Alh. Anmed Usman Ododo to support our Local farmers and enhance their productivity by creating the market for their products.
Our people in the rural communities are making decent living from our economic trees, Cashew especially and the need to protect the value chain for our citizens as a local content cannot be overemphasized.
CASHEW VALUE CHAIN IN KOGI STATE, AN OVERVIEW.
The Rt. Hon. Speaker and my distinguished Colleagues, The cashew Value Chain refers to the entire process involved in producing, processing and distributing Cashew nuts from the farm to the export market.
In Kogi State, the Cashew Value chain comprises of the Following; 1. EXPORTER
2 MERCHANT
3 LBA (LICENCED BUYING AGENT)
4. SUB BUYER
5. FARMER
6. FUNCTIONS.
7. THE FARMER
The cashew farmer is the one who grows the cashew crop and harvest it when it is ripe. He prepares it for sale to the sub-buyer.
The Sub Buyer
This group of people are the ones who moves from house to house or farm to buy the harvested cashew nuts from the farmers, usually in small quantities.
They operates within the small village or environment as the farmers. They collect the crops and bag it for the LBA’s.
The LBA
These are the licensed buying agents. They engage the services of the sub buyers by advancing money to them with which they procure the goods from farmers. They aggregate the goods in metric tons for onward sale to the merchants who may have engaged their services on contract or otherwise. They are the link between the farm gate and the merchant.
The Merchant
This class of cashew traders are the ones who engage the services of LBA’s by advancing money to them to supply cashew nuts.
The merchants are responsible for aggregating cashew nuts in their various warehouses usually in metric tons for sun drying and ascertaining the quantity of the products for onward delivery to an exporter.
The Exporter
The exporter seats at the apex of the cashew value chain. He issues contracts to merchants for the supply of ready for export dried raw cashew nuts in jute bags.
The Rt. Hon. Speaker and my distinguished colleagues, each and every segment of the value chain represents an important elements crucial to the success of cashew trade in Kogi State. They offer substantial employment opportunities to our people in the rural communities.
The importance of the value chain to our rural communities cannot be overemphasized, as this will drive job growth and wealth generation.
The activities of the foreigners in procuring our economic tress without restrictions will eliminate the above value chain and create youth restiveness and pose a security challenge in our state because a whole economic chain will be eliminated if not checked.
The indiscriminate activities of foreigners involved in the procurement of our agro commodities threatens to completely eliminate the cashew value chain with the potential to ignite youth restiveness in our rural communities.
Consequently, there is an urgent need to introduce the necessary regulations to forestall such development.
PRAYERS:
That, the House should mandate the Kogi State Ministry of Agriculture to protect our economic trees by placing a complete ban on foreigners from buying economic trees and be restricted to buy strictly export ready dried cashew nuts in jute bags.
Kogi State Ministry of Agriculture should be mandated to set mechanism in place to ensure total compliance with the cashew nuts value chain in Kogi State. The exporters should comply with the value chain in place.
iii. That the. activities of the foreigners/exporters be restricted to the major towns in Kogi State.
I so move Dated this……. Day Of February, 2024.
HON. BELLO OLUWASEYI VICTOR Member, Representing Kabba-Bunu State Constituency.