The Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has called on onion farmers in Nigeria to rise to the current challenges and balance their production output of 1.5 million metric tons in order to meet the national requirement of 2.5 million metric tons.
He made the appeal in his speech at the fourth Regional Onion Conference and Annual General Meeting held in Kano yesterday.
The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Nasiru Gawuna, also expressed hope that the conference would derive methods by which onion production would be expanded through devising preservation, processing and proper marketing methods.
The two-day conference with the theme: ‘The Onion Sector in the Era of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Challenges and Opportunities’, drew participants from the West and Central African sub regions.
Earlier in his speech, the National President of the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN), Malam Aliyu Maitasamu Isa, lamented the neglect of the onion sector, even as it faces massive post-harvest losses. He called on the government to extend the Anchor Borrow programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the sector.
Isa said: “As highlighted by the national president of the association, a lot of associations and producers of various agricultural crops have enjoyed facilities by the CBN through the popular anchor borrower programme, but the onion producers, processors and marketers have not enjoyed same.
“We have discussed severally with the national president on this, and I want this conference to discuss towards that, and please provide us with your resolutions, communiques for proper implementation at the state and federal government level, and we are ready to asses and facilitate what will bring about enhancement in all aspects of onion production. The intervention of the CBN will be facilitated for the onion farmers so that you will enjoy it as soon as possible.”
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