Shea butter, cotton conference in top gear says Mrs. Ope Ewe

The Director, Commodities and Products Inspectorate Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) Mrs. Ope Ewe

The Director, Commodities and Products Inspectorate Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) Mrs. Ope Ewe has said  preparation towards the hosting of the two commodities international conference simultaneous this month was in full progress as online registration by participants has started since along visa processing and hotel reservations.

In a chat with Food Farm News toward the forth coming international conference targeted to galvanize the productivity of both Shea butter and cotton in Nigeria, Mrs. Ope Ewe said that the foreign organizing partners and the two national local associations of Shea Butter and cotton are earnestly working towards ensuring a successful turn out of five hundred participants for each of the commodity.

According to Mrs. Ope Ewe “the preparation for the hosting of the two commodities international conference is already on going as participants are registering online and the visa process by the Nigerian Immigration Service with hotels booking are ongoing. We are expecting more than 500 participants for the two commodities differently. Our ministry is voting some amount for venue, transport to various hotels and we have contacted the states’ governor, Bank of Agriculture, Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry for support. The two commodities associations are also working hard to ensure the conference success as issue concerning standard and quality will be discussed and there will be opportunity to interface with different people with better knowledge with best agricultural practice from other countries”

In the press briefing held last month, the Minister of state, Hajia Aisha Abukakar had hinted that the international conference on the two commodities would  be coming up between 12-14^th March stated that FMITI will be partnering Global Shea Alliance to organizing an international conference tagged “Shea 2018” towards reinstating back the country to its former global position as Nigeria was once the highest producer of Shea butter with 57 per cent of the world Shea nuts production approximated at $117b.

The minister also said that her Ministry would collaborate with the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) and the Federal Ministry Agriculture and Rural Development to organize the 16th Annual International African Cotton Congress with focus on mechanized farming as essential equipment to boost commercial productivity of the crop.

Already as part of preparation, the banner to the publicity of the shea butter event read thus “the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) and National Shea Products Association of Nigeria (NASPAN) are pleased to announce the 11^th annual International Shea Conference with the theme “ Going further together” to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, March 12-13, 2018 at NAF Conference centre, Kado, Abuja.