Our concern is enhancing productivity of Shea nuts into other derivatives....Modibo

National Secretary General, National Shea Butter Association, Mallam Adamu Modibo

The National Secretary General, National Shea Butter Association, Mallam Adamu Modibo has said the processing of shea nuts into other processed derivatives and exportable products is what can economically benefit the country and the entire stakeholders at the value of the crop.

In an interview with Food Farm News, he said his association has been able in partnership with Palm Oil Research Institute to establish a research centre at Bida for the best agronomics practice of the crop which had led to the reduction of the gestation period from 25years to 3-4 years. Read the rest of his excerpts below.

Can you let us met you and what your association is doing to ensure shea nuts growth in agriculture?

My name is Adamu Umar Modibo, i am the National Secretary General of National Shea Butter Association of Nigeria (NSBAN). The association is the fulcrum that brings together all stakeholders in the shea industry together for unified economic purpose. As the name implies, the product means a processing shea nuts into butter, and also processing butter itself to a secondary products like creams - the body creams, the hair creams, lips cream, palm creams and even massaging creams. Part from these secondary products, the shea butter is also an edible oil. Currently in my house that is what i use to fry and do cooking that requires oil in it. What we promote greatly is the sale of processed shea nuts, but not selling the nuts at a low premium price for a processed product to us. We promote value addition through processing.

Actually that is where i want to go as you will remember there was a conference last year on shea butter that revealed the billions of dollar opportunity in the crop that we have in abundance Nigeria. What is your association doing to tap dip in this big economic opportunity in the global market?

Actually what we are doing is to have aggregation centres, so that the shea nuts are being given value addition through processing, so that we can create employment because exporting raw shea nuts cannot really give maximum economic potentials one can derive in the crop since raw exporting of shea nuts can only give less money except the nuts are processed into other derivatives. Our security men that over see the export of shea nuts do not see them as potential crop that give government more revenue if well processed and packaged for export.  But if the shea nuts are processed to butters, there is more economic gains in terms of money and employment to people through processors. That is why we are promoting the accept of processing and value addition.

In other word, majorly your association is out to promote the processing and marketing of shea butters?

Yes, we promote the production itself because it is sufficient production through best agronomics practice that you can enhance the export of the product itself. If you did produce, it means you are doing nothing. Our Association in collaboration with National Oil Palm Research Institute in Benin have been able to get a centre for shea nuts which had already been established in Bida for improved production. This now enhance the maturity level of shea nuts from 25 years to 3-4yrs in a farm. In the wild, the circumstance that surround the seeds will take about 25years for the seeds to mature, but the research institute has been able to reduce the long period of gestation with modern scientific method of planting and management to 3-4 years. I have seen with my eyes a plant that has started fruiting at three years. The second scenario is the plant in wild are not properly guided against being caught into  fire wood and chal coal because the shea trees have oil potential that can easily catch fire that will boil water under fifteen minutes and it is  our concern.

What effort are association is your association making with government to achieve your desired aims?

Actually we are in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Federal Ministry of Industry of Trade and Investment (FMITI) and other agencies that have stake in agro commodities like Nigeria Export Promotion Council ( NEPC) Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Nigeria Investment Promotion Council ( NIPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other international agencies like the one we had last year. Others are Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM) Bank of Industry ( BOI) and Bank of Agriculture ( BOA). All of them feature in the conference with RMRDC and all of them contributed financially for the success of the conference.