Gum Arabic: Nigerian export drops from $43.55m

Gum Arabic

Nigeria has not been earning the expected foreign exchange potential in gum arabic as she declined from 43.55 million dollars estimated export earnings and may have decided to establish a Scientific Research Centre in her quest for a chunk of the world market.

Food Farm News’  checks at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) revealed that the aggressive attention needed for the productivity of the produce has to be scaled up for Nigeria to recover her second largest producer status in the global market.

The Minister of FMARD Chief Audu Ogbeh had once told journalists that 263 million naira had been set aside to galvanise productivity of the crop in about 12 producing states of the federation.

He said the gum Arabic seedlings would be produced locally by a research institute in Benin for distribution to farmers particularly in the northern part of the country where gum arabic was being produced in large quantity saying that “we are intensifying production, especially in states like Yobe and Borno which have been devastated by war’’.

Corroborating the minister’s position, the desk officer for the crop in the FMARD, Mr. Orvini Andrew pointed out that government was already taking steps to bring back the glory of the crop through provision of a particular improved seed variety called Acacia senegal which has the potential of giving the best raw quality with increased yield of the produce in all the producing states of the federation.

He attributed the effort of the Federal Government (FG) towards revival of the crop productivity to its economic relevance in terms of usefulness in binding both edible and non edible foods adding that ‘’ Gum arabic has excellent stability properties with multi functional  food additive in all confectionaries and non edibles. It is a binder, an emulsifier for non food products such as pharmaceuticals, photosensitive chemical textile, paper, ink, paints etc’’

He added that the ministry would procure machinery for processing at the farm gate so as to reduce the quantity of processed gum Arabic from Asia and other advanced country, adding this would help to grow the market value chains of the crop thereby creating employment and reduce poverty in the northern states.

Meanwhile, at the last International conference meeting of Gum Arabic held at Geneva by United Nations (UN) countries approved a Scientific Research Centre for Arabic gum to be sited at Sudan being the leading producer and exporter in Africa.

Sudan has taken the production of the crop very seriously being one of the major sources of economic revenue generation in the country since she is not a oil producing state like Nigeria.