Niger State Achieving Greatness  with ‘Money Tree’ 

By Femi Ogbonnikan

O n May 29, 2015, Abubakar Sani Bello became the fifth governor of Niger State at a time recession was threatening to tear Nigeria apart. Not long after, recession actually came. Money from the Federation Account was inadequate to run the governments and many tates ran into problems. In In Bello’s enclave, however, lies a natural resource, that has been christened the “money tree” and is capable of bailing out the state to achieve its developmental plan to become the third largest state economy in Nigeria by the year 2020.That resource is the Shea tree. Niger State has the largest collection of Shea trees in the world. It controls about 54 per cent of all the trees in Nigeria, and of the vaunted 325,000 MT of Shea nut and butter exported from Nigeria.
Niger State is indisputably assumed to be the Shea capital of the world.

The Shea tree really has the potential to turn around Niger State, not only drawing in improved agricultural technology and revenues to make it sustainable but at the same time providing an impetus to the development of the eco-compliant agro, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries in the state.
“Now highly sought after for a variety of reasons, including WHO accepted stearin and olein products derivable from its kernel, the Shea tree leaves, fruits, nuts, kernel, cakes and butter are of immense value when properly processed and certified,” says the Niger State Shea Sector Development Programme (NSSSDP), coordinator.

However, Governor Bello has recognised the opportunity and knew that for the state to make headway in harvesting the ‘money tree’, the private sector, he averred, has to be involved.
In realising its set objective, Niger State Government therefore appointed a consultant, First Heritage Global Investments Limited, leading a team of experts, to come up with its blue print for exploiting the potentials availed by the NSSSDP. First to come on the stream is the assignment to draw up a Master plan for the expansion of the Shea sector value chain and structuring of a Shea sector economy. The consultants insist that this approach requires a new value chain matrix for the Shea sector, which their experts have now produced to guide the development of the Master plan.
That new matrix showing all the opportunities available to Nigerians in the Shea sector has been published already in NSSSDP publications, including its “better life from Shea butter” sensitization flyers.

It is said that the Master plan is to address a situation where, although Shea products and Shea based products are sold around the world earning billions of dollars; neither the state government nor the neighbouring communities to this valuable resource derive commensurate value or even benefit.
Hence, the NSSSDP has developed an advocacy concerning the work that needs to be done and the paradigm shift that it would entail. This advocacy has already been delivered to the local communities around the Shea trees, the women from which constitute the “primary growers” who harvest from the snake-infested forests during the season with nothing but their basins and bare hands.
Under current supply chain structures used by middlemen, traders and some producers, thousands of the women are formed into some cooperative from the secure supply of nuts to butter extraction, refining to fractionating facilities mainly established outside Nigeria.

The advocacy, it is noted, has also been shared with International Institutions, NGOs, relevant Civil Society organisations and Government MDAs. Not left out, other stakeholders, including the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have attended stakeholders meetings at the Minna Technology Centre established by First Heritage as the head office of the NSSSDP.
The NSSSDP has been on the road around the Shea tree zone since last year, training, educating and sensitizing the local populace.
First Heritage got Ecocert, a globally renowned name in conformity assessment certification for fair trade, Global Gap and organic goods to train a team of consultants, inspectors and auditors in compliance assessment and certification under the NOP, EU and ISO standards.

Fair trade certification is required for agricultural products by major retail chains and multinationals because of legislation against slave labour and human trafficking, use of underage children for labour etc. Without certification in this regard Nigerian agricultural goods have been missing a berth in the formal international market and those that are taken at all are therefore undervalued.
By the way, Global GAP means Global Good Agricultural Practices. This relates to work place, environmental amd social impacts of the agricultural practices that produce certain products. This is demanded mostly by well structure African economies and in respect mainly of vegetables.

These certifications will open up Nigeria’s Shea products to the high-end formal market for Shea products.  No less than 38 people were trained. NICERT Limited (Nicert) has been incorporated and set up to act in conjunction with Ecocert Group to bring these services closer to Nigerian farmers.
Consultants are now available to guide farmers on how to comply with these important standards that would open the international market to them and Ecocert through Nicert is now able to conduct the inspection and auditing work that certification requires.
Nicertis one of the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) that the NSSSDP has registered to aggregate capital and technology for the establishment of three important institutions required to implement and sustain the principles of the master plan. The other two are Ecoshea Limited and Nishea Limited.

A progress report by NSSSDP said: “We expect to submit the master plan itself latest by the end of March 2018 and to be in a position by that time to announce that its implementation has recorded some success. More importantly, we want to see some of the principles and concepts proposed in the master plan already in operation during the next Shea season, which would commence in April 2018.”
Ecoshea Limited is set up to obtain a concession from the Niger State government to manage a block of the forest of wild growing Shea trees and to demonstrate the profitability, productivity and importance of the “money tree”.

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