All is set for the launch of the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) in Nigeria this year, purposely to address the issue of labour shortage in the country’s oil palm plantation sector, minimise operational cost and improve the yield of palm oil which in turn will increase the income of players, including the smallholder farmers.
Founded in Malaysia in 1919, ISP is coming to Nigeria through a partnership between Agrinexus Group of Companies and Foremost Development Services, a Nigerian company which specialises in providing technical, economic and management services.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos recently, Managing Director of the company, Fatai Afolabi, said ISP has more than 6,000 members (local and overseas) and mainly catered for those who work in the plantation industry as executives and above.
Afolabi stated that the partnership is also to support Nigeria’s quest to fast-track economic diversification through the agricultural sector as it aims to reduce the recruitment of foreign professionals across the value chains.
He further said: “It has been a serious concern for us that in some agricultural value chains, Nigeria still has to look beyond our shores to recruit foreign experts, and professionals to help us develop our plantations and farming projects,” Afolabi said.
According to him, the country must develop its agriculture in the way countries with highly productive agriculture have developed theirs, noting that it prompted the introduction of an ISP chapter in the country’s agricultural landscape.
He said the ISP is an establishment that has been established to grow and develop capacities of agricultural graduates all over the world, adding it can impact the country’s agricultural development by adding values and making it as productive as it should be.
“Before now, ISP has been in Malaysia and some other Asian countries but today through the efforts of Agrinexus International and Foremost Development Services to launch the ISP in Nigeria,” Afolabi said.
He noted that the establishment of ISP in Nigeria will help create an African hub as it will act as a regional organisation.
Also speaking, Group Managing Director and founder, Agrinexus Group, Shermal Perera, said ISP has been in Malaysia for over 100 years and during its early development, it was established for planters to join as members to enable them to take up courses that enable them to establish productive plantations.
He noted that as a member, one can go through training courses and proper education to establish oneself in the plantation industry.
“It is important because it allows you to extend your knowledge in agriculture and allow your career to develop and move up the ladder from a humble beginning to a high position.
“So, we have had people in the agriculture space from a supervisory level achieve high positions such as manager and in some cases general manager.” “The ISP is a methodology that allows you to climb in your profession.”
According to him, the membership body offers courses from certification to bachelor’s degree to master’s level certification. He stated that the ISP Nigeria chapter will allow other countries on the content to subscribe to ISP.
Perera, who will be serving as the interim Chairman of the ISP Nigeria, said the organisation will enhance the capacity of stakeholders in the Nigerian agriculture space to develop themselves.
“It is like an open door for planters in Nigeria. It is an opportunity to make planters in Nigeria and entire Africa have good knowledge, to bring back the glory day of Nigeria as one of the best agric countries in the world.”
Speaking on the profile of ISP, group finance director at Agrinexus International, Claudine Weerasena, said it is a membership organisation for people directly or indirectly involved in the agricultural space.
She noted that ISP provides journals and magazines on the latest technologies that are shared with members and it cuts across all spectrums of agricultural production.
Weerasena added that there are also immediate relief funds for members, scholarships for the children of members, and yearly seminars as well as advisory and consultancy services.
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