The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, through the National Institute for Horticultural Research (NIHORT), has trained not less than two hundred farmers on plantain value chain in Delta State to improve the livelihood of the farmers.
These farmers are women and unemployed youth in Ndokwa West local government, Ndokwa East local government, and Ukwani local government areas of Delta, Nigeria.
The training covered plantain ripening and areas of intervention, value-added products from plantain, pre-processing operations, modes of drying, packaging, storage, flow chart for processing plantain products, plantain chip processing business, and economics of plantain value addition.
Managing Director of the consulting firm, GAKFAWS Investments Consult Ltd, Ambassador Chibuzor Okereke, appreciated the Federal Government of Nigeria for the empowerment programme to alleviate poverty of the populace and also expressed gratitude to the lawmaker for facilitating the training programme.
He encouraged participants to transfer the skills acquired to others.
Plantain is an important crop of great economic importance and of high demand in Nigeria.
They are valuable raw materials for processed products such as plantain flour, chips, baby food, biscuits, etc.
It is a profitable horticultural crop that provides income to farmers and agents involved in its input supplies, production, marketing, and transporting.
Plantain serves as an industrial raw material for the food and beverage industry for making baby-weaning foods, biscuits, bread, and cakes. It is a low-capital agribusiness; very lucrative and most Nigerian soil is good for plantain production.
Participants at the training commended NIHORT and promised to put into practice all the knowledge gained from the training. They also affirmed that the commodity value chain has potential to contribute to food security, generate employment and sustainable livelihood.
They also, commended the Federal Government of Nigeria, the facilitators, and organisers. Two of them, Mrs. Fidelia Oyemike and Mr Achudume David, said they now have better understanding of the plantain value addition adding that they were impressed with the training and plan to start cottage processing.
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