Construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, has reinforced its zero waste policy by diversifying into the agricultural processing sector of the economy.
Reputed for its environment-friendly policy in all of its business endeavours, the engineering firm has also committed to implement its highly efficient no-waste operational practice at its soon to be commissioned internationally-benchmarked and top quality-driven Cashew processing plant sited in Epe, Lagos.
The firm made the pledge through its Cashew Project’s Commodity and Marketing Manager, Oyindamola Asaaju, at the pioneer Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Conference, held at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja.
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Oyindamola, who represented Julius Berger on the Conference discussion panel as well as at the Cashew roundtable, stated that clear national occupational standard and demand-driven international product quality would define and drive the company’s operations and productivity in the cashew processing industry in Nigeria, where only five percent of Nigeria’s cashew production is currently locally processed.
A pioneer initiative between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Delegation der Deutschen Wirtschaft in Nigeria (Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria), the conference attracted both local and international corporate and research organisations in the cashew production and processing value chain.
It also attracted high government presence, including the permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other directors and heads of departments.
A significant part of the conference was dedicated to filling observed skills gaps within Nigeria’s cashew farming and processing sector. During the Cashew Roundtable and panel discussion sessions at the conference, there was a consensus that the global cashew trade is a booming industry, with the United States’ imports alone valued at $1.6 million in 2018. Within the same year, amongst the cashew producing nations globally, Asian countries contributed approx. 44 percent, while Africa contributed 56.5 percent to global production.
Amongst these African producers, Nigeria remains one of the top contributors. In fact, Nigeria is the 6th largest producer of cashew in the world.
