By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo
Exporters including Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Akwa Ibom State, have been trained by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) on seafood best production techniques to boost export in the nation’s non-oil sector.
Speaking at a one-day workshop for exporters in Uyo on Monday, the Deputy Director, Akwa Ibom State Coordinating Office of NEPC, Mrs Pauline Ndulaka stressed that one of the visions of the agency in non-oil export was to have seafoods saturate the global market.
She insisted that for the vision to be realized, exporters and stakeholders in the seafood value chain must be updated on the global best production techniques and practices.
Ndulaka said, “Nigerian dependent on oil as a major source of income is not all that profitable; hence the option to get more serious with developing non-oil exports as the second line of defense and a clear strategy for economic diversification.
“This we must all join hands to achieve by making exporting seamless, signifying and exporting value-added products as much as we can to grasp a fair portion of the international market.
“Our objective is to expose stakeholders to various value-chain processes that would enhance seafood production in the state for export, enlighten producers on best practices and techniques for the production and processing of seafood, and reawaken the consciousness of seafood producers to the economic potentials of seafood, among others” she added.
The Chairman, of Nigeria Store Product Research Institute (NSPRI) Dr. Awugu Eminike warned against destructive fishing methods to avoid negative effects on the entire marine ecosystem which can further trigger rejection at the global market.
Delivering a paper presentation on the topic ‘Post Harvest Handling/Value Chain Processing/Preservation and Packaging of Seafood for Export’ he advised the exporters to make use of the modern smoking and drying equipment fabricated by the research institute.
Eminike stressed that the machine, having passed through rigorous testing has proven to maintain purity in processing seafood but advised that a high level of hygiene be maintained during all stages of post-harvest handlings.
He urged exporters to constantly conduct market research to understand the demand for specific seafood products, consumer preferences, and cultural considerations in the target market.
Speaking on ‘Existing Opportunities in the Seafood Export Sub-sector/Solutions to the Challenges Inhabiting the Performance of Seafood Industry in Akwa Ibom’, Mr. Idoreyen Ekanem from the Ministry of Agriculture said that seafood is one of the most important food commodities in the world and has generated over 362 billion dollars annual income globally.
The theme for the event is ‘Development of Seafood (Akwa Ibom State) for Export. NEPC also distributed fingerlings and fish feed to the participants.
