The National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN) has appealed to the federal government to establish the National Oil Palm Development Council to regulate and support the oil palm industry.
The national president of the association, Ambassador Alphonsus Inyang, made the appeal during the association’s National Executive Council election recently in Abuja.
Inyang who was re-elected as the national president, also called on government and commercial banks to accept oil palm trees and plantations as collateral for loans to facilitate funding access for rural farmers.
The “National Farm Produce Association of Nigeria is at the forefront of fighting and also lobbying for the creation of the National Oil Farm Development Council to act as the regulator and the enabler for the industry.
“So we will be telling them (government and banks) look, our palm trees are our collateral because you can sell a palm tree easier than selling an estate in Nigeria; accept our palm trees, our plantations as collateral.
“One palm tree will give you more than two million in the future. So that is what we want. Government should do that for us,” Ambassador Inyang said.
He listed some of the challenges facing the industry to include lack of investment and financing options for smallholder farmers, adulteration of palm oil and the negative impact of import waivers on the industry.
The association urged government to cease granting waivers for the importation of palm oil, as it is detrimental to the industry.
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