Victoria Mbangwa
In a bold step to sanitize and modernize Nigeria’s palm oil sector, the Federal Government has inaugurated a multi-agency committee tasked with developing a national traceability framework aimed at eliminating adulteration, improving quality control, and strengthening Nigeria’s export competitiveness.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Marcus Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, unveiled the National Palm Oil Traceability Framework and Inter-Agency Committee at an event in Abuja.
The initiative is expected to tackle long-standing challenges in Nigeria’s palm oil value chain, including poor processing practices and substandard packaging.
Kyari said the new traceability system is a strategic tool to build consumer confidence, ensure product integrity, and align Nigeria’s palm oil production with international standards. “The establishment of a national traceability system for palm oil is a clear demonstration of our determination to modernize agricultural value chains, enhance global competitiveness, and promote responsible sourcing throughout Nigeria’s oil palm sector,” he stated.
Traceability, he explained, will serve as a quality assurance mechanism that supports the enforcement of both national and global benchmarks in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries where palm oil is a critical input.
The committee will operate within the framework of the National Initiative for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS), a program aimed at ensuring sustainability across the sector. With Nigeria being one of the largest consumers of palm oil in Africa, the Minister emphasized the need to go beyond domestic consumption to tap into global export markets.
Director of the Federal Department of Agriculture, Mr. Iwara Edet Bassey, said the initiative would also help create a digital system that tracks production, certification, value, and supply chain metrics bringing transparency to an industry plagued by informality.
Echoing this sentiment, Mr. Kennechukwu Onukwube, Programme Manager, Oil Palm at Solidaridad Nigeria, described the framework as a much-needed intervention. “Solidaridad has borne the responsibility to midwife a process that has opened the consciousness of stakeholders to the need for a traceability system. This is the first step in aligning around a national policy for a sustainable palm oil future,” he said.
The inauguration of the Inter-Agency Committee marked a significant turning point in the country’s push for a cleaner, more transparent palm oil sector one poised for global competitiveness and sustainable growth.
