By Prince Okafor

Managing Director of Fair-Trade, Mr. Martin Maerz, said the nation’s food and beverage sector generates about 1.5 million jobs which is five per cent of Nigeria’s workforce.

Nigerian youths

Speaking at the second International Trade Show on Agrofood, Plastics and Packaging in Lagos, Maerz explained that the aim of the event was to support the country’s agrofood industry and to meet its challenges in terms of food hygiene, food safety and cost efficiency.

He opined that the event would create an ever greater diversity of food and beverage products.

“The Trade Show on Agrofood, Plastics and Packaging is all about technological exchange and cooperation between Nigerian agrofood producers and international technology suppliers.

“It was in response to the growth, demand and vitality of Nigeria’s agrofood, that the people in Fair-Trade organized the agrofood & plastprintpack Nigeria 2016,” he stated.

Maerz noted that Nigerian imports of food processing and packaging machinery, between 2010 and 2014, had increased from €198million to €381million, an increase of 92 per cent within just four years.

He said: “During the same period, imports of packaging machinery and equipment have gone up from €85 million to €201 million, a plus of 136 per cent. And imports of plastics machinery grew by 61per cent, from €54 million to €87 million.”  Fair-Trade MD, asserted that according to World Trade Organization, WTO, Nigerian imports of food products have increased from US$4.5 billion in 2010 to $8.5 billion in 2014. Nigerian exports of food products added up to $4.9 billion in 2014 after $2.9 billion in 2010.