By Chioma Obinna

The National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC on Sunday said it will go beyond its core regulatory mandate to help small and medium scale businesses in the country’s Northeast affected by the 12-year insurgency during the much-anticipated post-conflict era.

The Director-General of the Agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye who spoke through NAFDAC’s Zonal Director, Northeast, Dr Bukar Usman said NAFDAC would also be helping small businesses in the agro-allied sector in weathering the storm of COVID-19 and insurgency-induced economic downturn.

In a press statement made available to Vanguard, Adeyeye noted with dismay that the agro-allied sector is one of the worst affected by the insurgency that saw the destruction of all socio-economic fabrics of the sub-region.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC arraigns businessman for alleged importation of 100g fake Tramadol

She said the agricultural sector which accounts for nearly ‘90 per cent of the economic life of the people was brought to zero in the BAY states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, especially in Borno State which is the heartbeat of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Adeyeye said the agency intends to go into value addition ventures with a bias on the agro-allied sector that falls within its mandate. Agricultural development is at the heart of the 25 Years Development Plan as well as the Ten Years Action Plan of Borno State. In preparation to meet up with the possible challenge of coping with increase samples, the Maiduguri Area Laboratory is currently being upgraded and presented for ISO accreditation

She added that the huge investment that the Borno State government, for example, is making in the area of agriculture “will bring about a multitude of value chain industries at the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises MSMEs level.

She said most of the agro-allied value chain enterprises that will spring up in Borno and the Lake Chad region, might engage in the processing, packaging, and preservation of agricultural products. This, she said, falls within the mandate of NAFDAC.  “The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the economy; NAFDAC is bringing to the northeast a value addition,” she said.

“More people are massively going into agriculture, and the tendency for people to process agro-based products will increase. And if you are processing an agricultural product, it means most of the products will end up being packaged.”

Adeyeye said the biggest challenge to be faced by the SMEs in the agricultural sector businesses is the access to critical facilities for processing and packaging.

NAFDAC said the presence of a zonal testing lab in Maiduguri will also go a long way in helping many micro small and medium food processing outfits to reduce the stress of waiting for weeks and months to get their products tested and certified.

“The zonal testing lab in Maiduguri has helped in reducing the stress of getting tests and approvals,” she said. 

Vanguard News Nigeria