By Kelechi Amuneke
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Rivers State Coordinating Office, in collaboration with Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) and Somto Consult, has taken significant step towards boosting the nation’s economy by empowering entrepreneurs in the State with value addition skills for wealth creation.
In a One-Day capacity building Workshop held in Port-Harcourt, River State recently, with the Theme: Value Addition Through Processing and Packaging of Local Raw Materials for Wealth Creation, which brought together entrepreneurs, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprise (SMEs), and industry experts to share knowledge and expertise on processing, packaging and marketing of raw materials.
In her address, the Rivers State Coordinator Mrs. G.O Agbaim said the event will provide a platform for stakeholders from various sectors to share thoughts and explore strategies for effective utilization of local raw materials. she said Rivers State has abundant natural resources and vast arrays of raw materials waiting to be transformed into value-added products. She stated, “By processing and packaging these local raw materials, we have the opportunity not only to create wealth and jobs, but also to contribute to the overall development and industrialization of the state”.
The Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, Rivers State Engr. Victor Kii, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Sunday Agada in his opening remark, commended RMRDC and other organisers for initiating such a robust workshop in a time like this. He added that it will go a long way to sensitize the farmers, processors, and entrepreneurs on the proper way of harnessing local raw materials for wealth creation, which will not only benefit the state, but the country at large.
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He said the River State Government through the Ministry, is working on boosting and leveraging some of the agro raw materials in some of the local government areas for the economic transformation of the state.
The event witnessed paper presentations in different topics such as: wealth creation through marketing of agricultural produce, exposition of available indigenous raw materials, processing and packaging of agricultural produce for post-harvest loss redemption, need to be Innovative in the processing and packaging of raw materials, and so on.
Participants took a tour of the exhibition centre at the end of the event.
