Olam Agri, a leading agribusiness in food, feed and fibre, has reiterated its commitment to ensuring the local population continues to access quality, nutritious and affordable foods in Nigeria. This wholesome inclination forms part of the four pillars of the business’ Seeds for the Future Foundation that was launched recently.
The Seeds for the Future initiative is a multi-million naira, multi-year value chain intervention project targeted at driving Nigeria closer to attaining wheat production self-sufficiency. The initiative was initially launched in 2021 but has since been scaled into a full-fledged foundation focusing on supporting farmers and farming communities to strengthen local wheat production; enabling wider education and skills development for young people; empowering women in farming communities; and promoting health and nutrition across the country.
PSpeaking on the foundation’s health and nutrition focus, Ashish Pande, the Country Head of Olam Agri Nigeria, said, “Olam Agri continues to work with an increased number of smallholder farmers to improve their operations while prioritising research in high-yielding seeds.”
According to Pande, “We are making an extensive investment in our manufacturing plants, locating them in strategic locations. As well, we are investing in innovative food production processes and food fortification facilities such as Vitamin Premix to enrich the quality and safety of our deep line of packaged food portfolios. Our fleet operations coverage has widened greatly in the past couple of years. These investment efforts are geared towards improving access to quality, nutritious and affordable food in the country.”
The country head said that Seeds for the Future’s impressive first-year report, which showed that the business achieved its milestone of producing 10kg pre-multiplication wheat seed varieties that suit the unique local topography and climate, is a huge step towards enriching the country’s food production value chain.
