By Frank Efe

Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), in partnership with Nigeria Institute of Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), have given hope to oil palm farmers in the Niger Delta area as it had trained five
local fabricators the act of fabricating the NIFOR Small Scale Processing Equipment.

From left: Mr Omorefe Asemota, Executive Director NIFOR, Mr Sylvester Okoh, Project Manage, PIND and Mr James Elekwachi, Marketing Development Manager, PIND

Speaking to journalists during the closing ceremony of the NIFOR/PIND workshop for SSPE fabricators and machine tool operators held at the Head office of NIFOR, Benin City, Edo State, weekend, the Market Development Project Manager, PIND, Mr. James Elekwachi, said the training of the five local
fabricators is a pilot project, adding that the initiative will be spread among all the nine states in the Niger Delta region.

Mr. Elekwachi added that the days of giving money to people had completely saying that they are using the approach called, ‘making market work for the poor’, noting that what the trainees had learned was an improved technology that will them make more money.

He said, “For this specific activity we have five fabricators benefiting from it. We believe in quality and that is why we had to identify with five fabricators for the pilot programme. By January next year, we will try to scale up and this means that we are going to be identifying fabricators from all the nine Niger Delta states.”

“We are using an approach called making market work for the poor, which means we do not give direct funding to people. What we have done is that you can see that we have provided some funds to NIFOR to provide this training for them. All they need is this technical skill because if they are able to produce this machinery and sell it to people, they are going to make more money because it is an improved technology, because if a miller knows that he is going to make money as a result of using this machine, that means they are going to buy more from them,” he added.

Mr. Elekwachi also revealed that PIND is introducing a new technology into the country that will enable oil palm farmers in the region harvest their palm fruits without necessarily climbing, a situation he said
will cut risks associated with climbing palm trees.

He said; “This is not the only intervention that we have got. We also have intervention in the area of access to adjustable motorize harvester and we are introducing this new technology into the country for the first time. Situations where you can actually harvest your palm fruits without necessarily having to climb and this means you are reducing the cost of climbing and the risk associated with climbing – some of them use to have snake attacks or they could fell off the tree.”

Earlier at the ceremony, the Executive Director, NIFOR, Mr. Omorefe Asemota thanked PIND for giving the trainees the opportunity to learn how to fabricate the NIFOR Small Scale Processing Equipments, saying that the gesture was in line with the Institute’s target of small holders who may not be necessarily rich.

Mr. Asemota said; “Permit me to also say that there is a reason why the institute began to develop the machines you have come to learn, which we call the Small Scale Processing Equipment. It is targeted at small holders who may not necessarily be resource rich people. Because it is important to us and to the industry that standard must be adhered to and met, and in this particular case I am talking of standard in oil quality.”

“That is why we needed processing machines that makes it possible for us to process quickly but correctly so that the oil that our people consume will be of the right quality. It is important to process well and do it correctly so that we can get the proper standards,” he added.

Congratulating the trainees for completing the training successfully, Mr. Asemota, however, urged them to adhere to standards, noting that the institution does not compromise standards just as he urged them to be worthy ambassadors of the institution.

“The machines you have come to study have promoted this institute on the international scale. We do not encourage people who cut corners. We do not encourage people who will lower our standard. We had the opportunity to discuss this with the official of PIND when they came. But it is good for me to tell you directly. You have come for this training programme, please be kind enough to adhere to standard that you have met and have been taught,” Mr. Asemota said.

Also speaking, the Project Manager, PIND, Mr. Sylvester Okoh, thanked the management of NIFOR for agreeing to partner with them in training the five fabricators promising that the partnership will continue to improve the standard of living of the people in the Niger Delta region.

He said NIFOR is renowned for its technology in the oil palm industry and that it is a classical case of a government institution that is doing very well, adding that for the institution to go into partnership with
PIND and a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed in less than two weeks, it goes to say that the institution is on a fast track than a private entity.

Mr. Okoh said; “I want to us this opportunity to congratulate NIFOR for the job you are doing. This is a classical case of a government institution that is doing very well. If a government institution can
go into a private initiative and a MoU is signed in less than two months, then that government institution is even on a faster track than a private entity. We want to assure you that our partnership will be worthwhile.”

According to the Head, Agric Engineering Research Division, Engr. Charles Ilechie, the partnership was meant to teach local fabricators the act of fabricating the NIFOR Small Scale Processing Equipment, having established that one of the teething problems in the oil palm industry was that 80% of the farmers used traditional method of processing that led to low quality oil that was not competitive in the market.

Mr. Ilechie said; “So the partnership is such that they now learn efficient equipment that will produce oil with greater quality and greater extraction rate. Now that we are here, the ordinary farmer will not
remain a poor man because he has been empowered to get so much from his effort. This is the achievement we are getting so far from our partnership with PIND.”

“PIND has come and we are disseminating the technology to actual fabricators. Some of these fabricators never knew of NIFOR but were copying our equipment but not copying it properly. And so the equipments they fabricated were so inefficient with less than ten percent extraction rate and it is frustrating the effort of the farmers and you will find out the many farmers are abandoning their farms and they are not processing.

But now with PIND intervention many farmers will go back to processing, and at the same time, many people will learn to fabricate. The five people that we trained are just like having five messiahs wining souls. You will find out that in no distant time many fabricators will emerge,” he explained.

It could be recalled that the Memorandum of Understanding between PIND and NIFOR was signed by the Executive Director of NIFOR, Mr. Omorefe Asemota and Program Director of PIND, Dr. Dara Akala on May 13, 2013 at the Head Office of NIFOR in Benin City, Edo State.