Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCE), on Thursday trained farmers in Gombe State, on Agriculture Commodity Trading and Warehouse Management.
Mrs. Zaheera Baba-Ari, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NCE, at the opening ceremony of the one-day workshop, said that the aim of the training was to ensure food security in the country.
Baba-Ari, represented by Mr Benson Lawal, Operations Manager of NCE, disclosed that the training, which aimed at enhancing capabilities of the farmers, was a collaboration between the Exchange and Sandstone Associates Limited.
She explained that the training would bring Nigerian farmers out of poverty by giving them the requisite knowledge on storing their produce and trading same effectively.
“We will show them how to store their produce effectively pending the time they are ready to sell, as well as encourage them to grow interest in commodity exchange,” she said.
According to the NCE boss, farmers had been producing without yielding positive results because they did not know how to preserve their produce, making their investment to yield very little or no profit.
“Also, the training will equally help them sell their produce at a reasonable price and get better income, which will enhance their living standards.”
Baba-Ari said the effort would encourage the Gombe State Government, provide a warehouse for the storage of commodity that would boost agricultural production.
According to her, the agrarian nature of the state and its central position in the region, attracted the attention of the NCE to contribute to the state’s (as well as others in the zone), agriculture development.
Alhaji Nasiru Aliyu, Gombe State Commissioner For Trade and Industry, commended organisers of the training, which he described as timely.
Aliyu assured NCE and participants of Gombe government’s commitment to providing 25 warehouses in the state.
Mrs Mariya Aliyu, a farmer and one of the participants, thanked NCE for the opportunity given to farmers to build their knowledge base.
Naturenews, reports that no fewer than 200 farmers, drawn from the 11 local government areas of the state, participated in the training.