Quality, Production and Export of Agricultural and Food Commodities in Nigeria.

Rufus Rotimi Dinrifo

AgriculturalEngineeringDepartment,LagosStatePolytechnic,Ikorodu.email:
rrd0204@yahoo.co.uk.

Abstract
Nigeria currently earns most of her foreign exchange from the sale of crude petroleum. Efforts are on to make agriculture to regain its lost position as a viable alternative, or at least, a substantial complement. The world trade in agricultural commodities has, however, become highly regulated, primarily because of safety considerations, but also from the quality standpoint. Nigeria must improve on the quality of her agricultural exports if she is to make headway in the venture in the present circumstances. This paper examines some of the standards, conventions and regulations and highlights the need to encourage compliance by all practitioners in the farm and food sectors with the regulations.

Keywords: trade, production, processing, assurance, ISO, HACCIP, 1.0 Introduction

Much concern has been shown over the fact that Nigeria operates a mono-product economy - virtually all the export earnings come from petroleum products. Petroleum, like most other natural resources is not inexhaustible. Efforts are now on to restore the export of agricultural produce to the pre- petroleum discovery position. Fortunately, available statistics (FOS, 1999, CBN, 1999) show that production in the agricultural and food sector is increasing. There is therefore the need to stimulate the exports of these products. In doing this, attention must be given to meeting the tastes and preferences of not only the local, but also international consumers in our production choices. Chief among these is the specification of the various international quality standards. The requirements of the quality standards in the food and agricultural products are particularly stringent because of the need to assure consumers safety. No efforts should be spared to develop an export culture in our food and agricultural sector. Industry participants must be abreast of the standards and conventions for exports of food and agricultural products. Government regulations and policies are needed in this sector. Such policies must be informed, beneficial and backed up with relevant research. This paper encourages the compliance of the food and agricultural sector of the economy to the international standards guiding the sector, while urging the establishment of national standards and conventions. 2.0 Nigerian Agricultural & Food Exports.

2.1 Agricultural Production. Much have been written about the influence of the discovery of oil on Nigerian agricultural production.( Wangwe, 1995; and Osuntokun, et al,1997). The decline set in from the early 1970s and remained until the late 1980 for most commodities (FAO ,2000).The happy note is that production is gradually but steadily picking up again. (COMTRADE, 1997) 2.2 Nigerian Exports.

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Petroleum products still constitute the bulk of Nigerian exports and foreign exchange earner. The problem Nigeria now has is how to translate increased agricultural production in to increased exports. Trade regulations have changed, and things are no longer the same as in the late sixties or early seventies. Nigerias current efforts to export agricultural produce may not meet with the desired success on account of not meeting quality requirements. Already, in many instances, trade penalties have been earned, and contract reliability impaired (Gilbert, 1997). In doing this government must monitor and provide guideline to assist farmers to comply with the world wide quality practices in food production. Export Regulations and The World Trade Organisation (WTO). The march of globalization and international trade has brought into focus the need to establish convection and regulations for the participants in the world market. The World Trade Organization is the most powerful legislative and judicial body in the world as far as international trade is concerned. By promoting the "free trade" agenda of multinational corporations above the interests of local communities, working families, and the environment, the WTO has systematically undermined democracy around the world. Unlike United Nations treaties, the International Labor Organization conventions, or multilateral environmental agreements, WTO rules are enforced through sanctions. This gives the WTO more power than any other international body. The WTO's authority even eclipses national governments. One of the areas where the trade practices have been most unfair to developing nations is their agricultural export (Global Exchange, 2003; and Verdana, 2003). African imports are discouraged by the strict regulations on quality. A frequently encountered argument against the liberalization of markets for tropical crop commodities is that this may jeopardize export quality. In this regard however, the only option open to developing nations is to improve the quality of their exports. A free market economy makes room for all producers, but success will come only to those who will stake quality and meet consumer expectations. Producers have to target consumers in varying market segments and adapt their product profile to such requirements. 3.0 3.1 Meeting the Challenge of Quality Standards The Issue of Food Quality and Safety. 2.3

The food market is changing all the time thus, the criteria for evaluation of food quality are continually becoming steeper, and new benchmarks set in. Assuring a healthy food quality is the pre-requisite of a product's entry on the market and the condition for maintaining market position. In production, it is quality at source (input) and at every stage of production that assures quality of the end products. There can be no good quality processing without good quality inputs. That is why the quality of inputs for processing needs to be guaranteed and stable. Failing this, maintaining competitiveness of the food sector will become a moot question. It is economically desirable to concentrate on ensuring that inspection (and rejection) at the finished product stage is reduced to a nominal level by effective raw material and process controls. (AduAmankwa, 1999). Voluntary subjection of production activities to reputable quality systems requirements or certification process is becoming increasingly popular in the food industry. The most common of such quality system and regulations are : Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), CODEX ALIMENTARIUS rules and the ISO 9000 systems. Many food producers have recognised the need to implement

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some or most of the quality systems because these instruments assure them of wide sales opportunities. 3.1.1 Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. For successful implementation of a HACCP plan, management must be strongly committed to the HACCP concept. A firm commitment to HACCP by top management provides company employees with a sense of the importance of producing safe food. HACCP is designed for use in all segments of the food industry from growing, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, distributing, and merchandising to preparing food for consumption. Prerequisite programs such as current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) are an essential foundation for the development and implementation of successful HACCP plans. Food safety systems based on the HACCP principles have been successfully applied in food processing plants, retail food stores, and food service operations. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point was developed in the early 1970s to ensure the safety of food for the United States Space Programme (Savage, 1995). Since then HACCP has been extensively and successfully implemented with slight modification, in other food processes and products. Traditionally, for quality control, industry and regulators have depended on spot-checks of manufacturing conditions and random sampling of final products to ensure safe food. This approach, however tends to be ineffective as it is rarely possible to guarantee complete control over raw-materials and processing conditions by inspection only. HACCP instead, was designed to monitor every area or point in the food production system that could contribute to a hazardous situation, whether from contaminants, pathogenic micro-organisms, raw materials, process, consumer use directions, distribution systems or storage conditions. (FDA, 2001) Directive 93/43 EEC of 14 June 1993 places all food producers in the European Union under the obligation to demonstrate and prove that they are in full control of the healthy quality of the products they make (Slowinska, 2001.). An effective implementation of the HACCP method is the first step towards quality assurance in the food industry. Failure to meet the requirement increasingly underpins the emergence of barriers to trade in products from non-EU countries. The hazard analysis portion of HACCP was intended to identify sensitive ingredients, and sensitive areas in the processing of ingredients or food where critical points must be monitored to assure product safety. Critical control points (CCP) are those areas in the production chain, from raw materials to finished product, where the loss of control could result in unacceptable food safety risk. The Need for HACCP One of the important challenges the food industries are facing is the increasing incidence of new food pathogens. For example, between 1973 and 1988, bacteria that were not previously recognized as important causes of food-borne illness (e.g. Eschrichia coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella enteritidis) became more widespread (WHO, 2005). There is also the public health concern about chemical contamination of food: for example the effects of lead in food on the nervous system. Besides, the food industry has grown both in size and diversity and hence the need to ensure public health through regulation.

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3.1.2

Good Agricultural practice, GAP It is not possible to produce crops that will be completely free of harmful microorganisms due to the many possible routes for contamination, but risks can be minimized through certain practices. Important preventive strategies include the management and control of manure and irrigation water. Good Agricultural Practice according to the USDA implies "successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of the human environment and conserving natural resources. The objectives for Good Agricultural Practice includes reducing dependence on inputs based on fossil fuel, minimizing risks of soil and environmental degradation, and maintaining an increasing trend in per capita productivity" and support development of a sustainable agriculture. Besides, there are other values connected with ethics and human perceptions that we define as production and food quality aspects. Under such are the sanitary conditions of production facilities, irrigation water quality, wastewater treatment etc. Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Hygienic Practice Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) describe the basic measures that have to be applied during production, processing, handling and distribution, storage, sale, preparation and use. They form the basis for other approaches, most importantly HACCP. Requirements for GMP / GHP have been developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Hygiene and the food industry, and cover the following general requirements: the hygienic design and construction of food manufacturing premises the hygienic design, construction and use of proper machinery cleaning and disinfection procedures control of the microbial quality of raw foods the hygiene of personnel and their training. 3.1.3.

3.1. 4

The ISO family of Standards

The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material, or process. However, the standards that have earned the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families a worldwide reputation are known as "generic management system standards". "Generic" means that the same standards can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product, including whether its "product" is actually a service or whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department. Also, no matter what the organization's scope of activity, the features of the ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 families of standards are still relevant ISO 9000 series of standards are implemented by some 610 000 organizations in 160 countries (IOS, 2000). Thus, ISO 9000 series has become an international reference for quality management requirements in business-to-business dealings. The familiar three standards: ISO 9001:1994, ISO 9002: 1994 and ISO 9003: 1994 have now been integrated into the new ISO 9001:2000. ISO 9001:2000 specifies requirements for a quality management system for any organization that needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products that meet

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customer and applicable regulatory requirements, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction. ISO 9001:2000 has been organized in a user-friendly format with terms that are easily recognized by all business sectors. The ISO 9000 family is primarily concerned with "quality management systems". This means what the organization does to fulfil the customer's quality requirements, and applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction. The ISO 14000 family is primarily concerned with "environmental management". This means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and to achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance. "Management system" refers to the organization's structure for managing its processes - or activities - that transforms inputs of resources into a product or service which meet the organization's objectives. Such objectives include satisfying the customer's quality requirements, complying with regulations, or meeting environmental objectives. The principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of the international experts who normally participate in ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the ISO standards. The standard is used for certification/registration and contractual purposes by organizations seeking recognition of their quality management system. 3.2 Meeting the Quality Requirement. The world has essentially shrunk to a global village- event in one part affect another. There can be no alternative to globalization. The country or corporation that does not comply with the rule of trade stands to be left far behind. Besides, many commodities that were mostly sought from developing economies, alternatives are already being found e.g. cocoa butter alternatives. (ICCO, 2003). The consequence is that the demand and hence price of these commodities will fall. It is the producer that meets quality standard that owns the market. How is quality enforced in agricultural production today in many nations? Once a food product is produced with the aim of marketing, inspectors are always on hand to ensure that the farmer or producer does so according to the rules. For instance, in the US, USDA and FDA officials monitor the operations right from seed planting, through fertilizer and pesticide application, harvesting and processing to marketing. The quality of water used for irrigation, cleaning and processing is inspected. Today, international conventions demand that all food producers take responsibility for the quality of their products. There is no relaxing of the rule for developing nations, so there is a need to develop strategies to meet the standards to be able to compete in the world market. The following suggestions are offered: Empowerment of farmers and the creation of farmers organizations. There is a need to organize the farmers into groups to enable resources- technical, financial etc, to be easily shared. As the farming business becomes better organized and developed, quality will be enhanced. This will empower the farmers and promote efficient value added commodity chain from producer to consumer Increment in local processing capacity. It is amazing that though large quantities of primary commodities such as cocoa, cotton etc, are produced in West Africa these are largely exported. Curiously, the importing nations have

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instituted strongly unfavorable import tariffs against processed agricultural products. Producers should come together to reverse this trend. Improvement in Production techniques and Quality. The option open to the farmer is to make the production system more efficient in terms of use labour and production inputs. Mechanization of some of the processes will save labour costs. The usual complain of the consumers in Europe and the developed world is that commodity imported from West Africa are generally of poor quality. This complaint should be viewed seriously. Countries in West Africa should strive to meet the relevant quality standard in the industry. Such efforts should include development of methods and tools for measuring specific quality attributes especially for food security, flavour and traceability. There is a need to develop quality awareness in all farm-workers, food processors and handlers. These people have direct contact with the food and can be source of contamination. They must be trained on proper ways of maintaining personal hygiene and health. Government Regulations Government must monitor and provide guidelines to assist farmers and food producers to comply with the world wide quality practices in food production. National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) mandate currently covers manufactured food, apart from drugs (Akunyili, 2003). However it is evident that only well established foodmanufacturing companies are registered or regulated presently. There is a need to expand the mandate to cover farming or primary food production activities as it is done in other lands or, alternatively, another organ could be empowered to do this. Re-organization of agriculture and Food Production Activities. A large portion Nigerian agriculture still falls in the hands of resource-poor and untrained farmers. Resources are not only limited but are fragmented. Farming activities can be better regulated if a structure exist on the ground. Establishment of farmers cooperatives, or farm communities will go a long in improving the quality of the products. The role of extension The role of the extension worker is far beyond introducing new crop varieties or technologies. It includes disseminating information, particularly about changing customer requirement and the need to be conscious of quality and food safety. Conclusion The export of food products either as raw or partially processed agricultural commodities remain a veritable source of income for West African countries, including Nigeria. The new order in world trade demands strict adherence to the rules of food quality and safety. Quality is an essential factor in the selection raw materials for production since the quality of end products is dependent on that of the raw materials used. Nigeria will have to rise to meet new benchmarks of safety in her agricultural production operations if she is to secure or increase her share of the world markets in agricultural and food commodities. Quality consciousness and awareness must be created in the polity, especially among food industry workers- producers and handlers. 4.0

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Central Bank of Nigeria. Statistical Bulletin: 10 (1) 1999) COMTRADE 1997: Database of the United Nations Statistics Division. United Nations, 1997. FDA, 2001: HACCP a State of the art Approach to Food Safety. FDA -Backgrounder. US Food & Drug Administration. http/www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounder.haccp.html FAO Production Yearbook, 2000. F.O.S (1999): Ann Abstracts of Statistics. Federal Office of Statistics, Lagos Gilbert Chritopher, and Tollen, E: 2002: Does Market Liberalization Jeopardize Export Quality? Cameroonian Cocoa, 1995-2000; Global Exchange, 2003: Globalize This!. http/www.globalexchange.org/html. ISO 9000: Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards - Guidelines for selection and use. Osuntogun, A; C.C. Edordu; B. O. Oramah: Potentials for diversifying Nigeria's non-oil exports to non-traditional markets. AERC Research Paper 68, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi. November 1997. Savage Robert A (1985): Intro to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. Food Res.Int 14(4):575595. Slowinska Ewa 2000 : Quality Assurance in Food Processing. The Polish Testing and Certification Centre, Poland Economic Bulletin. Vandana Shiva: 2003 : In Kevin Danaher , Roger Burbach (Ed.): Globalize This!: The Battle Against the World Trade Organization and Corporate Rule. http/www.store.globalexchange.org/ Wangwe, Samuel, M. (Ed). 1995 : Exporting Africa: Technology, Trade and Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa .The United Nations University UNU Press. WHO 2005 WHO / Food Safety

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