The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has commended the standardisation of cassava processing centres established under the International Fund for Agricultural Development-Value Chain Development Programme in Enugu.

The SON inspected cassava processing centres located at Ako Nike in Enugu East LGA and Umueze Umaga Ezimo-Agu in Udenu LGA.

Speaking during the inspection on Thursday, the coordinator of SON in Enugu, Peter Ameh, said the facilities were largely compliant with required standards but still had areas needing improvement.

Mr Ameh said, “From my findings, they are compliant but not 100 per cent, as there are still areas of improvement, such as labelling. On good hygienic and manufacturing practices, they are doing it well. We really appreciate the efforts of IFAD-VCDP in these projects.”

The coordinator added that the organisation had yet to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the products at the SON laboratory to ascertain compliance with other relevant standards.

He called on farmers and agro-processors to work closely with SON to ensure their products met required standards.

“Our call to other farmers is that they should come to SON. We are not masquerades. We are here to assist and ensure that the public consumes standard, wholesome products free from adulteration. We are not here to take anybody to prison or fight anyone. Rather, we are here to ensure that our country is safe from substandard products,” Mr Ameh said.

He further explained that SON provided capacity-building training to farmers to help them align their products and production processes with global standards.

Also speaking, the project coordinator of IFAD-VCDP in Enugu, Edward Isiwu, explained that the inspection visit was part of IFAD’s commitment to ensuring that local farmers meet both national and international standards.

Mr Isiwu noted that IFAD was committed to ensuring that the objectives of IFAD-VCDP were achieved in Enugu.

Commending Governor Peter Mbah for his administration’s support for the programme in the state, the state coordinator said that IFAD-VCDP had partnered with SON for over three years in organising training sessions for farmers.

He added that the processing centres were largely funded by IFAD-VCDP, with beneficiaries contributing about 10 per cent, mainly through the provision of land.

(NAN)