Anne Kilango- Malecela roots for ginger farms

DAILY NEWS Reporter

AS the country aspires to middle-income industrial economy, there’s a call to promote ginger production as key domestic and export commodity, which could spur socio-economic growth among local farmers.

Contributing to the Prime Minister’s budget estimates for FY2017/18, nominated Member of Parliament, Anne Kilango Malecela, said it was high time the government took up ginger farming seriously and matched it with its industrialisation drive.

Ms Malecela noted that ginger has high demand in domestic and international markets, and called on the government to commit resources in the production of the spicy crops, known worldwide for its culinary and medicinal qualities.

She noted ginger has a number of excellent uses and benefits, including normal consumption, production of industrial beverage and cosmetics, and the government should make it one of the priority crops, which can provide financial security and employment to local farmers.

“Ginger farming will boost our economic growth apart from providing more employment opportunities for our farmers,” she said, urging the country to follow on the footsteps of Nigeria, which is among the top five ginger producers in the world.

“Nigeria is third leading export of ginger, only behind China and India, we need to follow on their lead,” said the MP, who pledged to visit all parts of the country to advocate for ginger farming. Ms Malecela argued that the country would hardly achieve its industrial development dream if there were no serious investments in the agricultural sector.

“We can only move forward with our industrialised drive by strongly investing in the agricultural sector and ginger is one of the crops with a lot of potential as a domestic and export commodity,” the former Same North legislator said.

Ms Malecela averred that maximising the economic potential of ginger required a holistic approach that would not only enhance production but also improve processing to attain internationally acceptable standards. The MP vowed to visit Kaduna province to find out how Nigeria has succeeded in ginger farming.