The federal government says it woking to generate $250 million from coconut oil and it’s derivatives by the end of this year.
It says coconut was a major non-oil export foreign exchange earner for Nigeria, noting that the country made $150 million from it in 2020 despite COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, who disclosed this, explained that it accounted for 10 percent of Nigeria’s agricultural export and sustained 500,000 families.
He said because of its importance as key revenue source, the federal government has increased the volume of production of coconut to average of 250,000 metric tons per annum.
He noted that the demand for the crop has been on the increase growing upwards to over 500 per cent in the last decade.
