A Nigerian pineapple expert and farmer, Segun Alabi has called for local processing of the product in order to enhance the value gains, and contribute to national economy.
He lamented that for decades, “we have exported our wealth in its rawest form. We grow the crops. We harvest the fruits. We ship them out, and then we import them back; processed, packaged, and priced higher.”
He said a single pineapple sold raw in the international market will fetch between three and five dollars (about N3,000 to N5,000), but that “when processed into juice concentrate, dried fruit, pharmaceutical-grade bromelain, the same can generate five to 10 times more value.”
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Alabi who is the founder of Davidorlah Nigeria Limited, owners of Davidorlah Farms tasked the government on policies in agro-processing infrastructure, export facilitation, and access to financing.
“Support companies like Davidorlah, Real Fruit, and other indigenous companies and, you are not supporting a business. You are supporting economic transformation and a movement,” he submitted
