FG trains 50 farmers on leather preservation

nistry of
Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday
said it trained 50 leather dealers in Bauchi State on
hides and skin preservation.
The Director, Bauchi State Green House of the
ministry, Malam Mohammed Yusuf, made this
known when he declared open the training in
Bauchi.
Yusuf said the training was part of government
efforts to strengthen leather business under the
special leather value chain initiative of the Federal
Government’s Growth Enhancement Support
scheme (GES).
He said the scheme would soon roll out the
distribution of 10 bags of 50 kg industrial salt at
50 per cent discount to 200 registered leather
dealers in the state.
``Each beneficiary was expected to pay N28, 000
for the 10 bags, while the Federal Government
will pay 50 per cent,’’ he said.
According to him, the industrial salt will enable
the buyers preserve large quantity of leather
before taking them to the tanneries for further
processing.
He said the training was designed to equip the
beneficiaries with the needed techniques on how
to efficiently and effectively apply the industrial
salt to achieve maximum result.
The director said the measure was to improve
the quality and quantity of leather production,
processing and exportation to attract more
foreign exchange.
``One of the goals of the leather value chain
initiative was to increase the production of
finished leather by 50 per cent from the current
30 million tonnes to 45 million tonnes by 2015.
``It will also reduce importation of finished leather
product by 10 per cent and encourage private
sector investment in the sub-sector.
``With effective leather and skin preservation
techniques, processing, production and trading,
the leather industry would experience a boost.
``It will, particularly help in the reactivation of
Nigerian tanneries and finish leather
manufacturing industries, which were mostly
closed down for lack of raw materials,” he said.
Yusuf said the effort of the Federal Government
was to ensure that the potential of the livestock
industry were optimally exploited.
The Chairman, Bauchi State chapter of the Leather
and Allied Products Association of Nigeria, Malam
Umar Mohammed, thanked the Federal
Government for the gesture.
He said the training would assist the over 1,500
leather dealers across the state in tackling the
problem of wastage due to poor preservation
techniques.
``This training will update our knowledge on
current and best practices of hides and skin
preservation.
``The training will also add value to our business
by increasing the economic value of our leather,”
he said.
SOURCE; news agency of Nigeria