The National Onion Producers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN) has called for stronger collaboration with the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) to improve onion exportation and expand access to international markets.
The President of the association, Alhaji Aliyu Isah, appealed during a courtesy visit by a NOPPMAN delegation to the Comptroller-General of NAQS, Dr Vincent Isegbe, in Abuja.
Isah said the onion value chain remains critical to Nigeria’s food security, employment generation, and non-oil export earnings, stressing the need for stronger institutional partnerships to improve productivity and global competitiveness.
He noted that the association is committed to advancing agricultural production, strengthening food security, and supporting export development, while describing NAQS as a key agency in protecting Nigeria’s agricultural integrity and facilitating safe international trade.
According to him, closer cooperation with NAQS would help onion farmers and processors maximise the opportunities within both domestic and export markets.
He also commended the agency for promoting phytosanitary compliance and internationally accepted trade standards, noting that its role has become increasingly important as Nigeria intensifies efforts to diversify the economy through agricultural exports.
Isah described onion as a major vegetable crop widely used in food preparation and processing into products such as onion powder and onion flakes.
He explained that the visit was to address knowledge gaps among members of the association and improve compliance with export requirements and certification standards.
The NOPPMAN president further called for greater involvement of stakeholders in agricultural policy formulation, warning that excluding farmers and producers from policy discussions could weaken implementation outcomes.
He advocated improved inspection processes covering land preparation, seedlings, nurseries, harvesting, storage, and certification to help Nigerian onions meet international export standards.
Isah also urged the deployment of plant health officers to onion-producing clusters across the country to speed up inspection and certification processes for exporters.
Responding, the Comptroller-General of NAQS, Dr Vincent Isegbe, identified onion as one of Nigeria’s priority commodities under the country’s agricultural export certification programme.
He called for stronger collaboration between the agency and the association to improve production standards, reduce post-harvest losses, and strengthen export quality.
Isegbe said NAQS would work with stakeholders to improve storage and transportation systems in order to minimise wastage and preserve product quality.
“We will engage the association, understand your clusters, and ensure proper registration of actors to help us ascertain seed quality and trace sources in cases of substandard inputs,” he said.
He added that the agency would continue to support certification processes to ensure Nigerian agricultural exports meet global market standards and international phytosanitary requirements.
