Grassroot Agricultural Cooperative Society has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mbeng Adio Mushroom Farms Global LCC, Deleware, USA , for enhanced mushroom production and marketing.
Mr Victor Olusan, the President of the society, speaking on the sideline of the ceremony in Abuja, described the MoU as groundbreaking for the off taking between the society and its foreign partners.
Olusan, who identified the partnership as a new concept, noted that it would avail mushroom croppers and producers’ opportunity to produce and market their crops overseas without fear of wastage.
“At the moment, we are harnessing our intelligence, our manpower, technology, our ideas and our own experience in business which is a different business concept.
“We sign the MoU so that we can have that parachute that everything we crop in terms of mushroom is being off take to the U.S.
”Base on the MoU, the cooperative look for the buyers, the capacity they need and look for its members that will produce and match exactly what they want.
“With this arrangement, before mushroom farmer produces he or she will know exactly how much he is producing and the quantity that will be available to the off taker.
“This measure or effort will eliminate wastage, it will eradicate time lag, eliminate so many things and at the long run pave ways for higher productivity,’’ Olisan said.
He frowned at the old system of mushroom farming, whereby the croppers will farm mushroom and find difficulties selling and those buying would buy at a very low price.
The president described the old system of mushroom farming as a “Spray and Pray“ method of marketing.
He added that the society through the MoU secures partners for its grassroot members with their capacity and hand it over to off takers.
Dr Kingsley Obasohan, the Chairman, Mbeng Adio Mushroom Farms Global, noted that partnership with the cooperative was to train farmers, monitor and evaluate their farms.
According to him, after monitoring and evaluation, the organisation will off take their products to the U.S.
The chairman, who identified off taking of product as a major challenge to crop farmers in Africa, noted with concern that a lot of them do not have the tenacity and capacity to create global market.
“We are in partnership with the cooperative society to see how we can train farmers and help them set their motions into farms, monitor and evaluate their farms and market their crops in USA.
“Farmers all over Africa actually do not have that tenacity, capacity to create the global market hence we are here being one of our strength to open market entry for those who produce.
“We off take to Europe and America,’’ he noted.
