Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Godwin Obla, SAN, recently visited the Green Harvest Foodstuff factory in Otukpo, Benue State, where he commended the company's management for investing in agriculture and food processing. Obla described Green Harvest as an example of an enterprise capable of creating opportunities and driving economic development in Benue South. During the visit, he congratulated the company's Chief Executive Officer, Joshua Apeh, and the workers for their efforts in building the business.
Obla urged the employees to treat Green Harvest as though it were their personal business, emphasizing the importance of honesty, loyalty, hard work, commitment, and discipline to the survival and growth of any private enterprise. He encouraged the workers to remain committed to the company during both difficult and prosperous periods, noting that employees have a responsibility to understand the challenges confronting a business and work with management to overcome them.
The legal practitioner also advised the workers to see their experience at Green Harvest as an opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge that could eventually help them establish businesses of their own. He discouraged unnecessary agitation for unionization within the private enterprise, instead encouraging workers to maintain a direct relationship with management when they have grievances.
In a separate interview with IDOMA TV, CEO Joshua Apeh explained that Green Harvest Foodstuff was established as a food-processing company focused primarily on cassava and other agricultural products. The company processes cassava into food-grade ethanol, alcoholic ethanol, garri, cassava powder, and cassava chips, while also producing groundnut oil, yam powder, and livestock feed.
Apeh's decision to invest heavily in agriculture was inspired by the importance of farming to the people of Benue and particularly Benue South. He said his vision was to create a platform where farmers could produce with confidence because they would have access to markets and off-takers for their agricultural products.
Apeh believes that Benue South has the potential to become a major centre for carbohydrate production and processing, arguing that the region should move beyond the production of raw agricultural commodities to developing a complete value chain. He linked the investment to youth employment, saying Green Harvest was designed to create opportunities for young people while ensuring that agricultural resources produced in the region were processed locally.
The company's location in Benue South is strategic because of the region's cassava production. Apeh stressed the need to establish a stronger cassava value chain in the region, which could create jobs, support farmers, and increase the economic value derived from cassava production. He envisions Benue South becoming a global carbohydrate hub, where the world can source carbohydrate from.
Key points
- Green Harvest Foodstuff is driving economic development in Benue South through agriculture and food processing.
- CEO Joshua Apeh aims to create a platform for farmers to produce with confidence and access markets for their products.
- Benue South has the potential to become a major centre for carbohydrate production and processing.
