As the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) thrives tries to meet industrial demands and also support government’s effort to build knowledge based economy that would add value to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it has led to new innovation that would drive rubber production and development in Nigeria; BINTA SHAMA reports.
Nigeria is said to sit on a gold mine if, its vast swaths of natural rubber reserves can be developed to meet industrial demands and needs.
This was the consensus by stakeholders drawn from both government circles and the private sector in the natural rubber production and development at the just concluded 1-Day Book Presentation and Stakeholders Summit in Abuja on rubber production and development in Abuja.
RMRDC pioneer efforts towards developing rubber sector
Irked by the lingering misfortunes assailing the nation’s natural rubber industrial sector – as a result of neglect and abandonment over the years by successive administrations at both states and national levels, the RMRDC – a leading agency of the federal government – decided to pioneer efforts towards the revitalization and development of the nation’s natural rubber sector as a major foreign exchange earner. And it is doing this in so many ways.
The Council in recent efforts aimed at identifying the militating factors of growth and development of the natural rubber in Nigeria, and with a view to ramping up production levels for export and industrial development, has launched its blue print on natural rubber production in Nigeria tagged the “Sustainable development of Natural Rubber for the Industrialization of Nigeria”
The publication launched recently at the council’s corporate headquarters by Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Hussaini Doko Ibrahim, at an official ceremony, sets out to tackle issues of declining production levels being witnessed in recent past in natural rubber and other identified militating factors and strives to proffer workable solutions.
In the midst of the present economic tightening, Nigeria which used to be ranked 2nd among African rubber producing countries, now accounts for only six per cent of Africa’s total NR output.
While noting that prior to the 1970s Nigeria had a booming agricultural which was centered on the exportation of mainly raw/slightly processed agro-raw materials, things began to suffer, including the fate of natural rubber over the years and that at the close of 2021, natural rubber is not listed among the top 10 major exports in the country. All factors that substantially led to the decline experienced in developing natural rubber over the past 40 years is discussed in this must read publication.
Ina similar publication in 2014, the Council itemized all factors affecting the natural rubber sector in a publication earlier published which had led to some successes in resuscitating the sector and arresting the decline with additional support by key stakeholders such as FMARD, FMITI, NARPPMAN, RRIN and NEPC over the past nine years.
Returning to its glory days
Though the rubber sector is gradually being pulled back to its glory days, technological advancements, massive urbanization and current economic realities have apparently increased the stakes for both domestic and international competitiveness, It is therefore imperative to note that despite recent accomplishments in revamping the sector, its current status is still a far cry from what it ought to be considering current dynamics in the rubber industry globally. The publication, “Sustainable development of Natural Rubber for the Industrialization of Nigeria” therefore adequately covers these efforts and opens the eyes of the reader to exiting possibilities of the rubber sector as it with its contents taking a deeper dive into the immense potentials of rubber sub-sectors (latex goods, industrial goods and tyres related goods sectors) that remain largely underutilised in Nigeria.
Christopher Columbus first discovered Natural Rubber (NR) during his visit to South America in about 1493. Mr Austine Coate first defined it in 1500 as a milk-like juice, which is found in the bark of Hevea tree that becomes golden brown and thicker on exposure to air. He called the tree a “CAOUTCHOUC,” meaning weeping wood (Ogowewo 1986). One of the first uses of rubber was to “rub” off graphite or charcoal marks on paper and parchment; hence the name “RUBBER” was coined to the substance (Uraih 1980). Today, Natural Rubber (NR) is one of the largest industries in the world, and is an indispensable sub-sector in the modern technology.
Domestication and cultivation of natural rubber is believed to have started in about 1876 and spread round the World by 1913. Sir Henry Wickhan was among the first planters of natural rubber in 1876. He selected about 70,000 rubber seeds from Brazil and introduced them in his garden in Singapore. In about 1903, there were many established rubber estates and small rubber farm holders in the world among which was Nigeria, which had her first rubber estate in 1903 at Sapoba, Edo state (Williams 2006).
The plant continued to gain awareness among farmers worldwide and in 2004, the percentage production growth rate of NR in the world was about 7.2% or higher if not for the ‘threat’ posed by the utilization of synthetic rubber (SR) production (Rubber Asia 2004). The rapid growth rate in the production of the crop ought to have been triggered by the increasing ratio of NR to the SR consumption in the world (4:6, respectively).
It is however disheartening to note that African contribution to the production and consumption of natural rubber is still very low as it only account for 5% of world supply of NR and with only about 2% production growth rate, while South–East Asia supply 90% with about 6.2% production growth rate and 6.4% consumption growth rate (Rubber Asia 2004). The “Sustainable development of Natural Rubber for the Industrialization of Nigeria” therefore attempts to examine the production and utilization of NR in the world with Nigeria as a case study to serve as a guide to policy makers in their quest to improve agricultural production and more employment opportunities for economic empowerment and poverty alleviation among rubber farming communities.
Natural Rubber production in Africa started between 1883 and 1905, while modern cultivation of NR is just about 50 years old due to the effect of Second World War, which slowed down the process. Africa accounts for only 5% of the world NR supply against 90% from South East Asia under the period of study.
It has however, been observed that production of natural rubber in Africa is on the increase with Cote d’ lvore as the major producer which has a total of 9, 500ha under NR cultivation and production of 107, 000 tonnes per annum. Out of this 65, 000 tonnes were from the estates while 42, 000 tonnes comes from the small – holdings (The Rubber International 1999). Nigeria was next to Cote d’ Ivore with a total production of 90, 000 tonnes annually from a total of 200,000ha, accounted for 3.2% of NR supply in the world in early 1960s, but declined steadily both in hectarage under production and total production output since 1970 to date at the rate of 0.03% annually (Aigbekaen et al. 2002).
Assembling experts
Natural rubber production in Nigeria on the other hand, began around 1876, with the exploitation of the indigenous wild rubber (Funtumia elastica). The plant was found to be poor yielding in latex and poor bark regeneration after tapping, while the demand for natural rubber product worldwide continued to rise.
The Knuth mull (Hevea brasiliensis), which arrived Nigeria from Kew garden, England in 1895, was found suitable for better yield and easy bark regeneration after tapping (Ogowewo 1989). This encouraged the establishment of NR estates by Miller Brothers in 1903, followed by Ikotumbo rubber plantation estate in 1907 at Edo and Cross–River states respectively.
The Federal Department of Agriculture first planted its rubber plot in 1906, and between 1909 and In the 1960s to early 1970s, rubber used to be the fourth most valuable Nigerian agricultural export commodity after cocoa, groundnuts and palm kernels. It used to contribute about 6% of Nigeria’s total export earnings in the 1960s, until in the 1970s when crude oil was discovered. This pushed down the annual export earnings from NR to only about 0.02%.
However, the boom in the rubber trade stimulated massive planting of natural rubber in Nigeria during and after the Second World War, but sooner, some farmers were discouraged due to lack of technical know–how in the agronomic practices required of the crop (Ogowewo 1986). Some small scale rubber farmers abandoned their rubber farms for other crops like oil palm and cocoa. This reduced the total hectarage of land under NR cultivation from 243,479 ha in 1965 to 154,000 ha in 2005.
In view of the foregoing, the council is determined to bring all stakeholders together in this regard, to continue to chart to course of fast-tracking industrial growth in the NR sector thereby placing Nigeria on a pedestal where it can avail itself of the huge foreign exchange accruable from rubber export, which is what the “Sustainable development of Natural Rubber for the Industrialisation of Nigeria” sets out to examine.
