RMRDC: Improving local sourcing of raw material for Nigeria industrial sector

Vested with the responsibility of promoting the development and utilization of Nigeria’s industrial raw materials, RMRDC, was established in 1987 to conserve foreign exchange expended on imported raw materials which could be produced competitively in the country. Over the years, the council has been able to turn around the nation’s industrial sector through improve local raw materials. It is now obvious that the way out of Nigeria’s over dependence on the petroleum sector is diversification into other critical sectors. Incidentally, the country is rich natural resources such as solid minerals and agriculture that can grow the manufacturing sector. Beside the over 185 million population that serve as huge domestic market for manufactured products, the sub-Sahara Africa is an additional buyer market for Nigeria products. The challenge is to develop local raw materials which are often imported into the country to feed the nation’s manufacturing industries, which is the mandate of Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), an agency of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. Prior to the enactment of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council Act, there was severe pressure on the nation’s foreign exchange earnings which was solely from crude oil export.
The Act created a policy framework into research and the development of indigenous raw materials for industrialisation process and provided motivation as well as incentives for research activities into innovations. In the last two decades the agency has recorded several giant strides in improving the raw materials quality and their value addition in every sector of the economy. The efforts of RMRDC are very visible in agriculture, mining, pharmacology, waste management, paints development and cosmetics among others. For instance the agency is revitalising cotton agriculture to aid the comatose garment industry, an industry that was once the hallmark of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector with huge job creation. Thus, agency in collaboration with some research institutions has been able to provide farmers with improved cotton lint. One of such institutes is the Institute of Agricultural Research in Zaria where improved long staple cotton varieties that produces quality textile products are developed and given to farmers.
This is in addition to building the capacity of farmers on agronomics practices for cotton production. Automated rapier weaving machine has been developed for commercial production of aso-oke fabrics in partnership with National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT). The improved weaving machine replaces the local weaving methods and enhances large scale economic production thereby increasing production and profi t of weavers. The weaving loom is faster, more effi cient and appropriate for large scale economic production. In addition, the agency was able to develop the use of bamboo and kenaf as raw materials to boost the production of fi bres to boost the garment industry. According to research, bamboo fi bre consists of 99.51per cent cellulose, 0.25per cent ash and 0.24per cent wax. Another agricultural crop which the council has invested in research with successful outcome is Shea butter production in line global competitiveness as industrial raw materials as well as fi nished products for domestic and export markets. In order to consolidate on the country’s position as the world’s largest producer of Shea nut, the current production capacity put in the range of 330,000 – 350,000 metric tons is being optimized to its potential capacity of 750,000 metric tons. Already, improved shea nut seedlings with reduced gestation period of 5 years are being provided to farmers by RMRDC. Presently, the country is the 5th largest producer of ginger in the world and an exporter of ginger to Asia and Europe. This makes RMRDC to intensify research on improved ginger seedlings for mass production as well as its industrial value chain in agribusiness. Prior to this time, ginger as an industrial raw material was imported into the country. Other agricultural products which the agency has developed on commercial research and industrialisation are honey, cassava, fruit juice and juice concentrate, sweet sorghum, cashew nut, tomato, orange, sweet potato, indigenous breeding of cattle for meat, milk and leather industries. Often, the agency provides sweet potato vines as planting materials to farmers along with irrigation water pumps to potato growers for the purpose of increasing potato production. Before RMRDC initiatives, Nigeria had been an importer of tomato paste from China but now, the agency provides farmers with improved multiplication seedlings for tomato farmers in some parts of country such as Nasarawa State. In manufacturing sector, the cement industry has been boosted through RMRDC research and innovation in the production of high quality gypsum through scrubber as gypsum washer for the remover of impurities like clay. While RMRDC is improving research into quality local sourcing of raw materials, the end usage for industrialisation is being constrained by inadequate investments infrastructure such as poor power supply and weak bureaucratic institutions among others. One of the ways out is that the critical stakeholders need to support the development process in order to make the country’s raw materials competitive as in relation to imported raw materials. These stakeholders include government, private partners, RMRDC development partners and others. The private sector will need to believe in the new drive by taking advantage of RMRDC research and innovation products. The private sector should patronise research products, they should not be abandon in the shelves. In addition, the private sector as a critical partner in the national economy should invest and support research activities in the country. The global economic trend shows that every country now need to look inward for economic growth and development by investing on its natural resources and save its foreign exchange. Unfortunately, and given the global economic instability, most industries are currently operating below the optimum capacity as a result high cost components. With conducive environment and quality raw materials being provided by RMRDC, the country’s industrial products would compete with others in the global market.
RMRDC MANDATE
• Draw up policy guidelines and action programmes on raw materials acquisition, exploitation and development; • Review from time to time, raw material resources availability and utilization with a view to advising the Federal Government on the strategic implication of depletion, conservation or stockpilling of such resources;
• Advise on adoption of machinery and processes for raw materials utilization; • Encourage publicity of research findings and other information relevant to local sourcing of raw materials for industries; • Encourage growth of implant research and development capabilities;
• Advise on and devise awards or systems for industries that achieve any break-through or make innovations and inventions; • Organize workshops, symposia and seminars from time to time designed to enlighten people on new developments and solutions discovered;
• Consider and advise on special research grants for specifi c objectives, and • Consider and advise on any other issue capable of enhancing the objectives of the Council.

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