Logistics vital for development in Agric Sector

The Technical Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cynthia Mosunmola Umoru has said that there is an enormous opportunity in the Agricultural sector for major players in the logistic industry, especially in the transportation and movement of farm produce right from harvest to the market.
She made this assertion at the Strategic Management Retreat of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous logistics company, Red Star Express Plc in Abeokuta over the weekend. The retreat, titled “living the big dream”, had in attendance top management staff of the company.
In her presentation titled “Agriculture as a catalyst for economic recovery”, she noted that the Ministry is aware of the important role of the logistics industry to the Agricultural sector and has opened up the landscape for major players to participate.
“Our role in this government is to push for what government should be, to create an enabling environment for the private sector to play a major role, to create access to land, maintain fertility of the soil and make sure farm produce are easily accessible”, she stated. “This can only be done by encouraging major logistics players like your company to be involved”.
Speaking earlier, Group Managing Director of Red Star Express Plc, Sola Obabori stated that if both government and the private sector can give half of the attention they give to the oil sector, then there will be significant improvements in the economy and stability in the fluctuating state of the naira can be achieved.
“Just like we treat our oil with seriousness in Nigeria, we need to treat the agricultural sector that way. The opportunity and potentials are really huge. We should be able to over produce our Agricultural produce and still have ready market for them even outside the shores of this country. And we have to be on hand to facilitate the export in such a way that perishable goods can be in Europe within 14hours after harvest while the non-perishables can get there within 3 to 4 days”, he said.
Red Star Express Group is a premium logistics solution provider in Nigeria with an unrivalled local network coverage and a large market share in the domestic and international market. It enjoys a domestic strength of over 240 offices in Nigeria, delivers to additional 1,800 communities, with over 2,400 highly trained personnel and over 600 delivery vehicles in its fleet. The company has four business units including The Red Star Express which is a licensee of FedEx, the world’s largest express transportation company with over 650 aircrafts and more than 250 delivery destinations globally. FedEx has consistently been rated among the top 10 most admired companies in the world over the past 10 years. Red Star Express has four subsidiaries– Red Star Freight, Red Star Logistics and Red Star Support Services.