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On Tuesday 1st September, 2015, the Institute received the Founder/CEO of Motive International and representative of Global Food Exchange (GFE), Ms. Morgan Keay and her team on collaboration drive to pursue an emergency food security initiative for Nigeria that generates revenue for the parties involved while addressing the problem of food and nutrition security.

The multi-party collaboration involves the following parties:

1. Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Nigeria;
2. Inter-Heritage Promotions Ltd (IHPL), Nigeria;
3. Global Food Exchange (GFE)  (USA);
4. Motive International (USA); and
5. PacMoore (USA).

The specific objectives of the collaboration are:

1. To create a suite of high-quality, cost-effective food products that can be stored over long periods and deployed during food crises in Nigeria and beyond.
2. To identify and market these food products to primary customer segments (i.e. federal government agencies, donor agencies, major relief organizations).
3. To identify and enable spin-off business opportunities for customer segments at the household or business-to-business level.

Soy-ogi, a patented technology developed at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research has been identified as an immediate product that meets the objective of the collaboration.

The approach is to take off with contract production of Soy-ogi with Pacmoore, USA to meet initial order from Federal Government Agencies like NEMA and the general public before Pacmoore begins process of technology transfer to establish processing facility with entire life cycle from sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, and distribution taking place in Nigeria. The final stage will be to pursue export opportunities for emergency food products produced in Nigeria to other regional markets and customers (i.e. World Food Program, USAID, etc.)

Earlier in her opening remark, the Director-General/CEO FIIRO, Dr. (Mrs.) Gloria Elemo, appreciated the representative of GFE and CEO Motive International and her team for the giant strides taken to curb the challenges of global food crisis most especially provision of emergency food in crisis ridden areas across the world.

Dr. Elemo also reiterated FIIRO management’s commitment to put in place effective synergy and linkage between FIIRO and all the partners involved to ensure huge success of the collaboration. She assured that the outcome of the collaboration shall be win-win for all the parties and a big plus for the Global Emergency Food Programme. 

The Director-General/CEO, National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Dr. (Engr.) Mohammed, in company of Dr. Julie Momah, the Centre Manager of Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), Agege- Lagos visited FIIRO on Wednesday the 18th November, 2015 to initiate a partnership process with the Institute on commercialization of its newly designed and fabricated Stainless Steel Pepper Grinder. The project was embarked by FIIRO to address the issue of metal contamination resulting from the faulty design principles of most pepper grinding mills in the Nigerian market.

The DG/CEO FIIRO while demonstrating the use of the pepper grinder to her guests said that the machine is a hybrid mill with high efficiency for milling both dry and wet milled food products (not only pepper) with zero tolerance for contamination from the machine parts with noise pollution reduction to the barest minimum. The Team Leader of the project, Engr. Aremu in his contribution intimated the guests that the design of the pepper grinding mill conforms to both ISO and NIS standards.

At the end of the demonstration whereby the machine was adjudged excellent in performance, the two organizations agreed to work together to mass produce the pepper grinder especially to be used for the Federal Government Poverty Alleviation Programme as well as the Federal Constituency projects to reduce poverty especially among women and create jobs.

It was concluded at the end of the visit that there is a need for a partnership agreement to guide the commercialization process of the pepper grinder by the two organizations.

On Thursday September 17, 2015, BDCP, NNMDA and FIIRO held a joint press conference as a pre-event to the upcoming HerbFEST 2015. HerbFEST Nigeria is the one and only event and exhibition of its kind in Africa, taking place at the Raw Materials Research Development Council (RMRDC), 17, Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria from 6th–8th October, 2015. The event aims at introducing traditional Nigerian Herbal Medicine and Natural Organic Products to the general public nationally and internationally and to arouse interest in the thriving natural and organic products market.

HerbFEST is an annual, regional, natural products expo with the mission to bring together a wide range of stakeholders actively involved in the use, research, promotion and development of herbal and natural products. Each expo is complemented by a workshop to enhance technical capacity in the industry, provide and elicit policy support, share experiences, promote ingenuity and stimulate investment/partnerships.

Now in its sixth edition, HerbFEST 2015 is set to attract varying investors and trade buyers from across the African region – as well as from the wider market of Middle East, Europe and US. Hosted by Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP) in collaboration with Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) and the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), HerbFEST is a not-to-be-missed trade and consumer show.

The focus of HerbFEST 2015 will be on Economic Exploitation of Medicinal Plants, Impact of African Medicinal Plants and Natural Products on Healthcare Delivery with special concentration on Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA), Traditional Bone Setters (TBS), Massage Therapists; Drug Development from Medicinal Plants with issues of Clinical Trials as Proof of Efficacy; Good Agricultural Practices from Farm to Markets from Cultivation to Packaging (Value Chains); Herbal Products in the Management of Metabolic Disorder (Diabetes, etc.); Products’ Profiles derived from African Medicinal Plants/Health Foods; and Panel Discussion on Natural products, Practice/Practitioners and Entrepreneurs;- Challenges in Integrating into National Healthcare Delivery System.

For three (3) days, HerbFEST will showcase vibrant herbs, health foods and natural products from across the region. In addition to the exhibition, there will be a packed programme of training workshops, meetings and seminars sandwiched with about thirty-two (32) abstracts of academic papers selected from numerous scientists in various higher institutions in Africa. This is an innovation over the previous event. The theme for this year’s Symposium is “Food as Medicine: Utilization and Sustainable Exploitation of African Medicinal Plants and Natural Products”. Attendance at this symposium is free as a way of our contribution to medicinal plants promotion and health and wellness promotion. A training on “Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for Herbal Medicinal Products” will be conducted on day-3 to educate trainees on key knowledge from farm/cultivation to research/standardization to production/market.

Products group expected at the exhibition include Natural & Organic Food and Beverages; Herbs & Spices; Cosmetics & Personal Care Items; Healthcare; Herbal, Traditional & Alternative Medicines; Functional Food & Supplements.

A number of distinguished speakers have been invited to make presentations during plenary and training sessions of the event. HerbFEST 2015 offers business development, networking and learning opportunities for participants. The event starts 9:00am daily and participants interested in the training sessions will register with N10,000.00 only.

The Institute under its National Techno-entrepreneurship Development Initiative is partnering with relevant organizations on youths and women economic empowerment. Olio Nuovo Limited is one of such organizations that has signed MoU with the Institute specifically for training of unemployed youths and women under the Federal Government Amnesty Programme. This MoU was signed at a very impressive ceremony at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi on Tuesday, 10th November, 2015. While Dr. (Mrs.) G.N Elemo, the Director-General/CEO of FIIRO and Dr. Dele Oyeku (Director, Extension & Linkage) signed on behalf of the Institute, Mr. Emmanuel Ekolama and Mr. Augustine Pasakomo signed on behalf of Olio Nuovo Limited.

The DG/CEO in her remarks said the collaboration is in the spirit of Public-Private-Partnership which the Federal Government is strongly promoting for rapid socio-economic development of the nation. She also said that the management of FIIRO is full of expectation that this collaboration will yield fruitful results and that an implementation committee should be set up to execute, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the MoU.

Mr. Emmanuel Ekolama in his response said he is impressed with the facilities at the Institute most especially the Institute’s entrepreneurship package which was the reason Olio Nuovo decided to partner with the Institute. He said FIIRO has all it takes to successfully execute the content of the MoU. He further said that his company will do everything possible to ensure that the training commence in January, 2016. 

The Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) is forming a stronger partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in a bid to strengthen its institutional capacity to drive sustainable and inclusive industrial development in Nigeria. This was at the heart of the discussion held between the Director General of FIIRO, Dr. Gloria Elemo and UNIDO Country Representative and Director Regional Office, Dr. David Tommy, during his recent visit to the Institute. He advocated that the importance of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in driving economic growth in Nigeria can no longer be taken for granted. There is no better time to practice the maxim; “Consume what you produce – Produce what you consume” than now according to Dr. Tommy.

He further observed that there is a mis-match between demand and supply in the labor market and as such there must be a conscious effort to relate University/Tertiary education curriculum with the required technical skills acquisition to make the graduates employable and reduce the importation of technical labor from Asia and neighboring African countries.  He also advocated for a stronger linkage between the STI community, Investment Centers and the informal sector where a lot of innovative ideas have been seen to be springing up.

Dr. Gloria Elemo on a similar note called for a stronger partnership with UNIDO to address the challenges inherent in being able to translate local Research and Development outcomes and innovations into major commercial entities. She noted that a lot has been achieved by FIIRO in the area of finding utilization for all the agro-raw materials in Nigeria and over 250 commercializable products and technologies have been developed. She also noted that a change in mind set to believing in certified Nigerian-made products will go a long way to develop the economy. She shared the various ways in which the Institute is addressing the skills-gap in the labor market by collaborating with various S&T based tertiary institutions to expose their students to technical knowledge acquisition.

In closing the meeting both organizations agreed to partner together to provide capacity building, scientific data and strengthen the knowledge base of technology providers to bring about an inclusive industrial development in Nigeria.       

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The Center for Values in Leadership (CVL) has conferred a Certificate of Honour on the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) as an Outstanding Research Institute. The recognition award was given during the Economic Growth Sector Celebration of CVL with focus on the Agriculture Sector held on Friday, November 6, 2015 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.

The Director General of FIIRO, Dr. Gloria Elemo, was at the occasion to receive the award for the Institute in company of some senior Directors of the Institute. She expressed her appreciation to the organizers for the award which she sees as a motivation to work harder in bringing greater success to the agricultural sector of the economy. She also called for a greater cooperation amongst all stakeholders operating within the sector.

The Founder/CEO of CVL, Prof. Pat Utomi and other directors of the Center were also on hand to add substance to the colorful event.  

Representatives of Nasco Foods Ltd. namely James Iwunze- Marketing Manager; Gbolahan Oyenuga- Brand Manager – Foods; and Harry Audu- Legal Adviser visited the Institute on Wednesday, 9th December, 2015 as a follow up on the company’s interest in commercialization of High Nutrient Density (HND) Biscuit developed at FIIRO for school age children between the ages of 5 and 12. This biscuit is able to meet one-third of the recommended daily dietary allowance for the children in this age bracket.

The DG/CEO FIIRO, Dr. (Mrs.) G.N Elemo informed NASCO team that the partnership with the company is in the spirit of the Public-Private-Partnership being promoted by the Federal Government and NASCO readily fits in, having made a name in the Food manufacturing sector in Nigeria. She further informed the team that FIIRO has completed R&D in the development of the HND Biscuit including animal studies, toxicological study, consumer acceptability study, etc. but will need Nasco Foods Ltd to fully commercialize the technology and mass produce the biscuit for the Nigerian market as well as for the Federal Government’s School Feeding Program.

The representatives of Nasco Foods Ltd in response to DG/CEO said Nasco Food Ltd is a privately owned indigenous company and with well known brands in the Nigerian market especially biscuits and Cornflakes sub-sector of the Nigerian Food Industries and that Nasco Foods Ltd has all it takes in terms of manufacturing infrastructure to mass-produce the HND biscuit. It was concluded that the two organizations need to sign MoU to guide the partnership.