The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) has been accredited as an ISO-certified center to tackle the economic cost of post-harvest losses in the agricultural sector of the country, which is about N3.5 trillion annually, and boost food exports from Nigeria to other parts of the world.
The Executive Director of NSPRI, Dr. Patricia Pessu, while presenting the ISO Certificate to the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mustapha Shehuri, noted that the approval of the certificate is a great feat because the institute can now boast of a laboratory where analysis can be done with quality assurance and globally accepted results.
According to Pessu, the accreditation of the institute as an ISO certified center (ISO 17025:2017) started about three years ago, with the rehabilitation and upgrading of laboratory facilities, the procurement of equipment standard grade chemicals, training of personnel in the various scopes and assessment by the Nigerian National Accreditation System (NiNAS).
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The minister, who was represented by the Director, Lands and Climate Change Management Services in the ministry, Shehu Bello, appreciated the Nigeria Standards Organization (NSO) and International Standards Organization (ISO) for deeming it fit to accredit the institute.
He noted that post-harvest losses had a negative effect on agricultural component GDP (GDP), adding that NSPRI is set to address the challenge. He added that the accreditation is a testimony to hard work and the determination of the Institute to be among the best research institutes in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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“ISO/IEC 17025 that is being received today will be useful for various testing procedures, sampling, and calibration to instill confidence in the Research output. “The Federal Ministry of Agriculture will continue to support and ensure that this institute, and indeed other research institutes, are regularly funded to execute their mandates. ” Shehuri said
