By Joseph Edegbo –
Crown Flour Mills (CFM), Olam Agri’s wheat milling business in Nigeria, was awarded the National Productivity Order of Merit Award in recognition of its robust economic contribution in the country.
The award was presented by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari at an event held in Abuja on 12 May 2022. CFM is the largest miller in Africa with its own truck fleet operations. Instituted by the Nigerian Federal Government through the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the award recognises individuals and businesses who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in key areas of the economy.
“We are thankful to be recognised by the Nigerian government for our positive contribution to the economy. Thi recgnition celebrates the achievements and ongoing efforts of our 3,000 employees and of all the smallholder farmers we work closely with to build a resilient and sustainable agricultural value chain in the country. We remain committed to the social and economic development of Nigeria as we continue growing our business there.
Under its flagship wheat value chain development program ‘Seeds of the Future’, CFM invests in four major focus areas in Nigeria namely, research and development, innovation, education and economic empowerment. Some of the recent projects under the program includes equipping female farmers in the Giyamusu community with better water management systems, improving education facilities for primary school children in that region and investing in a wheat seeds trial project that has the potential of strategically raising the quantity and quality of wheat produced locally.
CFM was recognised with the award following a rigorous, highly competitive process that involved stringent screening and auditing of each business’ performance in the areas of customer service, corporate social responsibility (CSR), customer satisfaction, and environment health & safety.
The highly qualified panel of judges included Barrister Ikechi Uko, representing the Productive Sector; Ms A.O Adenugba, Director in the National Productivity Centre; Alhaji Habu Adamu Jajere, representing Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Mr Uche Nwokedi, SAN, representing Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) amongst
