Entrepreneur and Nollywood filmmaker Mbong Sule says commercialising Cross River State’s agricultural resources can create opportunities across the value chain and complement the state’s tourism potential.
Sule said this in an interview with reporters on Tuesday in Lagos.
She is pursuing the initiative through her company, Southern Girl Co. Ltd., which sources raw honey from Obudu and processes it for consumers beyond the state.
She noted that the state is widely associated with tourism and natural attractions despite its significant agricultural resources.
Developing products from these resources, she said, could create businesses around local production while attracting wider attention from tourists.
“I think it’s important that we find ways to commercialise these resources, create opportunities within the value chain, and ultimately put Cross River in an even brighter light.
“We’re sourcing authentic raw honey from Obudu in Cross River State, and there’s something really special about taking a natural resource from our own land,” she said.
The honey is packaged in its original form as well as ginger, lemon-ginger and Madagascar vanilla-infused varieties.
A market survey informed the decision to develop the different variants after an opportunity was identified for flavoured honey products.
The products were recently introduced at the African Travel Market Festival, where participants sampled the variants and asked about their source.
Taking the honey beyond its source community, she said, could demonstrate how agricultural resources can be developed into products with wider market reach.
“I am particularly excited about what this can mean for Cross River, because we talk so much about the state’s tourism and natural beauty, but there’s also so much agricultural wealth here,” she said.
The honey venture forms part of her wider business interests, including Southern Girl Kitchen, which focuses on indigenous dishes from Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
