Nollywood filmmaker and entrepreneur, Mbong Sule, is seeking to expand the economic value of Cross River State’s agricultural resources by turning locally sourced honey into consumer products and linking the venture with the state’s tourism potential.
Sule, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday, said her company, Southern Girl Co. Ltd., sources raw honey from Obudu and processes it for consumers outside the state.
She said the initiative was aimed at demonstrating how commercialising agricultural resources could create businesses across the value chain while drawing greater attention to Cross River.
Cross River is widely known for its tourism attractions and natural landscapes, but Sule said its agricultural wealth offered additional opportunities for enterprise and economic development.
“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,” she said.
Sule said her company was sourcing authentic raw honey from Obudu, describing the process of developing a consumer product from a natural resource within the state as an opportunity to showcase its agricultural potential.
The honey is packaged in its original form as well as ginger, lemon-ginger and Madagascar vanilla-infused varieties.
She said the different variants were developed after a market survey identified demand and opportunities for honey products with different flavours.
The products were recently introduced at the African Travel Market Festival, where participants sampled the different varieties and showed interest in their source.
According to Sule, taking the honey beyond its source community demonstrates 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.
She said developing such products could create opportunities for local production and businesses while complementing the state’s tourism economy.
The honey venture is part of Sule’s wider business interests, which also include Southern Girl Kitchen, a food business focused on indigenous dishes from Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
Through the ventures, Sule said she was exploring ways of promoting locally sourced resources and indigenous products while creating commercial opportunities around them.
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