Empowering Communities with Hygiene Knowledge for Healthier Food Systems
Introduction
In a major move to promote food safety, reduce foodborne illnesses, and strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural value chain, Empyrean Cultures Ltd. has launched a nationwide Safe Food Handling Campaign targeting smallholder farmers and rural cooperatives.
The campaign, which kicked off in Benue, Ekiti, and Ogun States, is focused on educating local food producers on best practices in hygiene, storage, packaging, and transportation, ensuring that both local consumers and export buyers receive healthy, contaminant-free food.
🥦 Why This Campaign Matters
According to the World Health Organization, over 600 million people fall ill globally due to contaminated food every year. In many rural communities across Nigeria, lack of access to clean water, inadequate storage methods, and poor post-harvest handling are major contributors to this health crisis.
Empyrean’s mission is to bridge this gap by not only producing premium food products but also empowering the grassroots with knowledge that saves lives and enhances economic opportunities.
“We believe that food safety starts at the farm,” says Blessing Paul-Omon, Director of Health, Safety & Quality Control at Empyrean Cultures. “When farmers are trained to handle food properly, they not only protect the health of the nation — they also gain access to more lucrative markets at home and abroad.”
🧴 What the Campaign Covers
The campaign includes workshops, print handbooks, and mobile training tours with demonstrations on:
- Proper handwashing and personal hygiene during harvest and processing
- Safe use and storage of fertilizers and pesticides
- Hygienic handling of meat, fish, and dairy products
- Use of clean containers and packaging for transport
- Safe drying and preservation techniques
- Food-grade storage and climate control practices
- Understanding export-quality packaging standards
🚚 Empowering Farmers for Export
As Empyrean continues to grow its African food export portfolio, it recognizes that training smallholder farmers is a key step toward meeting global food safety certifications like HACCP and ISO 22000.
This campaign is designed to open doors for rural farmers to access formal markets and international trade by meeting the rising demand for traceable, safe, and organic food products.
🌍 Impact & Vision
Empyrean aims to reach over 5,000 farmers by the end of the year, working in partnership with agro-cooperatives, local NGOs, agricultural extension officers, and state ministries of agriculture.
The long-term vision is to make food safety education a cultural norm in all farming communities, especially for those producing fruits, vegetables, meats, spices, and grains for consumption and export.
🧑🏾🌾 Join the Movement
If you’re a farmer, community leader, or organization interested in hosting a training session in your area, we’d love to hear from you!
