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Wednes~a
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h e EIr:III S lIlt go verorne nl h .. launched it5 own
cassava brea d, I venian of whit was
do ne In lIle Presidential Villa earlier In the year, ICco rding
10 a release from Olulc:ayode Oyd eye, special nlls llnl on media 10 Ihe minllll~r of Igrlculrure.. During the laun c hing ceremony It me GOl/tmmenl House, Ado·Etiti. On Mo nday,
administntion on commercial ag ri cuhure \S laking I firm
rOOI and indeed turn ing to a manifest rulity."
Fayem! described this u a 'dream co me lrue: dedaring thai "as we launch mis lnidatil'c
loday. Ekili Slait has become the filS! sta rt In the federation
10 Ul p inlo the many economic and nunifi onal adll. nlagn o f cassava brea d afler th e recenl laun ch by Ihe Fede.ral GovemmenL" According 10 Ihe governor, "In Ihe firSi place, we believe thai the conswnpdon of cassava bread Is healthy IS II reduces,
lans an und e rway by Ihe Lagos Stale gove rn me n l to eSlablish a 24· hectare agio indus trial park for small and medium Cl'llerptisel. lIakeem Ade niJ l, Lagol Sute d irecto r o f commerc e, disclosed this in an Interview with BUllnessOay, sayi ng th e stale had sctasid e 100 hecrares fOI small busineuel In Ihe agricultural secior. He said Ihat SMEs, whic h empl oy over 55 percenl of the Nigeria', population. playa key role in rransfonning the nallon'l eco nomy. A recen l srudy by the Small a nd Medi um Enlerprlses Developmenl Agency oCNigeria (SMEOAN) showl that Micro Small and Medium Enlerprises (MSI\ IEs) co nll ibu le 98.0 1 pelcem oCthe GOP in the agric
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SIAKA MOMOH
Ihe SlUt governor, Klyo de Fayemi uprnsed tli:citemenl mal this \\'11$ "coming II a tim e when the policy thruS I of lhll
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Agro plant underway fo r SN1Es
Ekiti cass T
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10 a large eJ:Ient, the injurious co nlenl which the whit e bread po5el 10 cenain calego ri es of consumers. panicularly those wilh dlabeles·re laled cues; nolin g thaI, "since the initiative is to make auava account for 40 percen! of the Dour CO nlenl of bread production In Nigeria. !his. no dou bt, is a great booSI 10 cassava produclion On o ur farmL Our o nce disillusioned farmers can no w heave a sigh of relief 15 relUrns on their lnvesonent on the fann would become greatly encouraging.Akl nw unmi Ades ln a, mlniSler of agriculture, described Ihe aCllon of Ekiti Slate as "anolher giam stride
forwardlnowque!itasa counny t o free ourselves h o m Ihe shackl es oUoad imponation.To hi m, - we spend ove r N IO billio n imp0 rl ing bilic food ite1D5 such IS wheat, rice, fish and sugar every yea r. As we impon food, we are simply making o ur economy wea ker. We are aportl"g jobs. Instead of crea ting Jobs al home. We are making Ihe CanneI1 oCCood ex porting counuies ric her. while OUI own farmen a re poorer for lackof markrts. While Ihe young graduates o f foo d u poni ng coumrl es get/obs. Nigerian young gnduale5 roam the streets." Rei n Adedayo Bodunrln,
th e Ekh i commiuio ner fo r conunUce and Industry, nOled Ih at Ih e uaining of mnter bakers was aimed al ensuring a full ~ uppl )' chain of the ClIlDva Induslry to provide high qualil)' bread on me lable for Ekiri cilizcnL -Therefore; h e said "il is On Ih is n Ole Ihal Ih e &late gove rnment, In coliabar.llion wtm Ihe Federal Minisuyof Agricultun! and UTC ha\'e Igreed 10 demonuute and la unc h Ih ls In iliat ive in Ekltl Stale. The idea is 10 n ain our bakers in modem ba king husiness In line wilh Ih e glo bailrend of induSlrial developlnenL"
I SetlOc ACu!It- ubrukdown sho",-ed Ihat m cIa enterpHsel In Ihe secrorClr trlbuled pen:enl 10 non:lral GOP, whU e s m aU 25.27 pucelll an~ medium enle rp--hes ( oniribllled 3. 16 ~I OJ the GOP, respectively. AtC)f lin g to Adcniji, the micro operal ors . large ly poptlla eo l by tile aro5a1l5 + are nOl lefl CUI in m e scheme or m ings. "Il'g: 'Few "'~ ago, a bm.1I 720 artIS an s were reo rralned In order to u psc:ale their 'ldlL~V" k JOW IliatllniJallS from ne ighb 3l ring m uno ies seem 10 be lal ln& over their Jobs, hence li ~ reMOn we thoughl 10 inane n e, m a ki ng them compelilive." ~e aha d i scl o ~ ed Ih at the 51 .,1 : g n"erllmenl was panne rtug prlvarr seClor o n pow~, . n, Iudwguansponation and bOllSlng 10 the llenefi l of the small bllSint!it:S..
£?.58
Oyo farmers to cultivate 12,000 hectares of cassava REM I FEYISIPO he Dyo Slate chaple r of Ni ge ria Canan G rowers Anodulon (NCGA) has SC I aside 12,000 hectares of la nd for pla nt [ng cassava, IS pan of effortS at supporting the Federal Governmen l'S Inll[lIive on cassava bread. Also, the anoclatlon has concluded plans 10 establish cassava processing Industries in the three scMlorial w nes of the Stale. The proposed industries are aptCIed 10 proces.s cassava inlO bread floUl:' cassava chips. garrl and slarch.. Muideen Adeku n l e, chairman, Oyo NeGA, said Ihal -al Ihe expected harvest of Z2 metric tons per heclare
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... to establish processing industries for cassava bread flour Ih e far mers wo uld produce 264,000 melric IOns o f cusava In Ihe Slall'!." The succeu of the govern m e nt policy o n In clusion of cassava fl o llr In bread, Ademnle polnled oul [n Ibadan, the Oyo Slate capital. depended 0 0 farmersas inleg:ral 5lakehoidefL While uying Ih ol the m le WIS re nowned fo r 115 h uge expa nse of land IS well IS dedical ed eanava fa rm ers, me NCGA c hairman UlJed the Federal Government 10 provide fully and qu.lckly me apec'!ed
assistance under iu Agricultural Trnls(onnalion Agenda (ATA) 10 cassava farmers In the stale In order for the delired gorus and obj~ 10 be achieved. He said he had InSlrucled
the lSS)ciatino in the 33 loc:aJ govem m,:nI:!fCa5 to revalidate their m !I1ibelshilll as any major ISsh lant e fl am government would Of given 10 groups and nOI indiVldualL The NCGA bO H, howe\'el WI.nlS Ihe p re se nl I dmJnisl13ti Un In the 5Iate 10 assist Ih,: ra rm ers In findin g foreign ir;veslOrs that would be ready 10 buy tlu:ir hanresL no maner die IlIge quantiry. Acc<l r Jinl: 10 him. cassava a nd I .. by+ploduclS are in high dema n,1 abroad; adding mal wha r 'allners need 15 the righl cunneoio n and enabling envifOl.menl Ko gi State had already fadUlated such link belWeen ClssaVll f Iml Ul and overseas' ,,,'.,," " ••, wbo buy Ihe i r