561
TIlEGlJARIlIAN.Sunda)<AprlI22,2012
BUSIlNESSAGRO
Nigeria To Save $l.5bn Through Pro-vitamin A Cassava Consumption, Says IITA DG "J'1-I Ecoruumpdon !:lf pro-vilamln ItGSSav.l
.1muld help Ni~ reduCt KOllomlc losses in Gross Domeso( Product that Is esdnuttdat <loom Subtllion, sayt the DirKtorGener.tl of the Intemnlooal lns::ltuU' OrTroplcaJ AgrIcultu~. Dr. Ntrranya Seng;lnga. -But ~ thm «onOmlc.s;Mngs. lt wtll abo Imp~ tbl!' nutrition of women md childrm who ~ themOSl vul~; ~Sanglnga OIil thl!' public p~talion of pro-Yilamln Avartedes by the NlgcriM' guomnment In Um~ m:ently. Itqm'sflltt'd byche CoordiILiltor. ~ViI Enterprise ~dopm~lIt ProfKt.IITA.. Dr. G~sseyTaraW3li, Sanginga commended thr Nigerian goo.oemment for taking thr lu.d In blofortification with th,· reluseofihe cassaV<ll Y.ilrf. edes to limmn. Hr Qn~ joill( clfom from panners and theprtvatrS«tor to ensure that thr pro-vltamin A- rich VoUietit'5 grt to the handS of
maternal mortality and other pooroutcom~ fn prqptancy and lawuon; says Nlgcoria's Minister of Agt1cultu~and Rural ~Iopment, Dr. Aldnwuml Adeslna. -hnnuiilly; Nigeria loses ~r USUS billion In GOP to vitam£n and mlner.al defldendes;u: manystap~ foods are low In ~tIaI mlaonuD1mts,.o he added. Adesma said dwlt it was crucial that Nigerld accrlera~ dfons and
polkymusures on
Improving health and nutrition of vulnuable groups, espedally womt:n, infants and chl1Cil'l!n, adding that scaling up COll! mlaonulri-
rnt InterwntJons would cost less than USSI88 million per~ar-whlch makes «unomlc sense. To populariU' Ihr Pro Vitamin Acassava, he said greater dfon will br n~ed to Increase the nutrition cap;Llcity within the. MlniSD"Ie:s of Health andAgricurtureand Rural ~Iopmen~ Imp~ Infant and young child feeding resou~r.anntrs. through efTKtIve education and counsdlng ~ In the dl!Yt'loplng countrte:s. vitaseJVices; Incrust' ~ra~ o( v;tamin A cassaV<ll min Adeficiency r~lOlalns iI major bc:KUene:d.: to wtthln the nation. impl"OYftl nuuition with approxlmatdy The: Mln~ also gaw: the ~ment's sup250,000 to 500,000 malnOUruht'd chlfdrm pon to thedissemination of the pro-vitamlnA going blind t'.Jch ~2f,and half of who dlr with- Vilrietles bydlrecting the Inclusion of Ablil In a ~aro(becomlng blind. 5tate-oneofthe 16 staLeS In Nigeria. The p~'illence of nl~t blindness due to vita· On 7 Dl"crmber20lI, thr Nigeriagovemrm:nt min II ddidency Is alsa high among pregnant announced the relrase of the pro-vltarnln A caswomen In manydeo.e:ioplngcountrles. Silva varietla ~Ioped by IfTA In partnership '"VItamin Addldency afso conU1butes to with the Niltional Roots Crops Research
In\lOlving hybridization and selectio n of cassava seedlings followed bydonal propagation of thr silrned desirable piant:s. Drs. ~~r Kulakow of IITAand Chlgozir Eg~le of NRCRI said the devdopment of the varieties WiIS iI major breakthrough Ihlt would chan~ the numtlonal5talUS of pe0ple IMng on cas:sava-based food. FaJTnt'rs who partidpated in the trials oflhe varletit'S across Nigeria 10W:d the varie:tit'S for their h~r::UngabUlty and reslsUna to major .and pests. "DMIand for these varietlrs hi15 .lrcadystm:· ed, but it will takr: some time brfore we h.ilvr enough quandtles to jljve out,Wsays Paul Ilona, thr Ha~usManager for Nigeria. TheyeIJow cassava Is already being multiInstitutr, Umudlke{NRCRI~ thr project was fund~ by Ha~Jw.. plied" through stem cuttings. In 200, when ThevlGlmln A QSgva varlrties are nam~ by suffidenl certified stems will br ;lY.illlablr, the National Yarifiy RrJease COmmittee of H~tPius ilnd Irs partners will then dUmb. Nigeria as UM~J6, UMUCAS537, and ute these toabout25.000 fanning houseUMUCASS18; aooarerecogniudasIITAgeno- holds Inltlali)l. Farmers will be: a~ to grow these new v;tamln A varieties.oo keG them : e a s TMS 01/1368. TMS olft'" 12. and TM5 01 • to thetr families. Theycanalsomuldplyand t"'j haft hmh beta carott:ne (pro-vltamln A) shMe cuttings with Others In thelrcommunland are 5ulGl61e for food wt"S asgari, fufu, t)\..unpllfying the nutritional benefit:s.After and high quality cassava nour; says Dr. the: mJ<i-2014 ~t. more than 150,000 Thomas Ezullke,Acdng Exrcu~ Director, household members are expected to be: eatNRCRJ. Ing vitamin A-rich cassava.. The: yellow root color of the v;tamln A-rich Ot:herparmrrs In this work Include the varirtirs are products of ovu20~ars of International Centu for ll'oplcal Agriculrure brte:dlng drom for Impr~ nutritional (OAT) and the BrazUlan Agriculrum Researc' quality using rradilionaI b~lng mrthods COrporation (Embrapa~
The yellow cassava is already being multiplied through stem cuttings. In 2013, when sufficient certified stems will be available, Harvest Plus and its partners will then distribute these to about 25,000 fanning households initially.
& Agro-Allied Servi,,,e.
Edo Holds Agribusiness Summit "'J1iEmaiden e:didon of £do .1 State Agribusiness lrJftStJhCnl Summit will
hold In Bt:nlnOtyon MOOOa}\ApriJ 2l.20I2.AmtmleJ1t foIntly slgn~ by tht COmmwlonrr for AgrIculture and Naw!;l.\
•
~ras.MrAlxlulOrohand
Ex«utM Director; Publk Priva[t' Part:nerShip ( PPP~ Igbinldu Inne:hsays tht summit will be: attmdtd bv leading international and naOOnaJ professionals In the agribusiness Gofden Fertlllze,..
~1i."mODniori Rour Milt.
of Nlg. PIc.)
rn.1~
1hesummlt with lhe theme iRrufonning Agriculture in Edo 5t<Ite-, s«b to articuLue iIIId solldtStilkdlolde:rpartidJNtIon In ~kles and Inan. tIves which will Improve productivity. processing ilnd market access in Idmdfied agricu). rurevalue chains In whkh Edo
State has comparat:M advan·
~buslness.lmpTVVmICnt of
~aimed ill posldonlng Edo
Inpul EfIkIel1C)l Ptovtslon of Incentives lOr AgrIculturr by
State with Its IITlIIlfiLSe narural rndowments and geographic rotton, as a hub roragriCulrure ilnd agro-allle:d iooustrles and businesses in NIgt:r1a. ('.oytmor Adams Osfi.lomhole Is exp«ll!d to declare Ihr: summit open while the HonourablL! MlnlStn" of Agriculture and Ik A1dnwunmi A)'QIkji AdesIna will presmt tnesummlt's krynotr address. oibe:t-lII!ry dlsdngulshed indJ. vldu.ls and corporate entitles In thrNr;rlbustness secr:orintrrnatlonallyand within Nigeria, will be: prese:ndng papers and discussing policy opaons and initiatives which Indudes OtYdopment of SUStalnahir
..... _Ioom<n,
theStatr~menr.
Promotion of' lM5tments in Agriculrure by the: Privatr Sector, and Stn:npnlng the Institutional Infrastructure. The summit which will be: chali"M bvChId Audu Ogbt whlk Dt. flauick Kormawa. UNIDO Rtpre:sentiltM and Director, ~ Officr who IS also authOr of a seminal book on NtribushlrSSln Africa. pl"f5C!JU the: Ie:.Jd
wilr
~"""I""'~ will "'" '"
"""""" '" IJ< Gnham lirfer; mal\il1VngdlrKlOr,
otwmu 011 ~Im Pic and Or. Tony kilo. Senior TKhnlcaI Advisuto the Agrk: Minister onAgrlbusine:ss..