30
BusineSSWEEK JULY 16, 2012
AGRIBIZ
Lagos commissions cooperative college by 1oY.E etA
_
L
IIOS
S'lle
Go"e rBot.
Mr.
Bab"-tllodc: R..ji Fuhol.., h IlS urged l\ igeria.ns 10 go bttk to thf farm. Speaking IrS the comn\J.5Slomng of the: up SlIItc Coopcndl'le College. Oko-Oba, last TIIIe.Jdr,. ~ governor stn:ssed the need Nigcrta'15 to C!IIlbrIce agncuhure to lake
ror
the eeonoroy 001 ofthc woods. Ills "oms: "I am saying !IllS 1811111, our counlly wi ll !leVU be great unless we go bM::k 10 lht farm. II is through agricullwt: WI "''1: am propel our cwnomy back to what It 'vas Our ~ toprospenl)l heswlth funncB G3 bKlr: home. convince everybody tlllt .'1: need to JO back 10 the (ann," 1hc 1!!»'Cm:or said the coopentlJvc college wttII e5t;Ibli4t:d to provide educalionll servICCI In all JSpCCts of coopendl~ management m thr S'aIe With 12.{II)) societies and two milliol'l
~ben.
wookIltS5r-.t he: I!1d ax IlX:L
C
he Qid the college
SOCJd~
In
miuc:mg (mud
II "'.. l . 'In'que occasIOn, which also fellIumJ doe j;,wldl of the nev.ly acqmrrd 60 refngerlled neat van! and !he commencemmt or Ih! '~1h Enhmr:emmI Suppon Scheme (GE""!S) In the stale..
To ell5WIC the: provisKln of wholesome III LI8aPanl. Fashola wd the: new
meal
vans woulol rqJlltCC.' the air-cooled Vlns he
Lnlroduc:ed i'l 2008 1lte new initiallve, whICh I\u 2(10 rerngerated VIln5, l! In col· Iabont'Oft w-th 16 compames and U50C",.
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On hiS JlIIIt. the Mm~ or Agnculrure and Rtnl Development. Dr. AklnwuMlI Adc:sina, ~aiJ the GESS was one of liM.'
ac:hemes under the Agricultural TramJonn.llion Agenda (ATA) .mlCd at malnng rnalcriaJ Inputs readily .vlilable 10 f.nners ... 5() per cenl subsidy shared equally by die .\me and Federal govemments. The rnil!lsa" apbl1ned lhat the aovcmmenl was 1aJKe'.lDg five millioo fllffllen this )ftI" and .vill reach 20 nu Ihon rarmers by
lOIS. Aax!fdmg: 10 hun. tmder this ~em. rq--l5tered IiumeB will gd tbe!r lilocalloo on their moMc phones_ ""Nigeria is the first COUJ1try m Atria 10 use electronic wallet system to !ad farmers," he added. Dr Adewta wd 20,000 rarmers in lilt: stale ,nil !Jencfit from the programme this year, addmg that eKh rannc:r woold receive
fertl1i~ and seeds valued at NJ6,OOO .flcr paytngonly NIB.OOO J le ..1d the rcdo-a.l goVCl11fTW:llI provided NJ30 nulllOn tosuppon d.e prtJ\' 1S1OII orrerlilizer 10 in the mte .. hteh will be shan:d by both the FG and the lUte. Farmers were adVised 10 a)lIt;C1 then Inpul'l from redemption cen~ and a nd....vri: or asrodeaJen. cooperativc societies and input Il:uulen Some of the mJcmplton centres In the state Include lAISA Ucadquarters al Lagos.BMiagry Expruiw,y. Agric Bin Stop. OJo. Fann Snvlce Centre, old Abeolrula MolOf Road, Oko-Oba Agege. AjlTa FIRTl Settlement. Farm service centres In AJah. Epc: and Odonguyan. lkorodu Accoftilng to rum, the 10101 of thc Ag:ricultun.l Transfonnatton Agenda (ATA) 13 to grow the.ector, divcntfy the economy, rNucc dcpcndezq on food I1t1pOfU and cre·
rllfmeB
lie lauded the commlUnenl oflhe state 10 Ihe Agncuhural Transfonnauon Ageoda noting thallhetr collaboration IS strong. He SlId: " In Lagos. thc Fedenl Govr:mment IS cum:ntly supporImg agnculture in a nwnber- of ways.. Under the nee value chain. lhe federal govt:nlfllenl has supported seed companies to ensure thai they produce lowland rice varietIeS of nee seeds (fAROs 44 and !i2) for dlsIribubon to farmen in the state. The fQ 15 CUIleOtly facilitauog the acqmsloon of 100 WJe scale Integrated rice: proe:c:SIS;mg mills from Ouna.. '"This ....ill enable the country 10 produce 2.1 million tOl1ll of parboiled nee. Lagos Stale has bces1.I!ocatcd 2 oflhese mills with lotal capacity of 60.000 metric tons." he
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Dwelling on awava., he sud the success of the new 20 per cent cassava Oour incluattjObs. SIOf'! pollC)' can be fouoo m Lagos where "We mU5C turn Nigeria away from being I colTunercializalion of cassava bread has dumping ground for cheap food imports. commenced by UTe. Hc expressed tI.e The C\l1~ ofbuying and sellm&. bnning In hope thai bef~ the end of the year. IllDIl: c:verytluna from wheal and nee 10 other baltr:nes Will embrace the new polter foods has destroyed Nigena's agrn:u!rure. "We ~ therefore encoungina other muh,,,""'ter bakers to JOin the &ly. Wc are confident The IlUnlSler explained lhatlhough Lagos that through cassava ~ the counlty will is known as an urban stale. II oc:c:upics a key save N2S4 billion per year We amnn thai posUIOII m the .gricuhural ccooomy of cassava bread is healthier than 100 per cenl Nigena. wheal Oour bread and IS cheaper." he $lad.
h.lrman or Ihe Agricullurc and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria, NaUfAl·n. Matc bruch. /\II' Alokoson Juwa-h.lah. hu said thai Nigeria h ilS no nason Itl import food . Juw.-Islliah. who m:KIe thIS I.mlwn dunnS a. recepuon 111 honour of IwO members of tile union. Joshua Jnnalh ll n and Emmanuel AI.na.na. !ll1d Nigcria Will blcased with amhle land and water resoun:es 10 produce all the food it n~dcd. IIc said. '11Ie country 15 endowed wilh abundant land, which should be: IIdequately e.'l:plollcd for Ihe produc< lion of food and ca.~ crops both for domestic consumption and cxport purposes. ~Fanrung is also II lucfllll\le busi' ness thaI we should take seriously and time has now come for us 10 utili se it to ensure food secunty In Nigeria," he added. Juwa-lsamh, thuefore. appelilcd 10 the Federal, Slale and local governmcnu 10 provide fanners with adequale Implemenu and other Inpu15 to cnsuf"C abundant food supply for the citizenry. lie al$O urged mcmbcl"l of the Wllon 10 rededicate therrueh'- cs t"wud booSltng the agricllltul1!l sector for the nltion's socio-economlc dcvelopment The chairman tasked the celebrants 10 take full advantage oftheir new status 10 make meaningful «:ontribuuoDs to the growth of Ihe union.
IITA, UI explore areas of fresh collaboration
n
l .. t er.alional Insfilut, ror 1hJpicll Ag-rkliitun (UTA ) and Ihe Univtnity or Tbadan. on Wednesd.y ouflintd .rus of pou lbl, u ll_bontk-n as both Instit ullo ns strh·c to inlpro,,_~Jrka ·. fortunf:S. AfeDs undo:r coru;KienIIon Include capacIty bwldUlg, establishmml or. biotechnology plalror:n. soil halth. geograpJncal
tnfonnation. SCICnce. fund ralstng for resean::h. food and nUlnlJOn. and capM:lly buildmg. "If we collabonte on these areas. we will be able 10 help tackle the food and environmental challenges faclD~ Afrtc •• ~ Dr Nteranya SangmgL UTA Director General, SlUd dunn! I courtesy viSIlto the umveni· ty
Eslabltshcd In 1967, IITA remalDll a leader in crop improvement and the fight agamsi bloJoatall thJuts and envlfunmental suslatnabillty In Afnca. Improved crop varieties from UTA have acceleraled pro. duetivlty 10 several African counlncs., with Cameroon doubhng CIl5.5IIV2iI yields and Nigeria becormng the world', top producer of the root crop A t the hean of It. Sangmga s:lId human capacity IS a major lSSUe that needs to be tackled for Africa 10 lnainlaln sustamable dcvelopment "When you go to .sc:veral Arncan counmes, the number of SCIentists is ckchnlng whether in btoCechnoiogy or crop brecchng. TItI! must not be allowed 10 continue." he
said. S.nginga liso called for InVcsuncnts In research infrastruclure, partu::ularly In West and Cenlnll Af~ rtglOO that " nch 10
"""""". Ue SlUd thai the coUabOl1luon With the
Umvel"lllty of lbadan wil/ be of benefit to Nigena in particular Ind Afoca in general Rcsporxbng, the Vice Chancellor or the UmvenilY of lbadan, Prof Isaac Adewolc. said partnership IS on the top agenda of tile untvenilty, stressing thatjOinl efforts wllh IITA will Improve the wdrare.. nulntKln. hcahh. and IOCOfIlC!i of the Nigerian poputallon. contributing to the food secunty of the conhncnL Acconimg to hUll, Afnca w-.ll be truly independent only when II IS food secure. adding thai tile umvenily 15 ~"t;1I ptaced to .....ork with IITA "I beheve thai IITA " tben: for IIS,JU5C u the University College Hospital" fot the College of MediCine There musl be a bndge Dctwcen Ill! .nd IITA ...• nd we are ready 10 work With )'ou.~ he added. With its revISed siratcgy. IITA Intends to focus on IlII:reaslng research quality, capaclly bUIlding and partnershIps Consequently, • dua::tOfate for capacity building and p"-nncn.hlpt has been created under the leadership of Dr. Kenton Dashiell to champion alld Idlleve thai gool BollI Institution! agreed In prmclplc to commll resources that Will advancc research for the benefit of resource·poor fa""en and consumers