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31 BUSINESS
E-mail: ag@busin5dayonIine.mm Tel.: 0803 124 0471
BUSINESSDAY: wwwbusmessdayonhne(om
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Summit to enhance agric value-lChain for economic prosperity NONSO NDUMANVn lalYS !J hj"~ estimated thaI tJV( r 1.3 trillion wasSJ ell! 01, importanon of r" o ast year,
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5.24 percenteprl'u or (.01' surprising that ",\~d sector has been If'< objective of thr T Agenda of Predd 10nathan'urlmlr1 I' In the face of II W signifk:anlllllpIO''J'' quantity anti quail" chain will enSUfr diversify the el 11' fo~ign exdllnge
11 ng itabou 1 IUS. is nott v'ng the agric II 'd a cenTral 11 .formation n GoodlllCk !i n h 'otl prices, a 'f In tenn ~ or .1 "'j!rlc vahle. I' d ~ecUflty, '1 ,. enhance ~ as well as
InFrnstructure. especially power and roads. To this end. BusinessDay is organising it.s 2012 Agribusiness and Food Securil)' Summit aimed In enhancing Agriculture Value Chain ror r:conomlc Prosperity The ,umml , will . -,.m,' "- . ,h..101.. . th(' pnvate sector In achieving the transfonnation agenda 85 well as the piaa' of agriculture suppon funds in dosingrundinggapJlnagricbusiness in NI,~ria Susoned professionals with pnn'En track records in the sector will b" brought In 11$ speakers at this sulllmit slated for June 7, 2012, at EAt! liolt'l & Suites. Victoria Island, Lago!. The summil. which will also
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lhal will besl deliver results for the trnnsromlation agenda. il expected to have in allendance managIng directorsaodchlefexecutiveofficers. private and governmenl agencies. directors / heads of agriculture institutf'S, Including corponlle ' d""d I h ' I In I",. UtI 5 w 0 aspue 10 ncrease their knowledge or agribusiness. With keynote speech by Akinwunml Adeslna. mlnmeT of agriculture and rura1 dewiopment. the summit will featureexperieocesfromstakeholdm In the Sf'Clor while focusing on InfraslTllcture development In pmvet; tnmsponatiOr1 {raiJ and ro.1ds) including Investment opportunilies IIldchaUI·ngeslnthe.sectOrll!llregartis production. processing. Ilorage, maJketil.... and 1,..,.;«1......
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Nigeria Cassava G'O'IY'!f1 Association PrDIesmg agaJnsllhe attack on Cassava Brt!ac1 and Products by !he House of Reptesettllllll'oeI- at !he NationaiAsSMnbly Ga\eAbuja. PIce: by TUNDEADENIVI.
Mobil establishes N54m fish preservation centres inAkwa Ibom AHIEfIOK UOOHQUA~ l,. ns hlng t o~munities in Ibeno and Mbo local government .U1~ of Akwa lbam SlaLe haw. benefitted I'rom presen"aoon anll'!:S initialed by Mobil Producing /'I'igeria (MPN), operator of the NigeriHJl National Petroleum Corporat ion (NNPC) f MPN joint venture, a5 part of e(fons to promote small business activities in the stale.. The centres, co n p lete with facilities fo r n s h rreservation and otheo sea food products. are estimated at <M:I" N51 milliolL According to Gblia EssienDanner. executive dlf"e'~lor, public and government arTlIus or the oil company, the construl.tion of the centres Is a deli bent! policy or NNPClpo,WN joint ~tUae lOwards the creation ol gainful et nploymau. income generation, lDd poverty reduction fof" the people. Essien-Danner wt 0 ;pokeatthe in::lUguration or the r:o dUties. hoped
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thai the centIe$ would achi~ its aims when effectivdy managed as a business. Represented by Rita Umoren , she said -the joint vmture's support 10 these fa cilities is a deliberate policy tcr.vards the a ttainme nt of sdf-sufficiency in rood production, gainful employment, Income generation. and poverty reduction. We believe that these projects. if I!!ffect.ively and efficiently managed asa business, will achieve these and much more.She urged the women groups. whom she called "thl!! owners of these facilities. ~ to wort in unity so that they can make good use of the training Ihey received during the wo rking tour that was organlsed by the consultant to the projcct. so thallhey will be able to run the faci lities effici e ntly to 10m thl!!m to centreS of exreUence in the area of procurement, processing and preservation of fish and other sea food products. Also speaking. Godwin Udom, spedal 8d\oj~to IJtes tatego....emor
on coope rative development. commended the joint venture for Wldenaking the projecls for women a nd desc ribed the s po nsof5h1p as an a c t or building a good corporate rdationship with tllt: stale
f!O""'IllII"l "We rommend this initiative of Mobil at undertaking this project ror our wome n . This indeed Is building a good co rpora Ie cilizenship relationship," Udom s tated, appea.lling to the NNPCI MPN joint venture to also develop closer relationship with the Slale gtMmtmenl in many more areas so 85 to ad:tieve an improw;d standard of living for the people of the state. Anthony Morison Fiddi, group manager, Petroleum Investment and Management Services (NAPIMS), said ~ if these facilities are property managed and maintained. they are capable of providing the people the needed income for sustainability and economic \\o'd1-being. and can also go a klOg way in offering food security to the citizens at local and na!ionallevd. ~
FG to boost cocoa production witll N5.6m ISM{ AREGBE.SOLA. AbII~
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Ope of cocoa farmers In
the country has received a boost as the Federal Gmovnment has pledged to release N5.6 million counterpart fund 10 the Internalional Cocoa Coordinating Organisation, ICCO, to booSI C()COa production In Nigeria. II is believed Ihal if the product Is revamped and well foctlsed on by lhe govermnem and all stakeholders, cocoa would create better jobs and wealth for the populace. Samuel Ortorn. minister of state foruadeand Investment, wnostated this while r«eiving lhe lceo team led by Its African regional director, Koname Lucien, In AhLlja, reileraled government commilment 10 the Bgrlcuhure transformation agenda in Nigeria. Ortum, who described cocoa as ·a God-given produce: believed that. "If we manage our cocoa ~ well, Nigeria will no! focus too much on oil. Cocoa is key 10 the economy of tile country and It Is high time we stepped up eflons to put cocoa
In Its rightful place We are \:al<m/l; sleps toward IN'ylng ourcounterparr fllnding. which IS over 60 !INTent. and N5.6 million will be releasl'!l ill the next few days." The minister said "berole Ihe advent of oil. cocoa Wit~ one or Ih(' major export produce and means of foreign exdlange In the cmmtry That Is whv this adlmnlslrallon IS giving il tile much needed allen lion as it contributed Immensely to Ihe economy berore the discovery of oil: While pledging government's lechnlcal and other 5upporr to tile organisation to enable It succeed In ilS investment in lhe country for the benefit of all, the minister callell on all stakeholders In cocoa business to wake up to the fa sk or making the product assume lIS rightful position In the economic developmenl orthe counny. Earlier, the Iceo team leader explained lhat tile Ilf'Pnisation was working on an imemational project to re-enforce the capacity or cocoa producers in lhe West Arrican subregion by ensuring effective use of pesticides.
Lagos, Songhai regional centre sign MOU on agro development JOSHUA 8.\SSEY oshore up food produroon In Lagos and create jobs for youlhs, the Lagol 51 ale government on Mooday, signed a Memorandum of Underslandlng (MoU) with Sanghal RegionaJ Centre, a Benin Republic based agro developmenl lnItiative established In 1989_ The MoU will see Songhal extend technical assistan ce and other (onus of support to a similar centre to be eSlablished by Lagos In Badagry. Gbolahan Lawai , Lagos commissioner for agriculture and cooperatives., al the signing ceremony, said the Badagry project would be a replica of the Songhai Ce ntre in PortNovo, Benin Re public when II is fully d e veloped . It would train young farm ers In different fields of agriculture. whUe waste generated within the fatTrul would be recycled for other uses Including blo-gas and electricity. Apart from using modern technology to drive agriculture. the Songhal cen tre also places
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emphasis on zero wasle such thaI every waste generaled from animals. crops and all other activities In the centre Is recycled. repackaged and re· used. so that nOlhing Is lost. 11 should be recalled that the Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola had set up a fourmember committee chaired by the commissioner to undef5tudy the Sanghal Centre, with the view to establishing the same in Lagos In his determlnalion to raise the bar in agriculture In Lag05. lawai disclosed that the Badagry center which is to besitedon a 300heaare of land already acquired for thai purpose. has been approved by the state exeQltive council, while funds are being committed 10 bring it 10 a reality. Godfrey Nzamujo, director and founder of the Song hal regional ce ntre. also speaking, pledged commitmentloworic with Lagos in Ihe eSlablishment and nurturing of the replica in Badagty to fruition. Songhai is a centre for Ira lnlng. pro~u c tlon, research and development of sustainable agricultural practices.