30 lIusiness week AGRIBIZ e CMJirman of the ConsortMn Board 01 CGlAR, Dr Co.to. p"", dol Co..1o,
l1
.." WI" ld ded the high qualitY. 01 resean:h tit the I"kmutioilcil ....... 100- Tropi<DI AgriaAty.. (lTAJ. noting thai this is needed to todde tho d",1Ionge. to food >«urity of IrupKD natioru, and 1M rest 01 the world.
AUGUST 6, 201 2
Agric chiefs commend high quality of research at IITA
He stated th.s during a visit to the fbodan eampui o f UTA last "'eek.. Dr Castillo ....'a~ accol"lIpanied by the Chief ~ ..'Ct.uive Officer of the CG IAR Con;;ortiwn, Or Frank Rijsbmnan; UfA Board Cb3irman, Dr Bl'UCI: Coulman, am.! the
Diru:\on Ge-lcral of two other CGlAR Consortium Centers, Dr Pupa Sed:. of AfiicaRiee aDd Dr Jimmy Smith of the lntcmational Livestock R~ Instilulc (tLRI). He said: "Yo e an; impressed with our [Ilter.:ctions WIth IITA sci· entists and tbf high quality of sci· en« they are doing in various fields. llx:ir dcBJ-ee of commitment and ~o Il [ITA's mission of er.ldieatin;; bur ger and povertY
'-ctr
through
tin s.:ieoce is nothing
short ofalllazbg. We an!; extremely happy ....ith wht \.\~ 've seen during
thinkiog thaI seeks 10 improve this visil" livelihoods. incmI.se incomes and He pamcularly cited [ITA's "food promole sustainable dcvtlopmenL production 5yittms" approach to "In the past. most of the research addressing agJicultural cort5lJ'amts. was centered around eilher comstr=sing thai well a strategy would modities or natur.1l resoun::e mangreatly bcnc:l'it farmrn and help agement, but tbellfOduction system feed the worl !'l growing popula- Bpproach-which brings together tion. atl the components from diiteretlt "Rather !hal, :lddressing agricul- ca\tar-will deliver better impact rum! dc...eklpmct t bottlenecks on ltIl on Ihe livelihoodsofdte poor in difindividual colrunodily basis, the ferent ecosystems. This different ' plUductlOlI S}511:m ' approach into- way of doing things ....ill certainly grnlCS the di1.'tIS! options available bring about solutions that couldn't such as crop in IP 'Q\'ClEflt.. markcts, be achieved on an individual manand naturo l ~iOun:e ~enI, date," Dr Castillo explained. among othas. It is a holistic way of The: CGlAR chief said IhaL he 8y~0IA ~ OMOMDE /JJA'WCX)£
f.lf!
sees UTA pbying a vitti role in leading holistic global research initiatives to rmd workable solutions to the: challenges ofagricultl1r.ll underdevc:1or-mcnt.. food insccwity, and natural ~ degrndation, given its impressive track record of rescarch-based acbievements in sub-Sah:um! Africa. A CGIAR-commi:ssionc:d srudy showed that LITA lUClrCh is resp0nsible for 70 pcro:nt of !he CGIAR's impact in Africa.. ~ProbabIy not the whole solution, but I am sure th3t agricultural rc:sean:h is \-cry much nc:cdtxl to mect these: challCf1ges whether il is
dinwe c:hange, food price \'Olau1ity, energy - food aops being diverted 10 biofuds - and feeding the: gro.....ing population." he added. nTA Board Chainnan, Dr Bruce Coulman. explained that under its new Director General, Dr Nlcr.mya Sanginga. the institute is embarking on a cornprdtensive IO-year Slr.lteBY lhat outlines its bold plans of raising 20 minion ~Ie 0\.11 of poverty and ra:laimU1g 25 million hectares of degr:wIcd land in the tropics including Afiiea.. Asia, and the Latin Amcr1ca by 2020. In the: last decade, dte CGIAR has been undagoing a wide-rang-
'Moringa is a miracle tree'
Anikl Ikel 0 Fonner bonke- and businen 11, spo:ke on the ames a day. I usc: mine twice a day, sugar b'd \\'35 okay. Moringadoes flOCpurgebuti l loo5heoIth benefits and nutritionol sometimes, I taJcc the seed as w~tl You just take it from !be pod aOO es)'OlI"stool lryouusemorinp,you value of morirglL How I 121M in C(lo Lad n1 lh
!\loring.. I got inlroduoc:l to it last year and I'."e'veboo!n tr)i Df! toatale"'"'llt'eIw:s5 abouI ito> usefulnus and bmcfils. On OUTput. lI e have been lelling ()COllie about this mimc e plant, why tbey sboukI plllLt usc: it to inlprove their l-.:a1dl Scm! groups have beat going arocnd du IrChcs too, creating
aoo
chew, like two or tIva:. You can usc il 10 detoxify your body, that is the major thing thai. morlng-. has been known f«. s.m lalking abouIlhe benc:filS, the lndians bdie\.-e it cun:s 300 diseases. nlC)' say it is \'a)' good ror theiT metabolism and even !he World Health Organisalion has done a bit of
resean:h 011
iL
TIle lady thaI ftrSllOld me that 11 raIuced her blood ~ said hcr' doctor c:amc:, took hcr blood ~ It rcdu:cs ~ blood ~ t113l IIJ1d said, whao!, )'Wr blood ~ I Il3\~bcerl ablcbJoonfirm from pc»- 1m gone dov.n. buI: 5hc: did flOC tdl plewlv:l have u~ 1 it and IOId me that, him that she was laking Moringa.. She immediaJcly dC;' s&ancd taking it, saidshetmSlOppCdtakinghe.-dnJp. The diabetic told me that moringa !heir blood ~tt rc:duccd COIlSIdgave him a good ~ and that his """r. It G abo 8O\;d for people who are dinbetic, 3I~ic , because it has a lot Tiny Ic-aVES. of l'iwniO~,,~ it Evcy part of that plant is useful r llw:: oil, the seed, the stem and the 1eN:s. The Indians \IS! it in all their foods and grow It ir:t tim oflica, so that !hey can 1l3\~ 11. bandy. That is why ....'C are tryiog ,n::o.ngc people to plant m:I usc tfUs mincle plant.
..=
The bcu m!:"" n utri tional y:tJue
do flOC need multivitamins because of the oontcnts. II is good f« the f3mily. II IJ'e:lto> gastrie ucler, relieves hc:adaches., bas anli-bacleria aOO anti-flammatory efJ'eets whezI you apply the juice from the leaYCI 10 inscd bitl:s or wounds. It could be usa:! to treat joint paim.
that the universities have a role to play in illl rc:senrch and _\apm<nL Pl l hllng marin..
Enormous benefi ts
to
Our~u.;ed 10 ~
tomIlO.
peppers. obu and spinach at Ihe backyard nnd U.9.~ We are~ ing Nigtrians to pbnt die seeds Ul Dowa- PJlS. It did flOC take time 10
.'
the more time to gcnUnate, buI: I alwa)'$ tell people to
1fI\ . •
•••• = ti l
grow. Youjmt cut the \caves and usc. The Gem 100 is ~ood,jmt boil it and drink. In the 1KlIth, !hey use it like
3 t. .i.l'l''''
food You can dry rh: \ca1'eS under room tempcralUIe, grin:! and use it in your mr:aIs~e~~·~~~.Of~
,
A
~.-~
vitamins and aU essential and amino
He said evoy pan of moringa is rrmicina1 Aa:ording to him, by the:
...
.,
it witinu the pod, ....itlWl SIX wecb, you will rmd your lea\'eSooming out, but by four month!, more leaves will shooc out and you can start harvesting as the leaves come: out. It is s0me:thing you CIIl grow in yoor bIlkxlny. But if you v.'lII1I 10 grow it on a ~StaIc:,you Ic::n~itforsixloeight
I.inw~
~ tUiIM \tIl.e cI h:5on Foodt., by C. Gopob d Ii tuition i-Iormc8on From dIIennt. ~ may vory.
RCllc:lfCbcs
die
whcre the U1l1VUSilies should come in. At the Nnamdi Azikhl.e Unil-ersiry, I Senior L...ccturer, Dr. Nwora Ozumba. has carried out a series of ~hes OIl it. lie is in the Department of Parasitology and Entomology and the: chairman of Moringa Resc:a«:h
If you pbnl
According to him, thefe was a study in Kenya to find OUI ifMoringa leaf pov.'der oouId cure aOO ~
"""""""pod befiR planting
will_,
~use
pod before it st3rts
_ins
malnutrition anKlng nursing mothers.
pn:g:nant womer!, children and uthm . After thn:e years. thl! study revealed thai Moringa could am: and IR"Clt malrrutrition. . A~ to him. Moringa has many IlI.Illitional values. the leaves. pods. }'e3St pov.1kr ~ rich in nutri-
"""'-
"" "..... """"'" '" """"" pod, it t:lkes This: is
~
the seed v.ith
~=""'-
Dr Rijsberman said the reforms would ensure that c:eDlers offer "good value for money," referring to invc:stmen1S by donors to agric:ul. twa! rcsean:h.
alls. He said they IIr'e rich in minerals.
TIle seeds have anti-inflammary properties and can be used for the UCIlJTlenlofboils,arthrititoraamps.. It isuscd inlhetrcarmc:ntofcpil~. The rooIs, borlt and pm ~ highly conocntraIod and IlSCd for cardiac II'Id cirt:u1Mry problems.. Moringa oil is like olh'C oil, you can use it for!iUln1aCh diDdcr. So, thai. is why we can il a tnir.K:1e pbru. It something that-,God has gh'a1 us Iousc:. l bclieo.-e
,:...__--=______________
ing reform process to ~ it IllIn rc:spoosive to the changing a~ turaI ~Iopmenl landscape, POS'tioning itsc:lt to offer grealer impact and imlJrtlve the livelihoods of mLI· 1i00ll of people. One importanl oul· come of the refonn is the agreement by international agrieultllr.ll resean:h centers to wo rk closer logctha' using a common strategy 10 ensure a food ~ fururc: for ilIl, while sustaining the natUJ:II
-.
last count.. they wtrC able to get 98 per cc:nt rnedieinaI remedies from the pbnL l'hc:n: an:: two types of moringa and dIC one: we are talking about is moringa olc:ifera. We get OUTsupplics fronl Hie north. Moringa should be mai7.I; 1Dma\OC$ or pc:pper. It should be rQiily available in the marl:ets; people should be able 10 buy ~ loringa ofNSOorN IOOandUSIC. It is also grown in Ondo. It is not thai people dorI'l know about it, buI: they don 'l \mow the benefits aOO nutritional value. The IectunT also said that moringa. can be used for wata- pw'lfJCation. It is a plant that the e",~t should be mtcfc:slcd in it has so many bc:OCfils. It is a plant that c:an gc:nera1e income ror the COUJ1IJ)'. Training In Lagos We had planned this last year with the supplier from the North but because: of !he: security challenges in the north, we had 10 postpone: it Before the year runs oul, we ....'11 organize • smUnar and before lhat time., we would have gonen dx: NAFDAC ~Ie invol\,M We c:an use maringa forcmpowermalt by training women on how 10 plant and pnXlC$5 it for use. This would help 10 reduce poverty in the COlIllJ)'. If we rultivale and pnXlC$5 as a cash anp. il would boost the live!iho9ds of rural farmers. . _.