DAILY TRUST
Tuesday, . 5eptember.27. 20 11
Bus.iness/Agric
'700,000 farming families targetted for food security' The National Programme for Agriculture and Food Security (NPAFS) is the federal agency tasked with attaining food security and food sustainability for Nigeria. In an interview w ith Daily Trust in Abuja, the natio nal Programme Coord inator of the project, Abdulaziz Mohammed speaks on the activities of the NPAFS, excerpts: 8, nna A. Hasnn WHAT arc rou dolr!g to CRli Un- food S«\I rit),! We are goring all our programmes and proj«t.~ towards \'alue cluin addition because for us. this has bern ourconctpt all along.
AD our Interventions have: alwa)'S be:en along the v:Uur mrun :tddition. We hm'l!; bttn lookingatlhe production proccssc:sofCassava. Rkc. Cotton and Cocoa among others but we ha\'l!; also been looking at other crops because our main focu.~ is IOod securit)', We: ha\'C also been looking at suppan In
Vacancy A new M aorinanee Dank to be situated . related industry. Must have worked In in Kadun=t wishes to recruit staff In the the Uu man Re so urce/A d min
foll owinl' calegories:
Departmental a medium siled Organization
Head Bu;; jneu DeyeloQ.!I!ruJ!
QualifiCi tions A ,ecognised uniV1!rsi tv t1c@ree or Its equ iva l'!nt and or pro fess ional
qualifica jon with at least 5 years pest-
HeadofTreasurv A recognised unlver sltv degree or its equiva len t and or professiona l qualification with ilt least 3 years post-
q'J<1lifica jon experience in banl-:ing or rel'lted IltdHstry
qualification eJlperience in a Bank's
I! ead o f l~
Markeung and Loan officers A retognlsed University degree, HND, OND or equivalent with at least oneIl) year post qualification experience_ Those with experience in marketing in a mictofinance institution or a bank are encouraged to apply.
B.t.~nents
A reccgnised univel'sity degree or its equillill'! nt and or pro fessi onal qualifica~ion with at least 5 years postqualmca jon experience in banking or related iudusLry
Internal Auditor R:eauirl!:lnents Same as above. E)lperlence In a recognis!d auditing firm or a Bank's audit d1martment will be of great man1ill:e ~I\d min and tluman Resgurces
ReQYirel nen15
A rerogllised universltv degree or its equival!!nt an d or professional qualifiUl 'j on with at least 3 years postqualifica tion experience In banking or
Treasury Department.
Operations Funds Transfer, Customer Service Officers (CSO), cashiers/ Tellers. Same as above wi th at least f2) years experience in a similar estalJlishment.
Remune ration for all positions: Competitive but not below industry average. All applications should be submitted on or before October 4", 2011 to the following email address: hrmanager,endwel1@8mail.co~
Icrmsofl'roduction using Iml'ro\~ t«hnoIogics. suppan ill terms of procc:s.(lng and marketing. These are alilhe ac:tiOlU tNt ale Ix:ing taken along the \'llIue main. The N~Uonal Programme for Agrkultun: ant.! Footl Security (NPAFS) is fashiOllai to support SllIalUJOIder fanncrs along the value chaln.50 \\'l!; ha\'l!; very Uttle problem aligning with the r'Cda;tl Gmunmcnts pcrspcctive b«au.sconr strategies for attaining food security areaJso in tandem with tlletransl'onnation and ~ rn'Oiution tlm tlle federal go\'Cfnment is focu.~ing ()II. \ VJla t do lOU hope to adLie\'C In Nr AFS In the nut 2.))'CU'5? Our target in NPAFS is to re3th 700,000 fanning families annually. Although we are
constrained financially; WI;! are hopefl~ that thl~ target would bcn:aliz.ed. SLiJIon valuc-a4dition, whallU'e tl ttactivilks undertaken by NPAFS prescnO)'! Along lin the four chains of nJue :tdrlilion suc:h IS rrotluction, pnx.essing. markctingand stor.lge. ....'C ensure Ol3t W~ mrich each chain and proville opIbnum suppan to fannen In Imnsofhow tl-.cycan gel inputs and other
a..ss.eu In lIgricultUre: production.. Wc!!.lso take panacti..-dy In theproduction Jlf'XC$I' bcausc right nowwe: an: In the procCSII of developing 30 rrt)CC.'<,Sing Industries; eight (or cassava, M'Cn for ria:. thrtt for nonna! grain!! mills,~" for grtIUn(lnut oU threshing. tv." for p;ilm oil:md two for rlS!t. Th~ art: the m<ljor- processing areas ' \'l!; are promoting In conjunction willi the Bank orlndustry (BoI) on a Public, Privatc Partnership (rpp) arrangement..
VI'e: aK ahio Ole promoters of Oll-fann stomge. We ha\1' profl1otN on - f~nn stOr.lges of one: to Iv." tons of gr:WIS in our on-fann f~ctlJties. We~aIso promotcrsofmarkcting. There are ;Ktivities we: bave donev.ith respect tomarketing that ha\'l!; a.<SI5ted (armers using mod-
em information communk::ation te'ch nology where: information on m~rkclS 3CTOM the country is prm1ded 50 thCTC is no chahl that we' ha,'I!' oot CO\'I!'mf. What do l"0u mean by oo·(ann storage! On-farm SI0f'3gt 15 the prmisioo of SUrfX' sllJrnge facilil)' {or farmttS to keep th eir rroduceafler harvest aU w~)'of pftSeninggrains and walt for a beller markct where th ey Clll make better gain 50 we: provide support tolocal farmers to own al -5 tons of storoge facUity 3t home or on 1M funn. What isNPFAS doing 10 encoun.gc: JoaJ hmlCf'5 and 10 promole food K'CUrily? We are: giving support to farTUm In fonn of groups and the message \\'I!' an: gMng 10 the: f:umcrs Is that they can OWn coIkctk'l!' aS5CI and they can u.scthdraS5CI to better their Il\-es. f-or instan<e, if SO''Cfllmalt supporu farmers groups in tllt: arca5 of production and. pmcrssingor fund" Ihe benend aries are apcctc:d lu shafC the IJenent among thansclvt:s, the funds ClJI go round inform of a
mlcrocreditschemewllhin Ihe grour 50 th~l
IlCf50n
once you benefit, )'Ou allow lInothcr 10 IJeneflt so that the initiath-c ,,~d 1;t\'I!' sus-
tai1lability. In n-cry aspect of our opcrnt.iofl, \\'C arc: protnoting 5ustainabiJitr.Thc:a.\Sct Ule: (armers ha\'I: ",uu1d be: there: fur them 10 keep on $haring fOr all tinle: alw.l our m;tinl:llgct to c:nsurc: 5UStalnabWty bccaust this Is how \\'(' Qn ha\'C mon: ranners joining the grou~ this 15 how Olinll5ucceedcl. 1101'1 has Illis r rogmnnl1~ contributed to
food 5ccurity In Ni~eri:l! We h:l\'I!' conlributtd ImmenSC'ly and \\'1: hOl.\'I: a lot of suc:a:ss stories to tell. \Ve help Ir Improve the O\-crall pnxluction acthitie5 0
our f~m1efS, rWu(e poverty and ....'I!' would continue 10 heir promote thoc: key indicators offood security in Africa so tllat l)CoPIc: can aITord to bu)' food. be able 10 feed litml.o;ch'l:S and alsoalTord tosend tllcirchildren toschool