DAILY TRUST Thursday, Marc:;h 31,
23
BUSINESS
2011
Business/Agric
Farmers can access 90% of funding through Fadama - Min'ister PIC: SANI MAIKATANGA
From Abdullahi Dare Akogun, lagos
ensure the development of agriculture in the country. THE Minister of State for Agri"The present government is culture and Rural Develop- passionate about agricultural ment A1haji Nojeem Awodele development and to that effect, said the Federal Government is there are lots of ongoing projects commitment to support fariri ~ ' . t6 ensure we achieve our target. ers through the Fadama 'pro"For instance, we ' have 25,OOO-tonne silo located at gramme. Speaking in Abeokuta, Ikene in Ogun State which is Awodele said that farmers aimed at making life easier for would be able to access up to 90 farmers," the minister said. per cent of the funding requireAccording to him, the Fedment for their projects through eral Government has estabthe programme, they in turn, lished a mechanism to mop up would contribute the remain- excess grains from farmers for . storage. Besides, he added that ing 10 per cent. The National Fadama Devel- no fewer than 10 agricultureopment Programme (NFDP) is related projects had been coma World Bank-assisted poverty pleted in the state with several alleviation programme designed others still ongoing. All these, he to improve the livelihoods of the sajd, were targeted at increasing beneficiaries. the GDP and consequently solvThe programme is also ing the current problem of food aimed at developing the nation's scarcity in the country. "The premise- of developagricultural sector. He said that government had ment should be our ability to initiated a lot programmes to feed ourselves;' Awodele said.
Nigeria generates $882, 813 from cocoa export By Sunday William
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THE Federal Government .ras generated $882, 812,813 revenue from cocoa export in year 2010, the Executive Director/CEO, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, David 1. Adulugba, has said. David disclosed tbis yesterday at a two-day roundtable conference on pesticide residues and other harmful substances in cocoa held in Abuja, He said, according to Cobalt inspection service annual report, in 2009, Nigeria earned $66,295,907 while in 2010, it earned $882,8 13 from cocoa and its product, saying that the revenue accounted for about 38% of the non - oil export for the year 2010. He said the bulk of the export went to European country such as Netherlands, Garmany, Spain, Belgium and Italy that form the count ry's major trading partners. According to him, the conference was meant to enlighten relevant ' institutions, importers. marketers, users and other stakeholders on the dangers, and socio-economic implications of using harmful pesticides on cocoa, non compliance with Maximum Residual Levels (MRLs) as well as addressing various
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He said the new legislation on MRLs has affected some conSignments of cocoa beans entry into EU countries, Japan and United State of Americas due to bigher concentration of pesticide residues above theMRL "Monitoring and enforcement of the relevant regulatory and legal provisions gUiding the international market access for Nigerian cocoa is highly essential" he said. David said government has continued to encourage the development and promotion of cocoa and cocoa products for the export market through non-oil in<;entives, like Export Expansion Grant (EEG) , capacity building along value chain, improved infrastructural facilities and operational environment to make o ur products more competitive in the international market. He called on other exportable sectors to contribute to the development of agricultural products for food sufficiency in the domestic market and value added agro products for export, saying thalit would create more jobs, promoted industrialization, earn more foreign and advance the course of Vision 2020:20.
108 youths trained on hand pump repairs From Halima Musa, Kano UP to 108 yo uths were trained on hand pump repairs maintenance and slab maJqng in five local government areas of Sokoto State. This was contained in a press release made avai lable to Daily Trust in Kano. The skills acquisition training was organized by a Kano based
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Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN). Speaking while distributing the hand pump repairs stool to the trainees in Shagari during the World Water Day, the Executive Director ofWOFAN, Haj ia Salamatu Garba, said the training was aimed at empowering the youth towards income generation and also to make the service readily available for the sustenance of boreholes and hand pumps in the area, "this will help in sustaining our project of drilling and maintenance of boreholes and also serve as source of income to the
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She said WOFAN in co.llaboration with USAID would also drill about 48 boreholes and 126 compartment toilets in 26 communities of Shagari, Wamako, Kware, Silame and Bodinga local governments, "WOFAN and USAID are co- funding the drilling of water and sanitation facilities in 26 communities, clinics
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and schools in 5 LGAs namely: Wammako, Kware, Silame, Bodinga and Shagari as pilot in the phase 1 project. A total of 48 boreholes and 126 compartment toilets will be constructed. According to her the project aimed at "ensuring access to safe drinking water particularly the children who trek long distance daily in search of water.