Building materials costly due to lack of mass production -Ogunleye ... 2012 Lagos Housing Fair focuses on indigenous technology, housing delivery
romoters of the Lagos Housing Fair have Identified the inabll1ty
affecting the NiBerian ho uslnB sector:. He added that the theme intended to of indigenous manufacturers of direct the naUon's attention to the need bulldlnl materials to go lnlO mass pro- to promote technoloBles that are homeduction as bane of high cost of houses made, sayina hl.! belief Is tha t Nigeria as a country should look Inwards and in the counlTJ. SpeakJna 10 journalists to Lagos at lake advantage of the natural ~urc the weekend during the bricllnt on the es avaIlable tn the country. He said. " Besides, the theme Is meant 12 edItion of LHF scheduled to hold behn!en Apri130 and May 5, Its Chalnnan. to a11o..' stakeholders take stock of all Me MOR!I Ogunleye. saJd lack of ~ issues of housing develo pment and teale production by flrm5 was respon- relate them to Indigenous ledtnolop s ible for high cost of bulldlnl; materlalJ Such issues include buUdinl design. material usage, construction methodand houses in Ntseria. For thls reasons, he explained that ology. capacity development as well as homebuUders a1ways find it easier to research and developmenL" He also expressed worry at the buy forel&f1 products whIch an! cheaper In terms of cost to the detriment of emel"1ence of larae number of uncer· the locaUy made materials tlfied real estate developers who he He pointed out that research has said were involved In cons truction, shown thai the nation Is endowed with adding that the downturn In the coun· abundant natural resourc:es for huUd- try has also affected the abUity to have inI materlals that are better, being en· well trained artisans as their populavironment rHeRdly and dunbJe but tion has continued to dwindle lead ina faUure to 10 into large scale production to Increase In wages charge by various by manufacturers has been a major ob- tradesmen. Thls, he said was respons ible for the stacle.. Ue stated that apathy towards 10- number of substandard buildings in caUy made buUdin, mater-lab like clay the country, saying 2012 houtlnl fair bricks and wood could be changed If would provide forum for cross- fertililovernment set the pace by construct· sation of Ideas among stakeholders in inl all public buildings sueb u offices. the Nigerian building! construction hospital.! and school.! with local prod industry Ogunleye said since LHF started ucts. For thl.! purpose, be saJd the theme 12 yean ago, mort! than 65, 000 people of 2Ol2 LaIDS Housing Fair "Indlg" have visited the fair, assurin, that 2Ol2 enous TecbnololY and Housing Deliv- forum has al50 earmarked special days ery" was careruIly chosen In order to for professional services, materials beam a searchlight on a critical issue day, tee)moIOIY, mortgage finance.
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Experts decry impact of climate change on food security O AYO A YEYEMI
scept urgent and decisive actions are taken at all levels of IOVemment. Ute impact of cllmate change on agriCUltW"e may hJt the coun· try very 8000. The rosul~mln. may be 'or,.an to come. Tbis denc::orH the need for rna.ssM adv and pubUc awareness campa1cn to sensitlse: the populace to the dan,en tnlerent lit these foreseeable weather paiterns. TheR were ~vlews of participants at the Youth adershJp Conference on Cllmate Ch nge and Food Security tlUed, " Our Clup,ate, OUr Food, Our Nation", organJ.seil by the Nlledan Conservation Foundation and OXfam Great Britain Ntleria In La(fOS. SpeaJdna at the oonfenmce which brought together youths of qes. to 20 yean. NCr's Director of TechnIcal ProKramme. Mr Alade Adeleke said thai climate change and agriculture are in· terrelated processes. both 01 which take place on a glaha I ficale. He saJd. "GJobnl warmlng ls project
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eel to have signIficant lntpactS on condi-
tions affecting agrlcultu~ lncludina: temperatW"e, carbon dioxide, glacial run-off, precipitation and the Interac· tlon of these elements. These condl· tlons determlne lhe carrying capacity of the biosphere to produce enough food for human population and domesticat· ed an1mals. The overall effect of cllmate change on agriculture will depend on the balance or these effecta" Givtna the analysis ol agriculture and food situation In Nigeria, the conference's facUJtator, Mrs. Anuoluwapo Aklnola. said that of Nlgerla's 923,768 kilometre AqU3reS vast land, a4 per cent is occupied by crops, 23 per cent by grassland and 16 per cent by foresL Approximately 13 per cent are rivera, lakes and reservoln, and the remaininl I,. per mot falls under other uses. Farm boldlnCS In Nllerla fau into three broad categories- small·scale with 0.1 to 5.99 hectares, medium scale with 6-.99 hectares, and Iarp scaJe with 10 hectares and above. "Small-scale farm holdlnp predominate in Nigeria, accountiRl for 81 per oeot of the toW arta and about 94 per
cent of agriculture output and the commercia) farms producing the remalnin& balance," abe stated. Akinola added that agricultW"e is one 0( the most aiJKted aspectS of human lives becaUH It is climate and weather dependent,aaylnsthat the Impact or cll· mate chanse on food has led to decrease in productivity of crops (such as millet,
sorxhum, sugar cane, yam and maiu), substantial reduction In the production of food crops (avallabUlty and stabUUy) and worsen the nepUve food balance. Participants urged the government to help In promoting school prdenlng pl"Ognunmes while embarkin, on mass campaJgn on hOUHhold energy reduc· tlon lifestyles, and so 00.