I
20 BUSINESS
THE GUARDIAN, Monda}>: October IO.2011
Agbekoya farmers group bounces back with Nl.Sb projects
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nu=miario~ has enlbukonNLSbllUooCOlnmcrdaJ Mning projects In nine SIiJtI5 to dlCnexlfM..jie.n
The National Publicity Secretary of the a ssociation, Chief Olatullji Bandele, d isclosed this In ol sratement issued in Lagos. on 'Nednesda¥ lie said that the prolretts would be sited in ~ ~me states In th e South-West zone, Kogi, Edoand KIva"" D..lndele said that rhe proJects \\IOuld in~l\'e lhe culiivadon of 45,000 hectar~ of cash crops like GlS!>a·'iI. maize, sorghum. ya m, nee. beans, oil palm ,md pepper: "Mbekoya already idendnetf'local markets and Internatl onal bulk buyers ror so me of these crop~: he said. He saId Lhal tI ' e p rolects would hll'ol ~ tll epurc~of modem ag licultual equipmenllike rractors, jllough, riggers,. piantef'!';. harv5.etS. bun· dozers and trucks. ~rhe pro}ect was ' nitiated to trcmsform lhe agriru lturnl sec· to r of the econOln' I ;U part of the ;modatloll'$ w ntrlbuuon to national dewlol'ment and produnion offood for UIl~ ConsumptJon of Nigerims and for
has
"PO""This
new ly nobranded
AglJekoya Fanne-rs \ssociatlon Is now poised IV th a new rnind.sel of nO( Just a pressuno group. But a prOductive entity and upgraded group that has the consciousness (·fllS role in the scheme of nali" nal alTairs. especiallya$f1cultu re. "Our miSSIOn srat·~mem is to ~ a hub of Internedlate for the Nigerian agriC'Jlrural sectot for a sustainable commer· etal (amling practk~. Also, it Is tOMke a balance tl'l\\'ftn the econom ic needs. ru --al prospe-rity a nd d l!Velopnem with
prtSelViltion of th~ environ-
ment,"hesaid According to him, lhe agro. input (entr~and farmers mar· ken would be established across the local government areas, lust as the fanners would have access to soft loans at low Interrsl rates over a period of five to seven ~.lJs. He urgm the federal and Stale Governments, international agendes and agricu ltural d~ lopment bankS {O partner
culture, green en~ and provi de green jobs. ~ I t (go~ment) must focus on r~ucing deforestation. mu ltiple w:a:.ion and also concemrate efforU on m1tigatin~ the effects of dlrnale change, he said
feeding the tl!'eming Nigerian
population. Bandde said that the .u:soda-
lion, being an offshoot of
~bekoya Sod~
had a popu-
Ialion of over 25,000 !amlers
across thC' South-West.. It was r~lstered as the Nigeri2n UnIOn of Fanners and Hunters in 1938. Meanwhile, a tOJ> official of AdionAld tntemallonaJ, Jaspe r lauridsen, has urged the r'«leral Government to pr!orllise its deve lopmenlil l needs by investing in sustainable agricultureand grten elleTglt laurldsen. a specialist on Innovative Natio nal Development Strategy, rnade thecall on Wedne:sday,InAbuja at sta keholders consultative forum organised by Act:IonAJd Nigeria. According to News .-\gency of Nigeria, he said that for Nigeria to attain itS goal o f being one of the world's best KOnoml~ by yra r 2020, the gOW'm rnent need ed (0 refocus on agricullureand lIle environment_ "r-or self·rellant growth of Nigeria, the government must engage in stimulus spending for low carbon development. Investment In stlStlirnble agO-
~
SenIor Special AIMser on S1TlIlqy 10 !he Presldenl. 0r0n!0 ~ (lch); Prosidtn. Nigeria Brilain Assodallon (NBA).T..... Arogunmali; British £koputy High CornmIssImer, RoI*l@NyrnandVice PalfQn, NBA. ~~. _I !he association's Enrerprtse IJiaIo&ue. in lagos.. recently.
World Bank earmarks N4.7b for infrastrure, agric in four states 'PI. JfINNA, Oct. 7 JY.bOIl(NAN) The World Bank has approved N4.7 billion gr.mt for the construaion of rural roods in fourst<lto to fast track development and encourage agricultural activities in lilt' counrry. Mr Nicolas Pertiera..lhe Bank's team leader for rura l aCCeSS
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benefits must be consider-al. "Also, social protection and Lhe need to promote women's rights, by engaging women ill policy making decisions and decent work contracts with benents afe necessa ry,- he
to provide employment for millions of Nigerians, besides
N500,OOO for
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fi nancial Konomk, food, and sodal crisis GlUsed by the tradl· tiona l model and practice$ of governance. "Folir employment, dKent ....'{Irk and farr wages. using the imemJdonal laoourslamlards for wages, com missions and I
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l..1uridsen also dted universal access 10 public hulu!, edUc.ltion, socL111usdce and employment opponunities wl lh ~ benefll5, as ~uimnents for manpowerdevelopment. '"We need to come up wllll multiple alterna tives to face
Abu'-. Nigeria.
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road s monitoring projects. disd osed this on l llUrsday In Mi n na, during a counesy call on Niger acting gOVl!mor. A1hall Ahmed lbeto. . ' The World Bank 15 emb,ukIng on the construction and rehabilitation of sdected rural roads in four siaies of the fed· efiltion as pan of ilS comprehensive efforts at opening up ru ra l areas and enhancing agriculrural activities. ~ Pertiera who did flO( mendon lhe three stales that would bene6t with Niger under the pllot scheme,,saii:l that the four SGlIt'S \~uld benefit from lIle JIS million dollars granL - -nle World Bank has seta51de Ule sum for tile construction of 200 ki lometres rural access ro.Jtls In each of the four stales within a period of six montl lS- ~ He said that out of the amount, the World Bank Wa5
contributing N2.9 bil· lion (JI9srn ) while the French interna tional devdopmem agency wou ld conllibule NI.8 billion (J120m~ l'erdera said that ca re would be mken In selerong the prot~ to ensure that only communities with hig!1 agriculruroil potentials beneflt In order to encourage fanners access 10 the marKet:. • ' The project Is another-wayof allevia ti ng JlO"'erty because we discovered that m ost people In Ihe rural a reas do n't have ;t(Ce5S to sell their farm produce due to bad roads, ~ he said. lie urged the benelillngslate$ 10 collaborate with the world Bank, .saying that any Sla te Ihal completes its 200 !un rura l f~er road n~k with in six monUls deadline would enjoy addi tionallncemi~s.
Bank would maintain the roads [or five yt'ars after co.... struni on before handing tllem 0V(>f to lIleir respective Slates as part of con nd ~nce building m(!(:hanism. Res:pondi ng.lbeto assured the World Bilnk tea m of g~ rnmenr's determinol.rio n to pannerlVi th development agendes 10 fitSt tr.Kk IlS vision 20:2020 dn-elopmcot agendoi using agricul ture - -111i5 ~OI't'mment intends to use agncullUTe to develop the state and we are ready to panner Ihe World Bank on all con· didons nteded for th is pro;' ect: he saId. He co mmended Ihe World Bilnk for Incl ud ing Nigerln the programmt'. itddlng 111<11 the slate road rehabili tati on agen cy wo uld maint.1in th e road once II is handed OVt'r 10
Pertiera said that the World
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