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ffifE GlIARDlAN, 5t.lnda)I October 21, 2012
BUSINESSAGRO By FdJIan Odunt GRKlJLlURE .lnd Rur.lI Developm~nt
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Minister, OLAJdnwuml Adesina hilS eclar~ that the nallon ls rMooling to dr.aJ with the realities of climate change In the country W l Is fiKing stYr~ Hoodi ilnd in the spirit of the World Food Day to (omull imy shortfalls In food supply: He saki though lhe~ may be fe;lf5 of food shortage as.l result of the Hood, there wu no nenI to panic urdng the business communIty (0 ilvold spKUbtlon on food prices. He
FG Assures On Food Production, FIIRO Supports Processing Clusters Lagos To Open Fanners' Marts November
exte;ndl ng fl n.lnwl services ilnd lo.ans to the;m through MlcrofiR.lna Banks. Loans r.mglng between N30 000 to N500,OOO will be disburw:! at a Sing1 e digit Inte;Il'St rate to (",adng iI ferti le environment thai would put Econo m ic Inlemt Groups and SMEs t hat severe pressure on food prices through paniC haVl! acquired one AIRO tKhnologyor the buytn~ hoarding by fooi:l mrrchanlJi, specula. other. Howeve r, the application ofblolKhnology live: pnclng and anlfidally Jacking up of prices of fOod Items. For suples, which hapIn food productlon,the A£rk Mlnlster.said would ;tSSume; a gnate;r dImension especialpen to be of g!'e.ltest demand, rnr situollion Iywith the Incre.lslngVillpriesofwe,llner on the ground leave> no room (or p.anlc,R .lnd burgeoning hUrNn population espeAdesin.t said. d.llly in d~loping countries like Nigeria. In wgos, Governor Babatunde Fashololls Meslna, who hasDl'-en on tour of the encoUfiI£lng the" fonnation of more farmers' states for on-thMpot .lSse5Sml!nt of some of coopHiIilw:s to In order to have them work out a synergy to he ir them fu lly lap Into the benefits o f the Stolle s farm esUtes.. The lagos State Commlsslonerof Agriculturt. Mr. Gbolahan lawai said the Sliite Governor Is emphasising on fann clusters In these eslil tes In lkorodu. Epe imd Badagry divisions because I.tnd RSOurce Is better man· aged that way and GlpaCiLy building In are.s of compar.auve amntage is lever.ageci In a similar vein. the Feder.allrutltute of Industrial ~arch, Oshodl (AIRO) h.s identified agro-processlng duste.rs.s way to boosl agrtcullu~ and tKhnology. the tool 10 cut post harvest losscs In the country. Dirrctor-Gener.al of the Institute Dr. (Mrs) Gloria Elemo said AIRO as agency under the Feder.al Ministry ofSdence and Tec h nology; Is playing a key role In ensuring that small ho ld· ers coopt:r.atlve associations maki ng up the p.-ocesslng clusters become nposl tloned to O'II1!rcome constr.Jlnu that hinders them from naping the fruits of their labour. In a new programme, the flood recovery food production Inltialfve, the federal g~m men! will embaric: on the Immedlale distribution of quick-maturing secdlin~ for farmers 10 get a foothold on urm production u soon u the WOlter rt«des and the extent of damoiIge Is assessed. Wtth changing ~ather pallems, the MlniSler said poliCies would be deve lopt'd for pro<ectJng farmers from the Impacts o f climate dlange, especially droughts and flood5. I ll' added that the weather-Inoex crop Insurance schemes for fanners would be scaled up. Mrs Elemo r~led that Bank of Industry (Bol) h.u expressed Iu desire to work with FtIRb In widening lu network to rtilch small holders ilt the 'bottom of the pyriImld' by ailed on thl!' m edia nOl togo intapanlc n~
thilt would filise fNn. -rhls ls becau~. these have the polentl.11 of
Akinjide Wants Agro-Based Industries In FCT Fro m Terhemba Oak&, Ahuja 'Tl-IE Minister of Sate for Feder.al upltal ~ Tmitory(FCI).OIajumokeAktnjldeh.u urged the privoille sectocloe;stllblLsh.lgrD: ba.srd Indusrrles In the tl'rritoryas part of dlons to i~.ue food production. The mlnlSler, who made the call .II the lOll Worki Food~y nlsed by the Federal Mlntsuy of lUre .lnd ltur.al Dew:!opme:nl,.l· mat food produc· don should not be the sole responSibility
of the ~rnment alone. She nored that the new policy thrust of government was 10 e!flpower the fanner groups and the; pnVille sectoc to drive tfie agricuhural Ir.ansfonn.ltion ~
~ challenge before us Is to produce food for the ~eemlng popu~tton In this coun~ "!"':'IS should be ~n .lS the responslbihtyof the; governmenl alone. -rhe prtv.ne sector should GIlle up the
the flood-a ffected.liUS, said everything Is being done to reduce; farmers' losses, distribute riff eil rly-m.lturl ng p lilflt:i ng materi.lb and olher in puu to red uce; Impact of the disaster. Of peculia r note however, Is thilt the Sffdllng Viuietles wou ld be able; to r(':Slst flooding In farmlilnds.. In the pasto ne~k.Adeslna rnoe;aled that over 20,000 MT of rice seed. enough to plant <4 00,000 hectares of rice unnlands In Rood affected art.u h.lve t:w:e:n mobilised from within and outside the country. This will allow the production of 1.2 mmlon MT of rice; gr.aln. The affected urml'rs will rKe;rve flood·mlstant rice VilIrlWe;s obcalned from
challwf!:e of embllshlng a~ Indusml'S In KT In putkular. since there a~ mmendouS potentlals.lnd l'laborale m.uketlng outlets for these produru: wid A1dnJlde, who was represented by her Spedoil! ~~Glnt on Aru Councils, Mr. f'tte;r She ilSSUred that the FCT admlnlst.r.1tion ....-asrtadytorollaboratewith any viable group 10 promote agricul· tu~ in the nauon'~ caplul. p.1nlcu!arty In the .lrtas of impl"OV'td fann Inputs dlstribullon, tractor hiring services, produce m;uketlng and otherVililuech.lln proce;sses. "We h.tvl' rtgistered In IhI! R:T, 8000 cooperative societies of different economic background. These Include pri!Tl.ilry. Sl'COndary .lnd apex cooperative organisalion WIth tOlilI membership of aboull.2 million. -rhe FCT has illrl'ildy keyed into the N!;rIcuJtural Thlruformatkm t\ge;nda (ATA) of thl! prese;nt Admlnlstrallon, and ls at the fortfront. Under the GlU'Nth Enhilncement Scheme{GES). FCT has $ul1o'l')"l'd and capturtd 0Vl'f ~O,OOO f.rmers in IU cLit'a ~nk. Of this number, .:I. toul of ()\II!r 3&,000 farmers have beneflled from l.279 merrlc 10rmes of .usoned fe;nillscrs oind Improved seeds," Aklnllde ~aled
GfS Is one of the key Initiatives under the Agricultur.aJ Transfonnatlon Agenda aimed OIl rcvoilmping tht .lgricuhure seelor, e.nsuring food security, diversifying the economy; and enhancing foreign exchange earnings.. The; minister advised slTloilll-sale fanners to unlle and fonn vt.lble; commodity groups 10 moUlmlse their l'JllRprmeunhlp.
the; Intematlonoll RJce Rtsl'olTCh Centre in the Philippines .lnd Rangladesh. The MiniSter .lSSured tholt, -We; shall not luve.l food msiS or famlne_ We will rec~r from the flood. And to mitigate the losses, the Ministry of Agriculture;, under the Instructio n of the President, hilS also SKUred 100 MT of seed of utra-earlymatur. Ing nulze;, which malUm In 60 days,to plant ~SOO ha of farm l.lnds In affected arta5. • BUlin a move 10 ameliorate the p;!:ln of consumers getting to fann gates for fmh produa at compffitive prices,l...lgos ~riC Commissioner Qld two mort Farmers man In addillon to the one In A1aUSil_lkeja would be opened In Aj.lh .lnd Surule;re before the; e;nd of Nove;mber.
Poulny Stakeholders Canvass Egg Consumption Among Children By Oluwakeml "lanl ~ boost
he.ahhynurrltion In ~ Nigerian chlldrrn, Novus Iml'm.ltionalAssodaTJon in conlunction with Norgem Nlgaia and Poultry Association of Nixma has advised mothe;rs to fm;] their wardswlth one egg a da)t At..ln l'Yf'nt to rommemor.lte World Egg Day 201l, Managing Dil'KlocofNovus IntmlatlonaL Mrs. Amalea Nwoga saldthoit the nutritJon<ll benl'fit'i of egg among chlldrtn (dnno! beovn-empha-
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She; said: "Eggs are one of the most nulIiltous and economical foods to produce and purchase.. TheyGln help 10 fight rNlnulIition.lnd SI<l.rvatlon. PilIYRts, cWI. dfftl and educators and adults nm;]10 know lhe Importma of eggs In a hl'.llthy dia.One egg conalns 0 essential viGlmlns;md miner.lis Including viGlmin D, which can benefil people of any
afq:~lk Is an ace:llent source of chorine, an essential nutrient thai conrrlbules to brain development and helps prt'Yt'R1 btnh defectS among wome;n. "Eggs provide high quality [lro<e;fn-to people MryWhe;fl'. EggS an more vt:rsatile, with euy prtpar.al1ons~ ed in evnycultureat any meal She noted lhat an egg a day might ~t brtast cancn and tn.Ktilar
dege;nera:tIon due; to thecarotenokl conte;nt. Mn. Nwoga SOlid that the pu~ of tJle progr.lmme Is to educate and promote the hl'illth benefit of egg consumption In the body. The ~nt was organi~ in line; with Nows' vision to reed the world with affordable food In onkr to achlew iI better quality life among children. The progr.JmmewimesSl'd large number of puptls from dlff~t public.lnd private schools in ~gos nle;chlef executive said that no food conalru so molny key ingredients like! egg and thai helps families keep healthitAnOther e;xrcutivt of Novus, Mr. "yodele Ogbodo said thallhey have been org'lIRislng the progr.amme for the past three years ilnd one of the chaflmges they have raced 0Vl'f the ~n is 10 change Ihe; perception and attitude oflhe adullllov.-;II'W eggs. "Some adults bellew when tfi~clock 40 ~.ln. egg no mort add value to their he.llth. ~ try to
ili~~r:~~e;h~ki~~on
adulu." Lagos Sate Poultl')l Association Chairman, Mr. ..-.dedOlUII Ntboio comrrtellded the sponsors Tor their suppon these past thrft years. He saId that one oTme gift nature h.u gI~n us Is egg, advt:ring the ~n$ ones 10 imbibe the oiInitude of l'olbng an egg dall):