14
T HENAT10N FRIDAY. ocroBER 5.2012
AGFIO" 13USINESS
Experts caution exporters on preservatives o A T
pftVel'LI their produds from Ileing rejected ahru;-d ." er the use of tainted n"l~j~L1ts. food expert have b.:en :J.d .. ited to seek enlightenmtr>t on proper use of preservilL\I~5.
Presiderl Fcd.)ration of African Nulrit.ch Societies (FANUS). Pn·( Tala Alinmo urged t'1E~1r to u!;.e only quality raw materials,
Atinmo.1"
~r(fessor In
the
Depart.n,rt of luman Nutnlion, University 'll (hadan, said more ep.'igtitl!nment was needed (on ~n~nagemenl of
Stories by D!lntel Esslet,
Agrll: COIIHpondent
.:ompounds causing taints and oJrf-navours in food. Many food products have tai led to make 10reign markets to r not complying with higher standards of (ood safety. President of the '-iycotoxicology Society of Nigeria, Or. Orusegun Alanda sai d ensuring food safety is e ruaat. if the agricuJlure sec to r wished to e"'pcmd export tTilde A lecturer in the Department f Bio.-ScienCi!S and Bio- Technology, Babcock University, Prol 4
Dele FaP2hunda, said since the majo r dlrficullies fndng food export businesses relale to the quality of products, adding that the government should ensure businesses strictly Implement Inlernational standards, to avoid having their products seized. He urged the government to strengthen the agric commO(Ii· ties and food exports inspection system to eMure that what IS taken out meets international standards. He said consistent rules for the mdustry will make food expor1 safe.
IFAIl> community programme reaches l.3m people HE lln tenu tional Fund for ~g~~cuHurll Development {IfJlnHttr borted Cammunily ~ "glidlUuraJ and Ru· faf De'le'cpme,' progrllmme (CBARD~I has tl-ached 1.3 million rur~1 dwe lers in Kebbl, Ka\.sina a,l-td Z" Ifam slates, all offidll sa C The IFAD rowney representative, ~15 ),I;w. J fQda, made the statement 'n I1inin Kebbl while addresji~lr tile wrap·up pro· granullf.' 0 : the l!(l N / IfAO superVision rni.!",on II the stites She said ;SO 5,10 women. representing .11.5 I e cent, benefitted fromthCpmgnn memlhestates. Sht'said L,:l15 rll ral commwl1ty groups al..,. bt n fitted from the programc". w h te 543 commu· nity infrn"trucl ure were pro·
T
vided. Ille reconstruction or h and pumps, boreholes, water supply. pipe exrension and commUnity wells were the highest ..,umber of infrastructure provided benefiting communities, .,yhile 1,509 JObs were provided In 2012. -rite programme re::orded increase of income from '>etween 50 per cent and 60 p6 ~t through vocahonal skills InJuced by the programme," she ldded . Toda said lhere was 200 per cent increase in rice produc· lion, sorghum, recorded 94 per ."ent, while millet rose by 179 per ""'l She said maize production attained 67 per cent; cowpea,192 per ::ent; groundnut,lOO per cent, and ;oya beans, 52 per cent. Tada said the programme expe-
rienced capacity gaps, such as the lack of standardiSation of agricul twal enterprise activities and in· m.stnlCture scheme, busiJ1ess.orienled management training for agricultural ilnd non-agricultul'ill enterprises. She also said the capadty g.. ps included the lack of engagement with P.1rtners and private servICe pn't\'idt>r, and the lack of financial management for siale programme supervlSJon offK'efS, local government and community develop" me nt associalions. The pro-gramme being implemente<t in seven stales covered the period between 2005 to 2012.. The process of wrap-up was expected to be concluded between March and September 2013. 4
Kaduna's untapped agrie potentials GRICULTURE accounts for an estimall!d 56 ~ cent of Kaduna's Gross Domestic
,nd
product (GOp) ""pi"", 'ppm"",,"'y """ million 1""P'"
Ka:duna produces 22 per cent of the countly's mai7.e, (f} per emt of soya bean.36 percent orcottm and 10 pt'r cent of ground nuts ~. nuts) and the stale trades' agricuJ· tUr'il1 produCE' 10 neighbouritlg states. The sectur ,is dominatal b)' wet seiI5(Jll plantmg and an im· ga ted dry season planting. Most fanners currently produce cereal crups such as mau:e, MWgtrum. mll· let ilnd ri(p d uring the nun} sea· son. Cere81 crops are exported 10 surrounding states and are an important 5O\.UU! of cash. Kadtma is one ol the largett prodUCi!lS of rice in Nigeria it exports subsbnHal quantities (0 oilier Nigerian slates and other Jl(.oighbouring Af· rican ruuntries. The state is also a n impomnl p roducer of fruits and v~ies. The gu\'enur'lmt of Kaduna Stan.- has laudable polices keared tov..ards intense agnculfural aet h"llles ostensibly a" a nlt'ans for reducing the le\'el of roulh unempluyment. giving im· ~ 10 the factors that ~ rapid 5QCio-ecanomic transformation and the provi5ion of strong base ror U'le liike-off of industrial rcvo-lution GO"emor Patrick Yakowa is ~tted 10 addre5Sin~ the relative .lack of mveshnent m agriculture by reactivating the elttension !iervkes to open more opportwtities to tht' teeming unemployed youth and the fanners loCked in medieval agricu ltural practice This is aimed at s Iimulating ~wth. Since the ina.'P.tion of the administration, boib the peasant lind the medium scale fa.rmers have been the rU.1jor focus of the Kad una Stale A~~ltutal DeveI.. opment Project(KADP). Some of the yearly activitics being ~ued v>g""",,,y by !he KADP. include sales and supply of agricultural inputs such as Seeds, imga.tion pum~" knapsack sprayers and agricultural Chemicals at government approved subsid v ofbctween 40 and 60 per cent to support the la~. To ensure goolr~ity seeds, the state govmvnenl tn col·
ana
laboration with lhe Institute of Agricultural Re$earch (JAR) and Agricultural Seeds Council. seils improved varieties 01 seeds during
oeonmcl ' r .lrick Y.-.kow. of ""dUM S bl "
By Daniel Euiel
the planting season. Fadllma m PfOJec1, I World Bank Assisled Project is being implemented in Kaduna in rullaboration with the Federal Government in aU II-'e 23 local government i1J1'S'IS. The deveJ. ~t obp!cli~'e of the Fadama m I~ is to il'lCJ'l'a5e the inalmes of users of rural land and waler resoun:es on II sustainable basis. The state government is committing N-15 million warly while the 23 l.GA> 1"1' Nt miIIloo _ to ensure effective impk!rnentation 0( the .Pro;ect in the state.. Significant achil!\'ements Ita ve been made in the area of improvement 01 rur.J1 infrastructure, which indudes IXIJlstruction of eight Fadama. mads 01 over JO kilometres and 100 market stalls as demanded by the project beneficiaries. The ~( is ~tingil:smaniiateof ~
tog inaemental food and eash crop production through rain-fed and dry.!leilSon iI~lttn!, 115 wcll as livestock, fislleries and honey production. which hils undoubt· ed.Iy in::reased the fanners lot and improved the their overall stand· ard of living. To this end, the 5mb! government ha5 called on invesIDr:s and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the agro bu.s.iness 0pportunities thai abound and the business climate to come and in· vest. Conrerted error1$ have also been made to boost Inhastructutal facilities.
'Why Nigeria needs a oFrom CO"'llt.nl" CMO. Auoc:i.tion of N1s"rl. (CANI, Rob!! AdhlU"; World Coc:o. Fedl!n.lion Preid"nl Bill Gapo .. : CAN PIl!Sidl!nl S.yln. Rlm.n and CAN Dh'Ktor of Publicity Godwin Ukwu durinl " ... i~i l by CAN officl.l. to lYe,', h""dquulul in Wuhinllon
Slcllkoeholders x-ray Moringa potential crnluries by rural dwellers as a saladlike me.lI (kwado) or in aoups (miyan zagalll) and as a pot herb, until the n.nnt dl$lCO\o~ 01 Its otIlC1" benefits It}t reseilfCIlefS. lie noted thai the ~t.. grown IJI home gardens 01" as living fftw:e. the leaves are commooly sold in local manets m many fOflM. l ie explairoed thai recent, scien· tific r~arch classified Monn8'l i1S a very versatile plant as everythmS about it was useful in one ~.Y or the other, from its lellve! to lIS roots. The elI:('Clllive secretary said the phtnt was discovered to contain specific antioxidants and health romoting mgredients thai ofr.ered veritable allswefll to malnutrition, hunger and diseases.
national dairy plan'
T
o meet 1M groWtng demand
for milk, the Federal Gov· ernment has been urged 10 ~mbark on a Nahonal Dairy Plan. /I. consultant to Gennlln International CO-Oper<ltion (GIZ) Sustainllble Cocoa BusIness programme. Mr Oayo Mejabi Ekundayo, told TIlt /'IIIIDf1 that the ph," would enable locaol producers 10 meet the growing demand for milk. Accordinji; 10 rum, Ihe consumplion of diliry producu has been growin5, e"'ponentially" He said the industry needs 10 be positioned to provide Ih'ellhood to Nit\eriiUlS aOO ensure supply of qUllhty milk and milk product> Ekundayo, who is the Managmg DirCt:tor, Agncultural Business Ccmc:ep~ Urrtiled, said consumers are de.manding qUlllity food products sud! as mHk and other (fairy products. Accordmg to him, local opera· lors are yet to build vaJue into the
supply cham to increilSt' mIlk 1:1>11"umers' conridl!J1ce In the mdu .... try and reduce milk processors" current reliance on Imported
I'ltW
malerial!' He Slid local operalors need to invesl in the development of value added products Ekundayo Ii,ud companies have started to fap Into demand for com· modity dairy r.roduct, addlng that there IS sco~ or adding value and d~eloping brands. At this stage, he SilId tfie local industry is not ca~ble of ilunting for polenhal markets to export of dairy prod·
""'.
He urged local oper.ttDfll to en· COUf'ilge dairy sector enl~renetl .... to explore marb:ts for dairy prod-
urn.
Ekundayo stressed for the need
for lunng foreign inveslofll with
~~nOl~:XJ:rtise~~ f~~=. i~ said export o{ rrtilk by.products rouId b(> enhIIncftI, atheT 1M fn!Sh Of" in powered lonn.