14
T H E NATION FRIDAY, NOVEMBER q,ZfJ12
AGRO-BUSINESS
FCTA launches 20 vans for meat haulaf,e
T
ilE Federal Carilal
Terri~
hil~
lilunchl!'d 20 vans fnr me'" haulltgt' Spe.tlong on Ihe occasion in Karo, lhe Minister of Slate for rcr. Ms Olillumokt' Akinjlde. ~id the project represents tilt' first of the meat hauboge pr0gT3mme llimed al
rhast'
rcr
ensuring hygimic mt"o1t consumplion />.I .. , Akllliide, who w",s repre-
o;ented by the ~ry. Agricullu~ ;lind Rural [)rovelopment 5eaelam'lt. Mr'i OI\'adi Madl'lYI. Silld: "The 1m0r!Ol"Ce of con~umlng l'1ygien'c ood in improving lilt> quality (If life of the paruloct' annot be (lVt'r f'm~ rhaS15ft1; meat ~ng " peru;hable rroduct. must be MOOled ri~hl or
r,
II
~:':d'~~~..k~~:n~~~s the
eX15ling way of transportIng meal
~~k~e;:~~l~'::"=:h! IIt\ln~g of Ihj~
pHul 511:heme with
20 ,·ehJ<res. ~ Ms Aktnjide SoiIid brooIuse 0{ the numher 0( IIntmlll slaughter centres In
the lemtorv. lMno
~r;md enll~
Stories by Daniel Enlel, Aqrl .. Cnut'.PO"I1"nl
tory Admlfli5tn1hon (FCTA)
\0.<15 /I
nt'ed 10
,,,,-,, p.fl'4 4Chtme I(\C('\'I!I" 1M
sllIughtenng potn~ ~ sud the r~mme was !xing ~Ied und~r Public Priut~ Piti1oer'Slllp (I'PI') arrnngement arod called on InlerMlro mdlVldUids and I"rgant5ah\"lf\..~ 10 parbCJpill~ In th~
"~ture
TIle minister said the- Sf'«1fied vehicles for transpnrtll1g meat are dedic... ,!!d meal v... n~ ... nd tncycles With a meal haulnge oompa.rtmenl. Sh~ Mid the Intemal CO\'enngs of tht- meat oompartmf"lll of ~ vehid~ musl be madl!' of Slainll!"!5 steel sheets to eru;ure- no"·m~tal con· laminallon of m~ .. 1 In line with NATUAC Sianchuds Ms AlOnjide ~id I~ admlnl"lralion had concludt'd IIrrang~men~ with a private invl!";Ior to bUild ilnd ol'lf'rale an ullIa-modem abattnir in TunganMa)l!'-rhl." al::iattoir whm npcraboOll1 will ~'(" t~ Federal apI_tal city and introdtJa' meal P~"J1 and raCk. agmg iniht> territory. "he S;1id The M" ".ster caUed..,..,.on slakeholdeTli. such as NAFDAC Abuja Envlfonmenlal rrol['Clion no;.,rd (AEPD). NigeriA I'nliet' Foret', and Federal Road s"f~IV Commi"" ~iC>n, ilmong n~, to r.t~~ In the mforcemenl of the meal h,mlagl" polin' Filrhl!'r In her "peech, Mr; Mada,Yi. who was rt'J'r~ted by Ilw Dil'1!Ctor of Admlm~lrall(lTl ana l'innnn', Mr John Obiahu, ...id till" programme was being npt'nlcd by her offICI!' and Lelld Aulnmobil~
Comrany -J..Lo~ Automobilr Compan) Ud hM hroen nn Impt'rUnl kt:')" rl"~'ff In the meal IlilUI.l~ policy Mtuali~ 11011 and Ihe rom~ny madt'!ubstanIIal input 10 tht' formulatIon of the policy," ~h ......lId Dr l(>';ep" Nyas..er, tilt' Direclflr, Fedt'f;ll Uv~1ock I.Jt'parlmf"lll. ~id the 'rart."fmmalinn in the livt""tocic SU~Of WitS aImed at d('\'~'P'ng Ihl" valut' chams in kl"y h~'l!'<loc:5c commodltlCS of beef, dany, poultry, leal,,"", ~mall rumin<lnls"OO pt~ lie ...,id the launching of I~ rcr meal h"u'ag~ prngramm~ wl.5in lIne wllh Ihe bci-f value (ham Inlhatlve of Ihe livestock trandormaliOll ilgenda According to him, the o;ncio-('(onomic importarta' of abattoir ~~. opment.hyg_k!mc meal r~ing and dl~lnbuhon cannot bIo ovn MIphaSlwd ~ygjmk meat rmcl!"'l~mg and diclribullon will go a long wily In impun-ing the .. uppl)' rof ...,fe lind whol(";(lnU' mt'al aoo me,,' pmduct<= 11 Will also fMllitale local. Inlff' Slale lind fUl'etv.' !.fade in IT\I!'at lind m~1 prod~ , Nyaf;~ ~ind H(' <;/lId thI!' nllbati\'\' would .150 qrengthl"rt d~ "urvelllall«', Imprrwe datil rolll!'Ction on prl!"'lIi1mg ilmmlll dicNooe5, generntt' t'mpl(lYmenl ilnd CIl'at(' wealth fM the leemIng youths in the FCT,
Oil benchmark, agrie and related issues HE conflIct O\l!'r the 011 benchmark prIce ha~ a". l1."lIal put tJw. budget on the fr(lfll burner AccordIng to Ihe MInicter of FinanC't", Dr Ngnzl OIc.OI1!O" Iweala and her leilm, rcgging IhI!' nil bl!'nchmark pri«" far -Ihe "2013 Budget al $75 per barrel WIll m;tkC' the economy l~o;o; <tu"Cerlibl~ to I"CQIlO(IlIC downtUrn<; 8f'c<ldes !mggl"<tlng a rt'VI('W 01 the fi~1 ~ltcy 10 loHget ctl\'('r~iflC.Hion of Iht' 1"COflOm), and redu(tlt'ln (If the ~ 01 gO'V("man(~, OkC>njO-lwl""ala also empha5i~ inC"f('iI!ot'O ";avlOg~ by ntamtalmng a solid fOll'lgn r(!'l;('f'\'_e In '«'n't' ItS II ~hClCk iII~rber Agncullu~. hE>r mllll~trv belie1.'es., Will mh.lntt Ih.. l"Ct'lncomy She I~ alsn an advocall!' of in·
T
credsed foreign re~n'e , which slood at $42 billion a .. al l<'Isl monlh nll~ is in tme wllh the min'
~;'O~sJo°~im~~nCe;:r~r~&'e~d of Ih~ ye;tt Thl' National '\."5t"mbly ha" II differt'nl vIew of what thl!' l>t"nchmark for Ihl" 201:' Budget ..Mold be-. The Senat~ wilnl" $18 per barrel; Ih~
ers, ~pur fomgn In\'estmertllnlo the
country The fc>re1grt ~e I~ u~ illS Index by polf'nhal foreign 10\ ("So lors In lIo:;certi\in thl!' strenglh of the hoo;l country; II:!! economic ."tahlhly In l(>'I;ter lind ~ll!=tain bU~lnl!"'..c IOler· es~ a~ we\1 boost confidenc~ in Ih~ country 1ncJ1!'II!1l'd s;l\'inpal"Of'tlha(l("(' Ihfo capacity 01 ~ Central Bank to in-
~el:~e~~er;:~h~'It~!I~::n~~~t' ~:;'k;;l!'a::d ~~e~~~f~ne,~~~:~ Iht' country wipe nut fi0;c31 d('fidl Can the N .. tional A~st'mbl)' be right rn I~ position? The answer is
no.
Th~
Mlnislry of Flmlnce hilS ral..ro "Orne profound pllln!!; According to the mlOl~try. IM ad\"nlages of savings wlli, amoos nth-
mrn-t>m(>fll ;'IIld furlhC'f
o:tnttll~ ((If -
:t'e r:~~~~~~r~~fcr::,~:~"~
menl The finance mmi~ter !lOUnds like !ike knoW! what she IS !'ilying '>he "hould bE> allowed to do what ~ kn(lw~ ~ lhan ffOlIClw the law. nut kl"f" lock m ~tep
Expert warns on overfishing
T
IIF nlllloo', fish porulMinn
. ~urreTlng fTllm <'I universil)' dem, Prof MallO" AnetekhaJ, ru.o: I!"
O\'errl~hin~,
~Id
lie said wilh Incr"a."ing over t"nnsllmptinn, Ihe nil lion's fich 'Iupply IS IIltlOl; 1C'.... ards edtncIton Anetekhal, who l~ 01 Faculty of Saero~, ""p;'lrlml"nt of FisheTll'!', lAgt'J! Slall!' Uni."er~IIy (LA'iU), ett-
plalOe<! C'verfishing occu"' when fi'lh lire caught fasler thi\n they can reproduce, warning thai if Idllln· checked, thiS could re<'rardise Ihe food <:ecurit} In Nlgenii II~ 5ald fish popuTlrllon near the o:hn~dl"f'let~ mnre qurdclv when theyiHe (YVerfisht'd ilnd lakl" much It"Inger to rect"l\'er Anete\r;:hai e.pr~~o;cd cC'nCl"rn Ihnl rn'erfl..~hrng I.. k~ pia('(' where there is no adeqllate rt'gulallnn e'r
policing; areas where roglle n"'t!!, t'quipped Wllh hlgh-Iech lIh,p!'o can poIIt"" witht"lul con~ul'n«"'lAc· crordlng 10 him, clid!t ""eluahon" rn It>mprratun' routa cau~ roo 10 '>«k new habitats lie I!''(plalned thai tnCT(,d!le'i In lemperature (rom global warmlOg Gll1 CilUc;e cillnatlC ~ifl!< ItMt ru.rmful 10 oce ... n lifl". und~mllhng lhe 'Iupply of ke), food <ourt'M'and Ci1USoing llie coJlaJ"'e of OW)me 1'i5herlf."l'
STATE FOCUS
K wara open for investment in agne
W
m,
tres and annual rninfaU of l.5OOmm, KWllr.I SI<1tt' is richly endowed In agricultural rerms.. The stall!' hll$ ~.dership in p~ duction lind t'Jl:port of a numbcT of I1gricu1tund commodities. 1l\l" prindpal ash crops are cotton, cocoa, coffee, kolanuts, tt'lbacco leave5, bt-ni!l('('d and palm prod~
There io: pntential for furth~r Iilrgt' increil'le.~ in producllvlty from known technologl~ Agncultu~ is dIversified and its .... porls aff' sucnwosful mtemationally. Eixportsofindustriallyproc· essed fnod! ilre on Ihe ri ..... , The governml!'nl of kwara State has idmlIfil'd agricultu~ iI.!i an eMC!f\ttal 1001 for "(jp;hling lhe prublt'm.<t of poverl\' and unemploym~nl and l!'Il5uMng food <;«un!)" Agn. ntIl~ aI-50 hI, the CIIpiKity 10 ri· fecti\'cly hnng about sustainable rural transfnrmation and impfO\'ement In Ihe general wellbcmg of the JX"Ople. The gOv"rnmmt 'leeS develClr-ments In the agriculture seclor a.s nf!Ces~arv (or industrialisation and ..:oporls in ord" 1(' keep dom~lIc price~ low and ralo;c re\'· enu!" 1M im t'!olmf'nl in (liker areu ullhe t'CQnomy. The liilat~ is jn\'~tUlg in Mucation, Inigl1l1N1 imd rur,d mads. Thl' flMiult Is that agriculture I'i.nlinued 10 grow, but 0[_ thnl Ihe 5t'(tor now only prt). \'id~ hall nl rural jobs but that farmeB take ad\'ltnlOlgeo of the trI1.'eslmt!nllo diV65ify. Gradually. agncultul'l'Il dt"Vdopment b fKlIiIating ilo; trdn.o;klrmaliC'n inlo an urbani.5ed «onom)' based around m .. nllmcturing. There have bel"n two phllses: rapid agricultural grow lh bast"d on ulilisation nf IIndefUsed land and Iilbour; and, as farming be-gan 10 «ned land .tnd labour, .. lower bul continl'ed growth through higher productivity. Much ha, bet-n amined through privale mltilHlve. The state hAS played lin essential role in st'lling ihe in\'t"5tm~nl climate and SIIr-portin~ ngrlrullunl cr~dil 10 small rarmer< The- launch of Ihe State'!! agriculturAl master plan proml!te5 10 ~ignific~nlly 111m around the stille'o; economy 11lf' gnvemment tlI worlc.lng tnwards producing highly rompelili\'e ~" ports, hn~ on increasingly diver~ified imd specialised fanning In collabornbon with the Inter· IlItionllllnslitul~ fPl'Tropical Ag ricultllrt' (UTA) in lbadan, the Slate has tned to bUIld up cassaVil yidd and alo;o dt"Velop pfOCl5..ing capacity This Il.lS bI!'en aided b)' LM CaSSll\-A Resource ilnd Technnl· ogY TI'l'I~fer Cenlrt' (eRITC) in 1I0rin, wllt're the ~Ial~ has q>t up it Iilrge C3S.."IIVI'I pr~inj; rnctorl ror the productioo of hrgh.qua ity cassava flour lind cassava
<b,P'
• !"<om tll'lt , P,.,.,ldll'nl , ClK""
FII',t.".. ,
M'nht~1
"f
A~.ochli"n
A~.kullu,,,
.. nd Ruul
nf NI&".i. (CAN I. ~"O:; .. yin .. Rlm .. n; !Ij"ulhw".t Rll'sion.1 Ohll',"lor, O".."topm"nl 0., ~UIIII! Odft"ml. hl~ S'"Ith,..,olh ,"o unl"'pllt. ~h
~~~~i;r~'!:!. "r:~o'.~". n.r;O"li~i~:f~·,,":,~!"h,,:d·~ ~~:dC~~: R.!~":.:"i~~~liru~i:f'Ni~:t~: 1(~':itNr. ",~·d"..""hOP
on
::-----,
a lolnl land ,.,8 of 34,600 equare kilome-
The ildminlstralian has .I!!n made available substantial funds to lackle the problem of mad· equale funding lind roor infnlstructure, Some 22 new Irnclol"S and 22.5t!\! of Baldan implemf'nts were purcha5ed to hdp with the cultivation of 111.14 heclare'l of land for the producbon of ClISA\'., mili:re, ri~ lind soya beilnS.as well as land cultivatIon subsIdised The ~mmt aLOW) e5tl1blislwd il casnt'W prOCt'!SinR industry in Ogbondoroko in Asa Local Govemmr.nt Area in p.'Irtnership with it pnvste Cr:>mpany. So the slate boa!ts the OLAM
By Daniel
E~
cashew processinp; factor)" Th~ plant has o\~r L"i(XJ workt'flI (In its p.ayroll. all of whom art' provided with fJff accommodation lind a subllldlM'd tran~port 5)"'ilem. AI full caradt\,. the factnr), is capablt' of proce~slng 13,000 mdrir toruo of a~hew nuls every yl"iII and the ,lale il'i now ~klng mor~ inve,o;torc In this ~tor Managed b~ .n Indian company. it Ifi exporting proc· f!";sed c:Mhe\v nuts to Europe The sta~ l~ well-known with Shnnsa Farms, involving 13 Zimbabwean fannl'rS who h.wl!' now relocated and seltl~d in the Shonga area Each farm!:'r ws" given 1,(0) hectare of land with a kmg romme-dai f,ttmrng l _ In \11_' or 1M hllp;e capllal outJa)' r('(juired 10 fund an agnculturnl pn;t-ct of tIus magnituc\.., Shcnga Farms 1I0idinl-i Umit~ was incorponllecl "<t iI ~pKilll purpose v('.hlcfe to f>'eililal" Ihe runding and working caf,ltal nl't"ded to mobiliu the pub ic· prh'ilte part· ner::hip. The p~1 "~~tred on thret' different fUming ilCtivities: dairy. poultry and milled 8)' providing sub<tldlSed mruts iII1d gUitranlet'd cm::lll fadhlJec; In ~mall-5C3I~ farmen, rmduclion has .150 grown dramahali), T1te gm-emmenl has unfolded an ambitious plan 10 mab the ~ta'e the agricultural capital nf West Africa and attract ITIOfe For~iKn DIrect Jnv~lm('nl~ fFD I!") into th('~or Invt"'IOB NIl'e KWdffi as an immediate mark('t f{lr th~it pr('duet:' . The stall" shnr~ a border with &min Rt'publlc. There are .Irt'ad)" !iOm~ en)'Qo bc>rd~ bu!=i~ acti\iHes laking rl~, I!";f'I!'" dallv in raltle dnd meal,m- .stille ltn~('1TImrnt i.!- cC'mmillcd In provide fa\'nurable (ClndHionc rnr Tnv('!;lors. 4t.'ri(lu'l m"Mt(>r are r(YVlded ~urlabl(' I;Tnd wllhm 1\ ew weclc.s. TIII~ adminislration i~ ttl ol!<<;i<:t invcstors with inll1'lstruclure. such a~ roads, electricitv and Wilier The SII!'ctor has mllnv ,"vl!"'lmenl opportunities. With Vill!'I art'~ of ar .. ble Iilnd and enoul'!;h m;'lnpower the conditions ilre really ravnul1'lbie Onto call inv~1 in dIrect production, rroc ...... ing.tl1'ln~ pori, Ihe prOVISion of ngricultural ,"PUls and l"Yf'n markettrlg There Irt' orchards that produce m~r. fruIts sudt illS onlOges pineapp e, ca.shew Ind mlnp:o for rfOCE'S!ilng in"~lorc rrocesing IS one a"-"l thai !wldll much rrnm-ise for inVl'Sto".There Aff' numerous opporlunllil"!! in catlil', poultry ilnd fish f.. rmmg
cror
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