THENATJO
THURSDAI.)ULY 19.2012
17
INDUSTBY
FIIRO debunks lITA's claim on cassava flour research Ii ...} conducted Ih~ f! St'alch 01' cassa\'~ noul
W ~ween ~~ I~.:!ll t:;;~~eb:;n,t_ dustnal R~mcll. Oshod. (FIJROI .. nd In~b(IIl<'IJ Instiluteo(Tropl-
Gl:.-:r:~::::~ I:~i~!e ronducred
the re-ean::h .nd f.JUOd c:assava flour invaluable for W king bread But on MOllda, In Lagos. FlI.RO Silld II and ntt IrrA conCluded the' ~,<h.
The Institute SOlid it was not right fa.- (TfA today claim to an innovation which ariotJ-et inslitulJon de--
voted ronsiaerab:e lime and
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to w!}e" on. SpeaJong at I f( rum ~anised by !he Com~," and Correspondents ~onallon 0 NlgeTiJI{OCAN), 1I1t'lll! NigenaOloim· ber of Comrrft"C~. Induslry.Mmes and Agriculture (NACCJMA) Hou.w. FIIR(Ys [) ~or-Ccnll!fal, Mrs Gloria Elemil faid the instilut(' IuKt worl<edc:k:JhI' inno\'ation fO!" OYII!f three e5OUJ"CCS
'ndust7
Flour millers unpatriotic, says Minister
M
INISTER of Agrieu/. tUrf' .. nd Runl Developmen t Or Akinwunmi Ade,in.. has described flout millen as unp~ lriotic for undermining the go vernment 's polic), on the substitution of CUUVoll fo r whut in breolld m.uting. He !;tId ~ miller Ir'.JI.Velled 10 Ihe United Stales (US) lo.assure whut growers of conlinued p.a. tronoll.ge despite the governmen t's dlfective tholl.t what imporloJtion be !luled
down. What Importatiun, he 5.1id. is kl1ling Ihe economy. Adesina s poke al Ihe presentolltion of a set of incentives 10 enh.ance cllssava production to meet Ihe 40/60 per cen t ussiIY.vwheat rallo in bread produc~d In Ihe count')', He said: "Nigeri .. IS the high. ~sl clS.!!avoli. producer In Ih~ world with 40 million metric Ions per y~ .. r but we .JIt~ also the hIghest importer of wheaL We spend N63 billion ),early
importing wheat from the US; whereas the cass ava we duce can be used 10 rep act' wheat in breoll.d making." Allhough. few bakers luve st;uted implemenlin~ a 20 per cent C.JIssavoli breolld initiative, th~ mille.n.are yet 10 key inio the policy, Adesinoll said. lie challenged th~ millen to "rise and be palriotic br supporting govern.menl policies.... and dismissed lean of the h)'gienic quality of bread made with cassav,,_
Slories b, Too. Agboo.. FIIRO, she s.ud had also been training prospective enlrepreneuB incll.lding cassava processon on t~ techno~OS)' _~ h.idl. quality casuva flour (ttQCF), .adlng that thlS IS berng done 10 ensure stead)'
supply of high quality cU$ava (Jour 10 millers. ~II is worthy of nOle Ihilt iLt no lime was the MinIStry of Agnculture/UTA involved In the CiISSa\7il (Jollr project, though Ihey have b«n presenl al stake"holders meeting as crop producesand research-
flour p'rogramme was initiated by Ihe FoOd and Agriculture Qrganisalion (FAD) of the Umlro Nations In 1964 The programme was cona'lVed as an fntervenlion by FAD p'rimaril)' to red~ importation btll.s on wheal of develop· ing countries by .stimulating local pnxluction and processing Of ROIlwheal Oour{s) to be incorporated into wheat liour. Composite nour was tdentifiro and funded by Vllri· ous international donors and as("ncies. Nigeria, through some research institutes anainstJtuliClnll
'"She- said FIIRO has been in the
Minister canvasses patronage of made in Nigeria goods
M
IN 'STEN. of State for Trade tnd Investmenl Mr~· H'el Ortom hit~ said patronag IIf local good., wouldb006t I. growth of mdill enUU5 indus"Thh Accordinf;. '0 the him altOtlising prod".' "will lclp r,enetilt • b!, and also en ate wl'alth r.r fil;enans. Ottom Slid ~ I( must begin I, palToluse Q\ild 1I1 Nlgena prud g n to look ill uct~. l~t u~ ward ... Tod,)y \O\e lalk abo,,' China. we 1.11k ahoUI Americ we talk "bool qJllIpe II you g. back. 10 yealS <I~(., UIeSe peopl, had dO~. '~'. ilnd we<e onl.' 10010"3 with,n lelr country and whal Ihey CI u J'roduc~ ~In Nigt'flA w flavea lot of po. tenliill, the r u ·ces are Ihert .and the hum.!n C.JI.paclty lS then to I.rnnstate II ,things mlo rinished produ:ts~ let's be 'proud of what is prod 1Ct'd in Nigeria . AndbydOtng. h.11.wearenelpmg oursclves, • nre helping lh..· economy and ~ It ese other dudlenges we art' ving loday, be 11 security. une Iploymenl, v>e would see Iha~ Ihey would be gone." I The mllliskr'lwho was at th~
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1]11 b1
pan-Arrkan Competitive Forum Abuja, at the weekend assertro thai the group's initiative was timely as Ihe government was workmg to boosl the nonoil sector of (he economy "At. this lime that governmenl is trymg tum away from Just 011 revenue 10 other sectors thai c,m de\'elop the econom)', If it l,-.kes oH, it would create oppertUlllties otnd generate employment and II would also creale wealU, for milliOfl5 of Nigeri"ns who ilre r{\aming the streels,~ Ortom said Speaking eather Ih~ Initiator of the forum, Director General. Raw Material Research and [k.velopment Agent:)' (RMADC), "'Ir reler Onwualu. said the aim of the group is 10 W(lri: towards emergence of clusters that would drive the country's industrialisation process lie added that to drive technology, Ihere was need 10 develop Ihe duster process nationwide. "What we are doin~ 15 to drive the emergence of Inn ova live clusters Irt Nlgena, especially clusters o f St.-fE5 that produce goods and .se.tVlces that are competih\c," he said
forefront of the use of C<l5SaVii ror food products Sl.ICh as gart. fUN, lafun,chlp5, pellets starch and com· pu<lle flour Il! far back as the 60s. fI.In Elemo said· "'The composite
f'.-
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' It is worthy of note that at no time was the Ministry of Agriculture/llTA involved in the cassava flour project, though th ey have been present at stakeholde rs meeting as crop producers and researchers'
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benefited from such Lnlerventiuo. am> of which 15 thto AfRO. ~FI1RO made GlSi5iIIUthe golden crop II IS today Agltabon for the use of detOxified cassava nour In composi te flour produchon for bread and confechoneries baking began when II was discovered thai the economics of production did nol filvour the use Of ca..ssava starch ~The composite (Jour research work In FIIRO culnunated in the first production olIO ~ cent 015savill wheat bmld whkh was presenled 10 the Federal Executive Council (FEq, under the admini5tr"ahon of former President Shehu Sl'tagarl m 1982. ~ N"ACClMA Dttector-General Mr John bemede pmsed AIRO for its efforts to help enlreprmuers. He urged the FffietiLI GOvernment to assist the U\5l1lule to carry out lS mAndate "'We all know that the wheat we are USing 10 produce brt'ild is berng imported inlo ~countJy.Soif we are subslituting the Imported wheal with the rocally produced ca.55ava, II means we are redlXlIlg the cost of importation. ~ And u a result of this, the money being spent on wheat Importation will go Into the poCketsof the local cassava farmers rather than the pockets of fOreign farmen and thiS will eventually lurn the economy around for good ~Besldes, il will also result to job creatIon because more people will be atlfactro to cassava filnntng due 10 readily available buyers. ~In all, Ihe idea is II welcome development and we appreciah,' the sovemmenl for thIS imllatJve and It shows thatlhere IS still hope for the ~mal1-scale farmers in the
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Nigeria, Pakistan to seal pact on SMEs devt
T
HE Snl.lU .If d Medium Eo· terprl ses Development Agellcy of Nigeria (SMEDAN) wIll .!!oon sign a MemOl1lLndumJf Understanding (MoU) With P dtan In areas or duster devel~w'nt and capaci~ bUilding~O~mall and MedIUm EntE!!'r "!i (SME.s). TIle develo t is a fallout of the teCftll [). .. II and MedIum Enterprise.!! (fME) Working G!!'UP meetmg ht Id in Abuj... The ~rlJ,er511iF' which is be-: in~ lacilitated 'y Ihe Pakislalll HIgh CommlSS 1r in Nigeria, is In lhe spinl of the D-8 Croup's objective to dlV1'r,ify and crealt" new opportllnit'e. m trade rela tions, Tha Pak,f;!anl Acting High Commissioner in Nlgerfa. Ahmed AU Sirohe( said the pacl would also afford both agencies the opportunity h. cros.s fertilise and Interface on areas tha t would be lM.'nehc al 10 SMEs In both rountril.!.!l Director- Cen'rnl of SMEDAN AlhaJI Muhanuud Nadada
Umar, who paId a courtesy call to Sirohey, expressed delight that the Pakistani government had really lived up to expectations in the area of developing the SME seclOr, adding thai Nigetia has a lot to learn from the expenence of the Asian country. Umar noted Ihal the presentabon of Pakistan at the D-8 meeting was .m eye-opener to Nigeria He informed Sirohe), aboUl vatlous achievements of SMEDAN. which include carrying out a final ratification of the SME policy, soon to be passed on to the Federal Execulive Council(FEC) for approval; scripting of the One Local Government One Product (OlOP) programme, which it borrowed from the lapanest' model in ~'ati· ous parts ollhe COUlltry; estab-lishing the Rural Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme (RUWEDEP); ilnd rt'-renny, completing lhe compllahan of a compre"ensive database of MSMEs in Nigem.
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FDI inflows increased by $2.82b in 2011
OfAL_Din<tln_menl (FD1)1iilIows to N"tgl'riiI incn.wJed by S2..82btllion in 2m1. the 2Ol2 Wotkt Inve5tme!11 Re~ has $ud.. The ~ pt"l'piIl"l'd by Ihe Ulliled
It said: ~Continumg rises in comnxxIity pnoi5 and a relauvely po"IiliveeronomlCOUtlook£orsub-Silhamn Alrica the faders 'b• ':d!~ mntri NahOll.!lConfel1"l\CeonTrad~and~· AL.:-_ r ""~I(UNCll) showtd Ihilt "The top Ih~ n.J. . . . . . , redpkonts 0 .,....,....... FDI in 2011 ~ domtnaled by 011· !!:~ure rose from $6.lbillion re- producing oountne<lied by Nigeria. ~ in 2010 to $8.92billion. . Although the report notru !fial the It.rboier.'t'd thai though thl." I'DI 10 ~ m FOlio I~ ('(lI1tincnl WlIS for the third year running. It smtl..'d Africa dcclll..-d In 2011 , investments to Nigma Increased that the outJoOk fot Alrioi was opliIt. Iioweves-, I10led lit1\! inflows to mistic.. 5Ub-Saharan Africa increased iSS upIt also said FDI. OlltflOWS from lhe po!lI!d 10 IotaI inflows 10 IN!mnluell mntinent were sliD low. TIle lJJ'.K:TAO said inaeil!\e in oil The. _ "Total Forei Di . and other commodilies enTt"pOI1. $" rert Investment inflows to Aim delilt' positive inflows 10 Nige- dined 111 2011 for IN! Ihird ~vt! ria and !iOfI\t' olll('!" countries in ihe r ~:\frican region. year. But the drop - to a total 0
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S42Jb(\llon- _ _ y","""by. fall Dl FDI channe.Ued to l'bth Africa.
InfIowsIoEgyptandUm!.whid-thad been...,.;,.". ~tsafrot,.OIIJ1e 10 """T""" • ...,..,.--,-. a halt as a n:sult 01 protractrd poIilX::aI ;met so:.uI instability in ~ roun-
In...
"While Afncan IfilnSnaIu1al rnrTrI-rrations ate grow ~ Dl inlJUl'J"ICl' and IICtivity.outward &urn Alrica was stililimiiOO in 2D11.~y asoulfrom two Ir.tditiooal outward investors, Ei;ypt and l.ibyiI. were!il8nifJCrullly ..ooUon ~
nows
II am Sud. ~ region'S FDl prtIiSpo:ts fot2012are promi<.ing.iI5~ growth. ongntng econonuc reforms arid commodity ..... . r--Nwe implVV mvesb perreptio"ls of the mnbl'llnl. eanJn1ic
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