FRIDAY. APRIL 15.10 11
World Bank, Lagos spend Nl.35bn on farming activities Ranke Badmus
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FFORTS of the Lagos State Government to en hance food producti on have been boosted by the World Bank, with both of them spending N1.3Sbn on different agricultural projects across the state . The money is spread on the provision of infrastructure such as access roads, establishment of the Agricultural Cooperatives Scheme, Empowermen t provision of refrigerated meat vans. and establishment of a vege table estate in Iyaafin , Badagry; poultry estate in Erikorodu . Il<0rodu. and fish farm esta te in Epe.
The fin ancial facility. wh ich is aimed at boosting food production and security for fa rmers, according to a statement, is being handled by the Lagos State M inistry of Agri culture and Cooperati ves. On its part, the ministry has put in place some measures to achieve the goal, including upgrade of existing and creation of new agricultural
estates, provision of access road networks and other initiatives to boos t farming. The statement said that Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Mr. Yakub Bashorun , noted during a recent tour of the estates
that th e prpjects were part of efforts to upgrade and assist farmers in terms of facilitaling easy infrastructure to enhance their productivity. He said that th e various projects were also aimed at creating job opportun ities and at the same tim e creating an enabling environment whereby farming would not only be attractive, but would also be made easy. According to him . the sta te is interested in revamping agriculture wi th the hope of making coopera tive societies into viable and formidab le instrument for stakeholders to use to enhance their productivity. " It's our intention to put in
place a system by wh ich th e stakeholders in the farming sector would be able to sustain our food security initiative, raising small scale farming to medium scale. and from medium to large scale in their operations." Bashorun said. He noted that development of farm roads was aimed at mitigating the problem of tran sportation of farm produce to the final consumers in a way that farmers would not
construction of 20 kilometres o f roads that spreads across the five adminish'ative d ivisions in the state. These are Epe , Ikorodu , Badagry, Ikeja. and ' Lagos " I~'tandl Main land. Bashorun said , "Agriculture has th e greatest opportunity to job creation
incur losses as a result of
Oayo Oketola
tran spor tation problems. Th e ministry, through th e Commercial Agricultural Development Project, has the also embarked on
KFC to invest N1.5bn on 19 new outlets .. .introduces Easter promo INETEEN new KFC Quick Service Restaurants will be opened across th e country this year
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in any enterprise. and Ihe need 10 creale Ihis opportunity has made the state government to create a scheme called. Youth Empowermenl Scheme , to train and orientate prospective farmers to know the nitty-gritty of farming on a higher level. "
as part of the investment plan of the franchise holder, Devyani International Nigeria Limited. Th e Chief Executive Officer, Devyani International, Mr. Vishal Kapur, made th e disclosure while unveiling KFC' s the 'More Food, More Gifts' Easter promo in Lagos on Tuesday. The 19 new service centres , according to him , will gulp over N1 .Sbn . The KFC promoter said the company had since opened seven outlets since entering the Nigerian market in December 2009 . He noted that KFC came into N igeria through a fran chise arrangement between RJ Corp of India and Chellarams Pic. giving birth to a new company. Devyani International Nigeria Limited. Since KFC joined the Nigerian market. il had continually upped the stakes in the provision of fresh ly made food that met international quality standards. he noted . Kapur said that Ihe company had put in place a promotion during th e Easter celebrations to reward its customers as well as encourage more customers to visit its outlets. Speaking on the promo, he said , "We are inviting all our customers to come and enj oy the 'so good' experience of KFC. Nigerians will always enj oy the same quality of delicious meals from KFC as obtained anywhere in the world . Thi s is our promise Th e Head. Marketing, Devyani Intern ational , Mr. Vikram Varma, said . "We appreciate our consumers and will like to join them on the occasion of the Easter ' celebrations. So, we have decided to add more fun and excitement to their eating· out experience ." The promo. w hich starts on April 22 , 2011. according to him , give.s customers the opportunity to win various gifts such as movie tickets, Pepsi soft drink, KFC branded diary and caps, among others. th at Varma added customers would get instant gifts vouchers on every purchased meal worth N2,SOO and above .