SUNDAY PUNCH
26
Agric - Economy
JUNE 19,2011
FG reviews Export Expansion Grant EMEKA EZEKIEL
T
HE Federal Government
has
begun moves to the operl
review
Expansion Gran t Scheme
lIS
pilfl
of
renev.1!'d
efforts to boost the e:xporiation of
agricultural commodities.
medium enlerpnses to benefit maJtimaUy from the scheme According to him, the new arrangement 15 geared lO\Wards making the SMEs to benefit from
the export incentives from the Federal Governmenl The Exporl Expansion Grant isan initiative of the Federal Gowmmenl
The ExecuHve Director. Nigerian
aimed at encouraging exporter5 of
Export Promotion Council, Mr. David Adulugba, who disclosed this in an interview with OUT
commodities, lor adding IJlIlue to
correspondent. on Friday, said thl! review became necessary owIng to the inability of most small and
non-oil products. including agro-
their products before exporting them to olher countries The gn'Int, which UlIually ranges from five 10 30 per cent of the Freight
On Board value of the products being exported, depends, to a large extent, on the level of processing carried out on the commodities before there are exported from the country Statistics from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council showed that Nigeria earned about at N356.5bn ($ 2.3bn) in 2010. Adulugba stressed that the review of the export grant would boost Nigeria's earning from agrocommodities. He said, · We have begun the process of reviewing the Export
Expansion Grant Scheme to accommodate the interest of small <Jnd medium enterprises. The In terest most 5MES were no t taken care of in the existing" scheme because only very few could meet the threshold as stipulated by the EEG Act to be able 10 benefit from the scheme· He noted Ihat as part of efforts towards lnaeasing Nigeria's non· oil export, NEPC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding wi th the University of Abuja and BB Consulting Umited to train the OrganISed Pnvate Sedor on the
Controlling starch in sugar factories ACTORY trials conducted by United Slates Department of Agriculture scientists have led to recommendations fOI controlling or p.eventing starch buildup in processed raw sugars and products made with those sugars. The study was led by a chemist, Ms. Gillian Eggleston, wit h the Agricultural Researcll Service Commodity Utilisation Research Unit in New Orleans, ScienceDaily said, in its latest online report. ARS is USDA·s chief intramural scientirlC researcll agency Eggleston has been studying sugarcane that comes into !octories containing too much field leafy residue called tRlSh. Environmental concerns have led to a shift aW<'lY from bu rning cane in open fields 10 11m1Q\/(' such
F
fallOur because of the overall negative impact they have on the environment, mainly due to the production of the biogenic fuels - as they should be more apUy termed. Now researchen at Empa., the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Tech nology, have togetherwilh their colleagues at the Swiss Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels and the HTW Berlin. Germany, developed an online tool to as5e5S the susiainability of biofuel prododion. an online SclenceOaily
reported on Friday. The new tool a llows users to pe rform a self·assessment against the Principles and Criteria of the RSB and a self·risk assessment. The online tool also calculates greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels for e<tch lifecycle production step, from farming to final fuel distribution; this cakulation can be done according 10 various methodologies. The development of the new tool, which is directly accessible (free
of charge) took about two years and was supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic AffaiB. The RSB Standard comprises 12 ptinoples and aileria for sustainable blofuel production, including environmental and social principles such as food security and human and labor rights. For instance, ~Greenhouse Gas Emissions" aims to mitigate climate change by requiring that biofuels significantly reduce lifecyde GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels.
"'"".
Thai means more trash or green cane is entering factories. Another challenge: Processing green, un·burnt cane results in excess starch in raw and rermed sug.us, molasses and food products. An enzyme called amylase is added during US sugar-f<'lCtory processing to break down long chains of unwanted starch. "I. She conducted trials .In three Louisiana·based facto ri es using an amylase that was intennediale· temperature (IT) stable and in a concentrated form . Eggleslon used diluted 5OIulions of concentrated amyLase to improve conlad between the amylase and starch .r. The solution! break slarch down Into smailer, mo re manageable moleC\Jles when added to fiJdory tanks. One 01 the 5OIutions she tested contained concentrated IT·slllble amylase diluted three·fold In water al the factory When this solution was added at a dose of two parts per million per ton of cane Juke, starch breakdown was about 32 per C(!tlt. When the dose was raised 10 five ppm per ton of cane JUice, starcll breakdown lnat!'ased to 42 j)CI" cent. In addition, adding the amylase to the ne:tt·lo-the·!ast evaporator - inste.xl of the last evaporator as is traditional - imprQ\/('d starch breakdown even more. Another plus: Using diluted 5OIutions 01 concentrated amylase is more cost· effedive: than using und iluted non-conamirllted amylase. New biofuel wstainability tool, greenhouse gas calculator re leased Various blofuels, first hailed as a way to a sustainable energy supply. have since fallen out of
Nigeria PIc, Agooro, Mr. Oladunjove Gbeng"; Global Acco unt Mallager (I ndus'r}!) , Sc hneider Electric Nigeria , Mr. O'alorlll Dalliels; and COUIl' ry Preside"', Mr. Marcel H ach e. , during a receplfoIJ I" Logos... on FrldllY
requirements of export buSiness. He said, --me MflnOrandum of Understanding is part of ongoing efforts tmvards promoting non· oil export as a survival strategy for the nation. We believed that lhe more the public kn~ aboul export business, the belte-r it will be for Nigerian economy. The international business is a little bit techn ical. So. we haw to bting this information to them. MWe are ITying 10 teach them international business, that is, export trade, In all ramifications. This is why v.-e are forging thai relationship loca1Iy bet\.l.lHn NEPC. the University of Abuja and BS Consulting. ~ Adulugba also said the training would cover both domestic and international trade with the focus on iI!Jrkutture and economic development This, he stressed. would enable the NEPC to delive r its mandate as well as enhance the nOfK)il export potential in the country. While the NEPC Exectllive Director signed the MOU on behalf of his organisation. the Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja. Mr James Adelabu, signed on behalf of hiJ institution; and Mr. Moh.!!mmed Oaniy<l1l, the principal COI1sult<l1lt of . BB Umited, forme-r vice chancellor of Federal University of Technology. j Minna signed for his firm The NEPC Executive Director said thai the council was using very experienced faculties from reputable institutions and organisations around the work!, such as Ihe International Monetary Fund and the World TRKle Organisation. as resource pencns for the review programme taking place at IITA lba.dan. that their Adulugba. said expectations. especially from finandal institutions, such as the banks and other organisations having export desk. would be to irlInsiate the knowledge to !heir counterpaorts to boost the exPOlt earnings of the country While explaining that the exercise was one of the major approaches 10 promoting the non-oil export as a survival strategy for the nation. Adulugba said that Nigerians who were 1-eady 10 IZlke their d£S!iny in !herr hand would explore the window of opportunities to better their lots
High food prices to persist in 2011 - FAO EI\I EKA EZEK IEL
I
IGH f-~" and
food
prices
volatility in commodity markets are here to stay, according to the latest 1-eport from Ihe Food and Agricu ltural Organisation Specifically. the FAO Agricultural OuUook 2011-2020 stated thai a good harvest in the coming months would push commodity prices down from the extreme levels seen earlier th\s~ar.
However, the report noted that over the coming decade, real prices for cereals could average as much as 20 per cent higher and those for meats as much i!5 30 per cent highel, compared to the period between 200 1 and 2010. These projections a1-e we ll bekNi
the peak price levels experienced In 2007·2008 and even 20 11. The FAO Director-General, Mr. Jacques Diouf, said. Min the current mi!l rket contexl, price volatility could remain a feature of agricultural mi!lrkets, and coherent policies are reqUired to both reduce lIOialility and limit its negalNe impad.5. "The key $Olution to the problem will be boosting investmen t in agriculture and. reinromng rural development in developing countries, where 98 per cent of the hungry people live today and where popul<ttion is I!Xpected to increase by 47 per cent over the next decades. As a way out of the cr~is, the FAO, hOlAle\lel', recommended. among othe-r things. that G20 countries should lake step5 to boast agtiC\Jltural productivity in developing countries. reduce or M
M
eliminate trade-disorting policies and establish a new mecha.nism to improve information and transparency on agricultural production, consumption. stocks and hade. The report, which covers rlSheries for the first time. predicted that global agricultural production would grow more $Iov.-Iy 0VeT the nexl decade than in the past 10 years. Similally, it stated !hat farm outpu t was expected to rise by 1.7 per cent annually, compared to the 2.6 per cent growth rate of the past d~de .
Despite this slower !JfO'NIh, production per capita was still projected to rise by 0 .7 per cent annually, it added. According to the report. per· <:apita food consumption will expand most rapidly in Eastern Europe. Asia
and Latin America, where inqxnes are: rising and. population's growth ~ slowing. Meat, dairy products, vegeillble oils and ~ugar should experience the highest demand increases, according to the report. Global production in the nsheries Hdor is projected to increase by 1.3 per rent annually to 2020. This is slower than !JfO'NIh over the previous decade, due to reduced or stagnanl capture of wild fi sh stocks lind lower growth rates In aquaculture, which underwent a rapid elq)ansJon over the 2001· 2010 period By 20 15, aquacultuf\'! ~ projected to SlJll)aSS fisheries <'IS the most important source of fish for human consumption, and by 2020 it should represent about 45 per cent of the total fishery production. including non-food uses