FRlDAY.APRlL20.2012
indu~~[Y.
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HarvestPlus boss advises on how to end malnutrition leaden and oettl to Intqrnte bio--forHfieatioo and other IYJlilable options to 6ght the mellaOf; of vitamin and mineral deficiencies that is rJlhdlng the poor, the Director· Ge:neral, HarvestPlu.'i, Dr. HO\\'I1rth Bouis, has sliid. Currently, Ute most commoninten."BItit;onsbeilll used in fighting vitamin and mineDI tkbcle.ncie.s Include dietary ~ive.rsity, fortification of 5tallle.:> 51..1I:h 1.5 flour and snglr. and supplementation LOBAL Gv:perts
While
increasi.ng diver!;lty is an Kleal longer-tenn solution that requires increases in Income: fortification and supplementation. on the other hand, are relatively expensive, with supplementation with vitamin lind mineraJ capsules Ilone costing an estimated Ssbn per year. • 8io·(0 rt i lieat ion, therefore, provides I
dimry
mo~
cost-dfedive.
cheaper and easier access to these. nutrients, and integrating it in
crop
imp~menl
could have
lJl(ft
effnrts
impact,·
Bouls said dunng a mee.UOg with the Di~or-General International Institute or Tropical Agriculture, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga. A 5tntemenl by IITA noted thot generally, in the developing countries, vitamin A deficiency remaint'd a major bottleneck to improved nutrition with approxinlalely 250,000 to 500.000 maloourished children loinl blind each rear, half of wh(>m die within a )-ear becoming
or
bhnd. In Nigeria, \'ilalllin A deficiency affikts almost 20 per cent of pregnant women and about 30 per cent of children under five. Apart (rom lowering immu nity, vitamin A deficiency resulls in economic losses to the gross domestk product of about S 1.5bn, according to the Ft'dernl Go1.-emment estimates. "Unless we are 'Ailling (0 change the way 'A'e play the game, we cannot win the battle ap.inst malnutrition.· Bouissaid.
LMI year, the Nigerian
Varietal Release Committee releastd thrft pf'O-vitamin A cassava varieties that are )'1:!lIowish in colnur to help fight vitamin A derlCiency. The developluent nf the varieties WBS It'd by UTA using conventional breeding methods with funding support (rom IlarvestPlus, while the National Root Crops Research Inshtute in Umudike was the. Nigerian partner. -r1leefforts i n de\'eloping lhe varieties we~ fanlastic: and I conlratulate IITA,·
Souis saMi Ln 1115 remarks, Sanginga said IlTA would mounue to support efforts that would lead to better nutrilion globally, stressinl that the tom~ellC'e and pre5('llCe of Ule insti tute across several parts of Africa provided unique Ol)portunities for research and dissemination of impl'O\'ed technolQ&ies. Over 100 million people in Nigeria depend on cassa\'a (or their daily calorie. the majonly oC who are poor and live on kss than $2 per day,
Oyo to esta lish skill acquis ition centl'e Akinwale Aboluwade, Ihadan
L!ING SOLOTION
,\biola /t,JimobioCQ)utitiltehas said his administra!:kn will estabhsh a skin a~lu:sition centre at the NlIlicDll Youth Service Corps Oriedtation Camp. l.aeyin, ror the loenefit of corps membe.n In the stale nle go\'l!mor majle the plt'dgr on Wednc:iday in lbadan while l1'cehillg the Diredor-General, ~ Brig.ce.n. Nnamdi OkorieAffia, who Yisit.ed him in hIS OVERNOR
G
ET M.NAGEMENiT
Dffi~
Comme.ndiJll ~ Ib, NYSC maDj\ 3llenl ror tile IntrOdu . 'n o( entrepreneurial t~liDinl ror corps nK!mb4<1. the governor stressed I hI need for the establishment of skill al.:quisltion centn!!. This, he said, would afford the corps ntembe.n
~:m a=rt~:~ a~d
entrepreneurship in various aspects of t uman endea\'Our. "I can assuJl! oil lhal Oyo State will be 0 of the states to establish ~t.:entn: for the NYsc,. he ~ . The sm'emor called on oUter stale I lVI'mors to \'ole substan' part or their states' !S ror the establishment a- skill acquisition ceo way or assisting
Tested and proven cashless solutions,
members.
Attordins to will colllribute to orthe nation'. e.co "'Mle NYSC p ilmnte IS one of the mo5lS ~'l!SSful projects of Ule Pederal ~-emment; th skill centres will enc'OU t,e our youths 10 be \'e:I"S tile and be empoWered i I order to contn'bute the ~ quota towards the de.\' G?ment of lhe OOImlf): A. imobi nOIed. Olrorie- m . I he was in Ule state ft r l premobilisation 0 kshop ror Itlduate5 of heri.an unh'el'Slties
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