Tuesday, July 26, 2011
THISDAY, Vol. 16_ No_ 5937, rage 45
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Property NEWS ...
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. Fj,ir Tmole Comp/e:.· (COlJlpri~illg /lIwSl!S ' "ml UJAlmja.
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liy AfrilJullk £Stide Complllly limited
Experts to Present Climate-based Agricultural Insurance ,,-perts will
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presdl l a eli-
male--b.'lSed agricu ltural insura nce rleme (or Nigeria on TIlursda)·. . this week U\ AbuJil. inlerll<ltional Cen1::r'e for Energy, Environment & Development in ~rlner ship w ilh the NIgerian Mdeorolog.cai Agt.'flC)' and ~ Na tional Insurance Commission. embarked on a baseline study III explore the opportunities and d\aJlenges of developing II climatl' ba~ agricultural U'\Surance sch eme for Nigeria. SpcaflCilllly, at the ronfen.'nce tagged, 'Reformi ng Agncuftu..al
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Insurance Towards A Framework f"Or Climate ~
Insuranre Scheme in
Nigeria' at Transrorp Hi[ton Hotel, experts would present findings
from ~ study. and constilull' a national committee to de\'e!op an agricultu ra l insurance rdoml imple-menlation framework. Thus till! workshop seeks to. with s upport (rom Nigeria Climate Ac tion Network and Coalitions lor Change. validate a baseline study on climate based agricultural U\SUril n O! in
Nigeria; outlLOe a draft w()£k plan for agncuJtural
insurance reforms; constitute a o.ltional committee for the Implementation of the work plan; enhance stakeholder awaren0.:5S on the reform process. Participants wou ld be drawn from federal $OVemmettt agencies.' pnvate soctor, finaricial institutions, faml('l"'S groups•. media and CSOs, Director, intemationlll Centre for Energy, E.lIvirolUnent &. Developmo:nt, Mr, Ewall Otu Elm said. . Others would · a ttend from the Federal Ministry of Agrkulture, National Insurance Commission, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Central Bank o f NIgeria, All Farmers Association, Federal l\"lin istry o f Environment, House o f RepresenlatiV(5 Committee on Olmate Change (Former Chairman)
By Bel/llett Oglrijo DLscussIOns would focus on ' Ihe case fnr agricultural insurance legal rdoml', by Iluri Mshelia, H uzi & Associates; ' Insurance sectOt review', Joseph N)'am, Managmg Director. Aso Solid Insurance Brokers Ltd., 1lle slate of meteorological data and infrastructure, Dr. l"unji Oluwasi.mire, Uruversity o f Ibadan (tbe). Climate change presents an unprccedentea challenge f()£ Nigerian agriculture. In Ule year 2010, the spale of nClOds in almost all parts of the country destroyed farmlands. This has resulted in higner food prices, heightened food
iT\Sl.'CUrity, rising demand for Imported fooa and may exacerbate rural poverty. TIlis year's noods onlf add to tile problems that farmers face. Should this tn.'fld continue, Nigeria's efforts to meet Millennium Developlllelt Goals \",m be jeopard~, N igenan agriculture is particularly vulnerable to climate variability. o.'er 90% of crop production is dependen t on rolin·fed systems. TIlt! agricultural sector contributes 42'1'.. of the country's gross dom estic product, a nd employs about 70% 01 tile tota.Ilabour force. 1he limited co1..era~e of irrigation.. mec:hanisatJon and use of key farm inpUbi heightens
current vu lnerabili?" and \\'i11 conlpromlse eflOrts t\l reduce po\'erty and grow the wider economy. Unitoo Nation's models on Ihe future climlltic scenario for Nigeria predicts dalUltin$ p~ for N igerian agnculture. In the next two decades, Nigeria will experience shorter rainfaIJ seasons with high intensity of precipitation. A higher average temperature is also p~ dl cted, (!S~ally for Northern NIgeria. Should the current ra in-fed small scale agriculture remain the predomin an t structure of the sector Ul the coming deGldes. Nigerian agricultural economy will face an uncertain f\l tu re. Nigeria
hasSlgruficant ~ence in deliverinp ITiIditional agncultural lIlSurartee schem(5 through rooperativ~ and government llSendes. Howe\'er, broadenmg the mnrket for these risk manag~ment services are limited by severa l factors, includmg high trilJ\Silction costs, regulatJon. product design and poor Clbtomer perception. As Ule thleat of clima te change looms, reforming thiS scheme becomes urgent and pll!Siing. TIle ongoing talks within the Uniloo Nations Framework Convennon on Clinlate Change are CUf~l\Ily negotiating a climate based insurance ml..'Chanism 10 address Ule thl\.'3t to
agricu ltUlt' aaJ other sec· tors. As thoe talks (6ull In concrct~ fUliUldJ.I uu.fl5(ers to devclopll1g cuuntms like Nigeria, we must emharl.. nn riomcstic reform mediiures 10 leverage ti'K'SC ant icipated support from Ihe intematiorMl conlmunity, Re.::ent ly, the Central Bank of N igena launched the Nigeria Incenth-e-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultur::il Lending. One of the key oomponen15 of tlus Iran:.fO(OlatjVt' prob'Tilmmc is the scale up of agricultural insllJ"ilr'l(:e. l1us will support Ule ex~ion of crlSht to Ule agncullural se;:lor and help build fanner 's resilumce against c1imalic disasters..
Challenges of Achieving Sustainable, Clean Environment lether Lagos IS a megacity. o r would
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soon qualify to be referred 10 as one, is
no longer in doubllt has all the attribu tes, dlilJlengcs, and ambitions of a mcgaci1)'. It hilS over 10 million res· idt!flts which a city must nave in o rder to attam ti ~ mega-s tatus. requires zillions of funds to provide infrastructure and social services for its teeming pDp-: ulare, and generates tons of waste daily that aU megadlies generate. Waste management - from generation. collectIOn, transporta tion. ilnd eventual dISposa l in Lagos is il herculean tasl>. wna t with the reported · 9,1XXl (9OO,lXXJkg) of waste, generated ~·er)'day from households, offices and industries. Waste managemen t in lagos is even more challenging. perhaps more so than other megacitle5 bec.Juse of the inadequacy of supporting infrastn.icture partiCUlarly roads, coupled with the ex-pected traffi c snarl lhat slows down the movement 01 waste disposal trucks, and tile lack of knowledge of proper wasle disposal such as separating waste into types before dwnping. Even more chal-
lenging is the limited public fund amids t competing needs and demllnds. The sight of old, rickety com pactors - an engine moun ted on the bac~ of trucks tha t compresses waste - o r old and wobbly ope:n carriage truck:. laden with refuse meanderin~ through Ule traffic gridlock on Ule O:pressWilyS to one of the four dum psltes in Ule s tilte is evidence o f th~ aforementioned challenges o f was te management in la~ Pre-1999, the number of these old waste d~-. posaI trocks \",35 dirt!, lead: mg to lagos ei'lming Ule sobriquet of the dirtieSt city in tile COIUltry. TIle biggest refuse dwnp re-I999 W35 arguably at ·uelegba Bridge. D(l ondays afler tfIe usual Lagos weekend, the refuse dumped under the bridge then rose as high as the bridge itself, completely b locking the access roaJ;; a nd vehicular movement WlCIer the brid~e. Then, it look the offrialS in charge of refuse disposal lit least three days to make any headway with dearing the refuse. And by the time the
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nexl weekend ends, lne refuse would be back. bigger and more menacing. Trucks and men were inadequate; the grea test inadequacy, however, was the a~ of a clear mandate to tackle Ihe menace of refuse and make u.~as a dean Ci ty fOf both residents and busmesses. Since the !ldvl'llt of demo ocr.ltic governance, the challenges of refuse rnanagement hnve been graduany sunnounted wid, poIi· cies, actions and programmes. The setting up of !he Lagos Waste Managemen t AuthOrity and also co-opting p riva te waste management ~ra tors known as PSP-pnvate sector pru1ici~tion-in Ule managemen t of waste have hel~ 10 stem the menace of refuse in lagos. 1he PSP operators were howcver
hiunpc.-.d by""'" b;gg... lool-ilie rickety, old ana-not so rcliablt! compactors they coul4 afford, 'These compactors were IJiven to regularly breaKmg d own, spiDing rf!fuse on highways boosuse of the poor conditions 01 their carriages. high running cost as a result of o ld and unreliable engines, thereby n!Su lting in poor returns on invC!$lmeflt o f the
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u~IOrs. This Sltuabon hOwe\'er, has been coo-
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to history, Jus t as a dirty lagQi was consigned to the lusto!)' boob with the financing of 100 new compactors by ' Sianbic Bank,. under a deal with the Llgos Stale Qn'en\lnenl. The nearly Nlb,lIion (N92-1,375,OCKJ million) deal involves the purchase of 100 uni ts o f new TATA LPK 1618 compactors for th e operatiflns of PSP operators. They would be reqwred to pay the lea:if! of the compactors ovef a long period, not directly 10 the bank.. but via the wasil.'. managhment agency, The comp.1ctms were handed over to individual operators al the ceremony. Repayments of the loan shall be made through deductions from tile m'enue the PSPoperators generate and pay to LAWMA. 11le: waste managemen t agoq would nowever pay StanblC IBTC via its montilIy subvention tMl\.">by opening tho: window for the expansion of tile facility to cuver even more operators. ~lly with the lagos State Government's resolve to have uniform compactor.> among ibi psr opcr-
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Oocrihll1g the deal as a mile:>tone, aUef executive offlCff, Sola David-Borha of Sl.uiliic IBTC Ibnk, said it dovl'laib mto the bank's commitment to Nigeria's econom.ic development as wcll as blulding a suslainable en\'uorunenl for pe0ple and bllSines&s. She said that the mnUl motivation fO!" U\C It>~ Wag the high interest dw-ges tMt comnlt!rcial loansnomlally attract mak~ ing it almost 'mpossible for individual PSP ~ IOlS to
purchase new trucks. "Stanbic IIJTC !.lank has continued to partner Lagos 5@teGovernment in a variety o f \"'01)'5 and our abili ty to romrrut about Nlbillioo tOWdrdS the procwernent of 100 new garb.1ge trucks for I..A.WMA is a testimony to our l"Of1Utlilment to sustainable economIC developmenl We will continue to look for opportunities to finance infiaStructure PrOtects in ~lgos Slate. We Stn::w1gly believe that infrastmctute is the foundatiWl on wh ich sociCH!COnomic development is builL We kook fon yard ttl providing finance lor Ule additiarull garbage trucks in the second of lhls ro;ect: assured Mrs. DavilBoma.
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