Page 40, THISDAY, Vol. 15, No. 5637
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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Food Varietie:s .Lift Abuja Expo
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arious meals and food stuff from the 774 local governments in Nigeria will be on display todsy as the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture Mines (ABUCCIMA) kicks-off its Nigeria at 50 Made in Nigeria Trade Fair and Food Festival. President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to declare the fair open on
By Crusoe Osagie Thursday in a ceremony that will attract leaders from both public and private sectors. President bf the Chamber, Barrister Dele Oye, said with virtualJy aIJ the states of the federa tion already signed up for the expo, the various food stuff and special meals served in the various geopolitical
Oye stressed that the fair, which is planned by ABUCCIMA in collaboration with the Nigeria at 50 O;lfnmittee will record not less than 2000 exhibitors, and will attract no fewer than one million visitors from September, 28, when it kicks-off to October 4 when it ends. The ABUCCIMA President said the exhibition schedule,fio take piace at the
zones of the country ' will form a proininent aspect of tlJe event. J:le explained that b<icause 'a people and their culture are inextricably linked with the kind of food they eat,' the food show aspect of the fair, which is also organised in commemoration of the nation '8 independence, is essential.
Old Parade Ground in the Federal Capital Territory will not only showcase commercial and industrial products/services, but also the cultural and traditional strengths of Nigeria. 'This fair enjoys the support of organisations both in the pul)lic and private sectors including federal governments, state governments, parastatals and private s:ctor
Cowpea Scientists Meet in Senegal Against Hunger
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long neglected crop with By Crusoe Osagie ...uh the potential to halt agMCJ~pt1rt hunger for millions in Africa, sustain the liveson when food can become stock revolution underway in extremely scarce in semideveloping COlll!tries, rejuvearid regions of sub-Saharan nate nutrient-sapped soils, Africa. and even feed astronauts on The many qualities of the extended space misSions, is cowpea are· being discovered attracting scientists from anew for a number of reaaround the world to Senegal sons. One is the potential of this week for the Fifth World the cowpea's high protein Cowpea Research content to help satisfy dietary Conference. requirements in food-cbal"It's hard to imagine a lenged developing countries, more perfect crop, particularparticularly in Africa, where' ly for Africa, where food proover 200 million people duction lags behind popularemain undernourished. tion growth, demand for liveCowpeas provide strong stock products is soaring, and yields, even in hot and dry climate change is bringing conditions, and scientists are new stresses to already chaldeveloping ever more lenging growing conditions," resilient varieties. And as clisaid Christian Fatokun, a mate change turns up the cowpea breeder at the heat in sub-Saharim Africa, International Institute of there is growing concern iliat Tropical Agriculture (llTA), production of current staples which is co-organizing the such as maize and rice will conference in collaboration faIJ or even coll~pse in some with lnstitut SenegaJais de areas, requiring so-called Recherches Agricoles "climate-ready crops" like (lSRA) . Dry Grain Pulses cowpeas to fill the void. Collaborative Research In addition, cowpeas can Support Program , and be used as cheap, hi gh-qualiPurdue University. ty aninnal feed . Today, live"But fulfilling the promise stock experts are drawn to of this marvelous legume the cowpea as they search for requires intensive efforts to approaches to sustainable deal with threats that inhibit satisfying the fast-groWing production and long-term demand for meat and milk in storage," he added. "The developing countries. good news in Senegal is that Scientists at IlTA and the researchers will be revealing International Livestock new and innovative Research Institute (ILRI) say approaches to dealing with "duaJ use" cowpea varinew the pests and weeds that eties bred to satisfy both attack cowpeas at every stage human and aninnal nutrition of their Jifecycle and with the needs could be generating voracious weevils that devour US$299 million to US$I.I dried cowpeas." billion by 2020, given their The cowpea, which is also potential to simultaneously known as the black-eyed pea, boost livestock production is one of the world's oldest and reduce hunger. crops. It is currently cultivatThe cowpea is also welled on 10 million hectares, known for its ability to infuse mainly in Central and West soils with nitrogen, which Africa, but also in India, again makes. it a crop that Australia, Nortlt America, could be enormously valuand parts of Europe. It was ahle to Africa, where many brought to the Americas on farmers struggle with nutrislave ships and became a ent-poor soils that are among favorite of President George . the most chalJenging in the Washington, who was lookworld. ing for a variety of peas. Even the National He calJed them "pease"Aeronautics and Space that could withstand the . Administration (NASA) is warm climates of the southon the cowpea bandwagon. ern United States. Cowpeas With the plant's ability to are treasured for their high produce nutritious leaves in protein content (grains con. only about 20 days, NASA tain about 25 percent protein), scientists are considering leaves and stalks that serve as sending cowpeas to the interespecially nutritious fodder national space station, wbere for cows (hence the name they could be cultivated to cowpea) and other farm aniprovide food for astronauts. This widely ranging and mals , and the fact that their roots provide nitrogen to rapidly intensifying interest will be highlighted at the depleted soils. World Cowpea Conference, For many in Africa, the where ground-breaking crop is a critical source of work in aU aspects of cowfood during the "lean peripea production wou ld be od"-tlle end of the wet sea-
showcased. For example, new research to be presented at the conference from researchers at IlTA and the University of Califomia-Riverside focuses on me succeSsful use of cutting-edge genome analysis tools and techniques to probe cowpea DNA for genetic traits associated with prized qualities like drought and disease resistance. "When we can zero in on a particular place in the genome and essentialJy point to. the DNA that is providing the traits we want, the time it takes to breed improved cowpea varieties can be shortened from a decade or more to three years or less," said Fatokun , who specializes in cowpea genomics. Scientists also will report o n the lateSt iIevelopments in. efforts to use biotechnology to borrow a gene from a soil bacteria, bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, to create a transgenic cowpea variety. The goal is to provide farmers
United States and Niger's Institute of National Agriculture Research will report on an. effort to disseminate a simple storage technology to African farmers, which comprises a three-layer plastic bag that shuts off the oxygen required to fuel a weev il population explosion. Other research to be discussed at the conference focuses on the chalJenges of translating cowpea production into income and how to encourage wider adoption of innproved cowpea varieties along with better approaches to cultivation and storage. For example, researchers will discuss a new study analyzing the economic fortunes of hundreds of street vendors in Ghana and Niger who sell a popUlar, deep-fat fried fritter made from cowpea batter called kossai or akara. Most of the vendors are women, and the researchers found that tlley tend to earn 4 to 16 times more than the prevailing minimum wage in their countries.
w ith cowpeas that can fend off assaults from a caterpillar known as the Maruca or bean pod borer that routinely ruins entire fields . Researchers also will discuss endowing cowpea varieties with a gene from common bean plant to provide protection infestations during storage. Related discussions will focus on fres h research probing the risk of transgenic Bt cowpea spontaneously mating or "crossing" with wild relatives, wild cowpea is common in West Africa, which is a "center or origin" for the crop and possibly creating a super weed that would be difficult to control. One reason cowpeas are . not as widely cultivated as ·com or rice is that.storage of dried peas is complicated by a tiriy reddish-brown beetle, the cowpea weevi l, that ·rapidly reproduces in traditional grain sacks and renders tlJe food inedible. In Senegal, scientists from Purdue University in the
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umbrella body Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA)," Oye said. Identifying some of the states that have signed up for the event, the Chamber President said Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Adamawa, Kano,Kogi , Ondo among others have not only subscribed but have already set up their stands at the venue. "Apart from the various states, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air force , Nigerian Police, Prisons and Immigration are also staging shows at the independence fair. Universities, Research Institutes, Ministry of Solid Minerals, Ministry of Agriculture as wells 8 parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology are also exhibiting at the event, Oye said".
Private sector organisations that will be present at the fair, according to the Chamber President include the National Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (NACCIMA) , Chikason Nigeria Limited , AJpha Plus Nigeria, among several others. Highlighting the objectives of the fair, the ABUCCIMA president said they aim at showcasing Nigeria's outstanding potential in the last 50 years. Other targets of the fair, he said, were to encourage producers of Nigerian goods
and services; provide access to research and technology findings and new teclmologies and to promote accelerated development on industry and commerce.
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