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Business ~ 'T"'O lurther laol.Itate eUorts geared J. towards the realisalJon of 40 per cent Cassava Aour inclusion in bread. cassava productlon would beexpanded fro m the present 34 million tons to 51 million tons by 20 15. nus will be acbJeved by doublmg the YIelds Irom 125 Ions per hectare to 25 tons per hectare. In a report, the MInister of Ag n cullure and Rural Development, Dr Akmwunmi Adesma. said, " If weU Implemented. It will create jobs for over 1.3 milllon NilJenans annuaUy as more than 1.7 million tons of cassava will be requiIed to produce 400.000 tons of 10 per cent composile cassava nour. Adesina revealed that U l C Inlernalional Fund ftt Agnculturnl Development {LFADI has pro mlSed to assist Nigeria to seo-ure a four-million-dollar grant for a Joint training programme of th~ International Institute forlloplca..I Agnculture (IITA) on the cassava IllIl!a' lve. "'llus grant has become impera1ive because 1t Mil enable the IrolA I=fovlde Vital s upport for the lIulIllltVl!, especIally In the areas of further research, modem technology, training ,tnd demonstration for bakers across the country,"
Mass ive training of sma ll bakers
Ahmed Kuru. MiUJJging ~~ ÂŁse.c:.lit'f! 0lIkrr. &1eqIdse &ud u.i#ed (rigId} ill ~ b_d sbide willi Dr. Adeko/ J Ali, Man.ging Oireclor/Clliel &ecalire. Utno. Bifid UK Pk. wIr~ lJIe l iI/kr risi~ llIe &/~rise IliHd boss in ugos Iro.UlJil ed KiDgda._
He revealed fu rther thatlhe Ministry has just finalLsed a plan with rrTA
on a massIVe (rammg of all the small bakers that mdlr.e u p more than 80 per cent of the bakers In the counlry, H e pomted out thai a tecblllcal group comprising nutritionists, food scienUSts, researchers. master bakers and flour millers has been sci up to standard ise the recipe. adding lhat master bakers have pledged to ensure that cassava bread reac hed Ule ma rket on a large scale as soon as the req ui.red flour was a vaiJa ble. He sald an mternationa..l organisation bad also completed the audit of 137 small and medium scaleenlerpnses lDvolved in processmg Dour, not-
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Cassava production to rise to 51m tonnes by 2015 By PROVlOENCEOBUH, wflb Ag_q lIrpori iug that the a udit was~ed at upgrading and empowering moribund enterprises to return to b usiness_ H owev~ "the r-ederaJ Government
bad cooduded an agreement with the Chinese gOYt!DllDCllt for the acquisition of 18 higb quality cassav;a noW" pl"OaSSing planl:s lhill would pruces:s 1.3 million tons or the commodity.I-Ie added that the government would encourage the acquisitioo or
ogun State pledges to redefine Nigeria's economy through Agriculture 8 PROVlDeNCEOBU H
HEAD oJ tbe Oguo S tate's 10 vestors ' f~rum with agriculture as main ' 0("\14, Ule State Government has_vo":'fd to thversUy Its wealth mlo 4gnculturaldevclopmenL Govenfor OCfbe Slate. Sentor lbikWlle AmosuD, s p:Jke to journalists during the unvc,m ng ceremony of theoffioal logo of t.h e forum in the compan y of some eabiJlei members and senior officials of lilt state gover:nmcot. Amosun satd -Edllcatiou 15 key, health is good, but oW" major focus for this fonuo will be agnculture. BeJore the advent of oil, agriculture was our main stay, U ,~gricullure is well harnessed. it ca n redefine any nation." He cited t~ Californian economy stressing thot65 perceut of what CalLl'orma IS today is agriculture. "Californian's ecoromy IS more than what
A its
we run after in leml5 of oil." Speaking ou tbe investors' forum tagged "Ogun State open for Business" the governor said UJe state is open for as many wbo wisb to invest 1lI the state, giving assurance thai there is no prclcrentiallreatment for intending investors'.
Investmenl destina tion of choice "You do not need MI. A o r B to do business in OgWl State.. The slate is a business destination o f c boic:;e. We bave all the uecessary things in place for investors Lo thrive in this s ta le.... Continuing, he said. "iJlC stale is ODC of the wiest grow-ing invt:5b:Dent destinations of Ch01CC in tbe West coast 01 Afnca because 9f its pro:rimi ty to tbe Dation's conuoercial uerve center, Lagos"
-When we would have developetl Ogun. we will get to a stage where we will Ieed lAgos, attract Lagos to come and leave in Og-un Stille.. Cost of liv-ing is relatively low in the slate compared to other stales_ I urge you to come and tap ioto these abundant economic op-portunities," he beckoned. AmOSUll called lor Public Private Partnership of genuine investors caUing 00 io\o-cstors from aU works of life who ha\'e done it before 10 come out and assist in developing Ogun State. Aa:onting to the governor; "'What .. e are doing Loday is not Cor oW" self bul 1M the slate, we have sworn an oath to serve the good people who elec1ed us, and we are doing this to reposition our stilte. Social economy is key. What ""'earewitnessingtoday is a step-piug sl,o ne l.awards aclueving a gre.U.er Oqun S tate.-
mills by the private sector; by allowing lbcm to aca5S low interest concessionary financing. with a repaymenl period of 10 yean to 20 years and al2.S per cent interest rate..
-Some countries have indicated inlereslto tey into the 40 per cent composite cassava noW" initiative.. Mlnisters of AgricuUure lrom a number of countries. incJudjng Gbana, Cote d'ivoire, Kenya, among others approached me to say they will go into the cassava HoW" initiative in Uu~ various countries, - be said.