v......~ WEDN~~MAItOt7,20'Z-21
Business~ ~
fwther faalitate e troru geared Ule realisation of 40 per cent Cassava AoUt induslon In bread, cassava productJ.on would be expand ed from the present 34 nullton Lons to 51 million tons by 2015 This wtll be adueved by d oubling the yIelds from 12.5 tons per hectare Lo 25 Lons per hectare In a report, the Miruster o f AgnculLure and RUllll Development, Dr Ak4 mwunml Adestna, sald. - If weU Un4 piemented, It wtI1 create jobs for over 1.3 rnilhon ""Ilgenans annUllllyas more than 1.7 million tons of cassava will be required to prod uce 400,000 tons of to per cent composite cassava DOUL Adeslf'!a revealed that the Interna lIonal Fund for Agncultural Development (U'A!:» has promISed to asslSt Nigeria to secure a four- million-doI lar grant lor a JOint trlunlng programme of the In Lernal!ona] lnsutuLe for Tropical Agnculture (IITA, on the CdSSd\'a ultaltve. '"llwi grant has be-. come tmperallve because 1t WlU enable th'!' IfTA prOVide Vllal support for th~ imltdU Ie, especially in the areas of further research, modern technola-.. g)', train:ng and demonslnllJon for bakers across the country.-
.I. towards
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Massive trdining
Ah.lJJed Kuru. M iUlilgiog Dilr.dodClliei En!oIIi-.e Oflk.w; &kYpdse 11-" u-J1ed (rigldl J... b_dsJJ.de witlJ Or. Addol., All, MiHfilgillg Dired~ freodiPll!. Ullioa IhId UK pte; w6~ 11M hlner rlsiled Ute &1upriM: &.. . boss in LAgos [rwaUniled KiII!ltJo..
of sma.11 bakers He revealed further Ihat th e Muus 4 try has just finalised a plan Wlth U TA
a massIVe lralrung of all the smaU bakers Ulat make up more Iha n 80 per unt Df the bakers in the country H e pomted out that a tL'Chmcal group compnslOg n u1ntlonis ls, lood scientists, researc hers, master bakers and Oour mille rs has been l>e1 up to s ta n dard15e the recipe, add ing tha i master bakers llave pledged to ensure that cassava b read reached the mar kel on It large scale as soon as the re.. quued flou.r was avtUlable. He saJd an international org anlSaUon had aho completed the a udlt o f 137lwaU and m edJum scaJeenterpns es involved in p rocessmg fl our, not OD
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Cassava production to rise to 51m tonnes by 2015 By PROVIDENce OBUU. with Agea;'., RrporI
mg that the audit was aimed al up-grading a nd empowering moribund enterprises to teton) to business. However. "the Feder.tl Government
had cood.uded an ag-rermad with the Qlinese government for the acquisi lion of 18 higb quality cassava Dour processing plants that would process 1.3 mlIJjoo tons 01 the commodit,." H e added Ibat the goY~mmeot wouJd encourage the acquisition of 4
Ogun State pledges to redefine Nigeria's economy through Agriculture I By PROVJD[!NCe.OB~
of the S tate's in A ttl!AD Vestoe:' forum Wlth agricuJtrne as O gUD
Its m . ain~::us , the state Governme nt has vrw to d Ive rsify III weaJUl into agnc1iltur devclopmenL Governor or UlC Sta te. SenLor Iblkuu Ie AmosUI\ spoke to JOumalIsts during Ute U(\vl'JUng ceremony oC the offid al logo bf the forum mUle company o f some cnblnet m embers a nd seDlor officibb of Ule sta te gO\-enmlent. AnlOsun l al d " Education is ke y, healUllS good. but o ur major focus for this forum will beagnculture. Befo re Ute advent of oil, agriculture was our mam stay. U agriculture is well ha rnessed, It c;an redefine a ny natio n." I-Ie ci led the Californian economy stres.ing thai 65 percent of wbat CaliforDia is toda y is agriculture. "Qili4 fomian's economy is D10re Ut.an wbat 4
we run after in t4!mlS of oil" Speaking on Ule inyestors' (Drum lagged "OyUII State open for Busi4 ness" Ule governor.said the state is opellior il!J many wbo ,yish to invest in Ule stale, giving assurance that there is no preferentiallrea1mCDI for intending investors'.
Investmeot dcstiDaUoD of choice "You do not need M t. A or B Lo do business In Ogun State.. 1bestate is a business d estina tion o f c hoice. V,c have aU the necessary things in place for investors to thrive in lhi.s slate." ContinUlOg , he said, ~ stale is one of Ule faatest gror(4ing investm€!nt desllnations of c hoice in the West. coastof Arnca because of its PronD1J4 tv to the nallon's conu oercial nerve
cenler, Lagos ..
·When we would have developed Ogun.. we will get to a stage where we will feed ~o., attract Lagos Lo come and leave in Ogun Slate. Cost of UV4ing 15 relabvcly low in Uac stale compared lo OUlet states. f u rge you to come and tap into these abundant economic op-portunil.ies." he boct",,,,d. AmOSUD called for Public Private PartJ:tealup oJ genuine investors call ing on inrestors [rom aU worb of life who han! done it before to come out a nd assist in developing Ogun Stale. According to the governor;. "What ,,·c are oomg today is not lUI" uur.self but Jor the sl4!tc, we bawc sworn an oath to sen'c thc good people who clcded us, and we are doing Lbis to reposition our state. Social economy is key. What ,,'e aa-e witnessing today IS a step-ping stoue towards achiev4 ing a greater Ogun S tale."
mills by the private sector, by aUowing them to iKU'S!I law inten:st con-
cessionary fina.ncing. with a repayment period of 10 yoa.rs to 20 yeaR and at 2..S pu ant intcn:st ra1f!. ·Some countries have mdic.aled interest to key into lbe 40 per cent composite cassava Oour iojliative. Ministers of Agric ulture froID a number of countries, iocJudi ug Ghana, Cote d ·ivoire. Kenya, among otber'S ap4 proacbed me to !&ely Utey will go into the cassava Dour Uliliallve lD thea vanous counlnes,· be said4