Vanguard.. FRIDAY. MAROt 1., 20'2-25
BUSINESS/ AGRICULTURE BRIEFS
Fashola blames Industrial woes on lack of Investment In agriculture 8yMONSUR OLOWOOPI!JO OVER OR Babatunde Fasbota o! Lagos state yesterd ay blamed ine Uectivene.ss of the country 's industries on lad of investment III the agricuJture sector_ Fashola, wh o gave the subm ission during an interactive session with benefi cia ries of 8RF scholarship I c heme at the Government House in IkeJa, stud "the i n vest ment in agricullur~ woul d have multiplier eH('Cts on aU sectors of the econuDlY, adding It would pro p e l mass ive industnaliZ8hon and creation 01 jobs _" TIll' governor said "our economic prosperity as a nalton depend ... on a strong agricultural base. We must overcome oar agricultural deficiency a nd inves t m.usivety In thU key secto r for
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AfDB SUpports CGIAR's research-for..development with US$63m 8 yJ IM O H BABATUNOE, Milh agency reports
T
il E Afncan Development Ba nk (AIDO) has approved a US$ 63.24 mLllion fund package for the Implementation of as-year project dubbed "S upport to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops In Afnca" (SARD-SC)
TIle SARD-SC is a research, science, and tech no logy deve.lopment Initiative aimed at enhanang the prod ucttvity and Income derived from cassava, maize, rice, and wheat - four of the SlJ: com modi ties that African Heads of States, through the C omp rehen s ive Afn c an Agricultural Development Program , have d efined a s
strategic crops for Africa. The project will be coimplemented by three Afncabased centers u nde r the Consu ltative G roup on International Agncultural Research (CGlAR) nam ely the International Institute of nopical Agriculture (IITA), AIrica Rice Ccnter, and the International C enter for AgricuJtural Research in the
week.
The SARD-SC Project comes at an opportune time when food secunty and nutnllon are high on the nallonal agenda of the Ba nk ' s Regional Member Counlnes (RMCs), as nSing food pnces push rmlliOIll!l of people mto extreme hunger and pcwerty The SARD-SC allows - for the firstllme ever m a Single project - a conllnental coverage of the food secu nty challenges m Alnca ts ove rall goal I enhance food nutution security
growth." " If we c an produce abundantly Ule raw materials to feed our industries such as te:sti1es, d aines, leather and others, these industries will thrive and the eUects on the economy will be massive," he said . H e c alled for the formulation o f the fight polioes to SUIJpurt the growth of tbe agricuJture. expressmg regrets th a t most 01 the country's agncultural pobees over the yea rs had not encouraged t h~ 9 rowth of the sector_
I r-;tD Presidenl. Or. KiJnayoF. Nw.mze fiell) and Dr. RachJd /Janna (IITA Cuaeroon Country RepresentiJtive) allITA CuDerrxJn $t.. tioo, recently.
Millac to add value to Nigerian nutritional values -Mason 'T"'he introouctJon of Millac
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IFAD train s 150 rural farmers in Niger Del ta ÂŁ""'O()RDINI'<R>" Oxnmwmy \.....Based Natural Resources Management Programme In the Niger D ~ ta , Dr Irene Ibeakuzie. has SaId 150 rural fanners from ~he region have been trained
Ibeakuz le told the News Agency 0 1 Nlgl'ria (NAN) m Port Harcourt on Wednesday
that the essence of prOviding the traIning was to boost the lamung competencies of the local farmers The progranune, supported by the International Fund for AgriCUltura l Development eIFADI , th Federal Government and the Niger Delta Develo pm ent CommISSion lL expected to red uce poverty level of more than 400 , 000 rural households
Dry Areas. IITA IS also the Executing Agency of the project, Another CGlAR Center - the In ternalional Food Policy Research Inslltute - a spectalized techmcal agency, Will suppo rt the three Centers TIle notice of grant approval Signed by Dougou Kelta , M anager of the Agnculture and Agro-Induslry DIYlSIOn 2 o f the Bank .. was received by Dr Nte ran ya Sangmga , Director General of IITA last
Gold by Just Food Umded, a food solutions and equipment company, into the Nigerian market is to set the Nigerian cuisines at parwith global palates, practice and Btandards in food and pastry industry. Peter Mason, Din!d.ot, Just Food Umiled, disclosed this recently at the presental10n of the new p roduct to chefs, stakeholders b'om the food and pastry industry and the Nigerian public. "As one of our best selling cream altemallves, MiUac Gold has all the benefits of dairy cream , and morel Extremely versatile, it enables you to create sweet and savoury dahes. II doesn't split when used in cooking and reduces just like dairy cream." Just Food bO!S said lhenew product is to encourage chefs In Nlgena to try their hands creaUve1y on the cream and hOfK!:Cully create somethmg special with local cuUtines using the cteam,
"Nigeria has got qUIte a great deal of cuisines that just need a little c reative touch 10 appeal better and more to Ule culinary tasle of its teeming \jSltOrs. " Instead of demnndlllg continental food, we want chefs here to use the cream to create something special with Nigerian cuisines that wiU always delight foreign palates. He added "Since Just Food is alter innovations that "Win make Nigerian CUisines delectable to International palates, Mason insists it's about time Nigerian chefs embrace new products and ideas, especially the one offered now by Millac Gold Cream." 10 demorultate the special features of Millac to the audience at the clean. spacious and industnal kltchen of Just Food limited was Tim Woodford, PrincipaJiDlfector, and ZeveDwacth Che1School, South Africa_ Woodford assisted by two other chefs from Just r-ood set out to show the audience how
the Millac Gold cream can be used in whipping, coolring and pouring. H e performed some Indescribable cuisines using MilJac Gold Cream, just as he took out time an betWeen the preparation to explain salient points and usages . " Whether used for whipping, cooktng or pouring, Millac Gold gives a chef twice the volume, flavour and more value than every other cream in the markel_ Woodford added that the [trmDess of MIUac Gold Cream on several food condiments is far more unlike the ordinary c ream, as it does not fall back after Whipping , He explained that Millac Gold tastes just like a fresh pasteurised cream. "It has a creamyteJiUre that allows other flavours such as chocolate and strawberry to shine through and, unllke dairy cream, v.iU not split â&#x20AC;˘ with the addition or acidic ingredients like orange.
is to lind and contnbute to poverty reduction In the Bank ' s low -mcome RMCs. Its target bene6danes are individual farmers and consumers, farmers ' groups including youth and women. policy makers, pnvate sector operators, marketers/traders, tran spo rters , small-scale agricultural machinery manufacturers , lind IIlStitUtiOns. The Bank ' s low -mcome RMCs mcIude Bemn Republic, Cote d ' ivoire. DR Congo, Eri trea, Ethiopia, Ghana , Ke nya , Lesotho, Madaga scar, Mali, MaUritania, Niger, Nlgena, Senegal. S ierra Leone. Sudan. Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.. The project IS expected to contribute towards addressing the current shortfall III food supply Ullhesecountnes and beyond by working across the full value cham of each crop and addressmg both food costs and employment creahon . Through ItS value cham approach, SARD-SC will also contribute to crop-livestock IIltegralJon based on the use of the commodilles' by products . The well -tested, UTA-espoused research-fordevelopment model adopted in this p roject can deliver steUar results as most of the success ful technologies , models, manpower, and knowledge to be mobilized In SARD -SC are alread y available from the lD1plementing CG1AR Centers and national partners.