24-Vanguard. FRIDAY. AUGUST t7. 20U
BUSINESS/ AGRICULTURE ~-~=-~~====~~~==~==~~~~~~ ByOlaswlkllnml Akoni le FeJen.l Governmen t has CllnllllJtted the sum of N460 million for the implementalion of the national cassava value chaln progr amme programme. aimed at m.ui:lruzing cassava industrial potentials. Meanwhile. the Lagos state govC!rnm e nt has assured graduates nf course I and II of its Agricultural Youth Empowermen t Scheme, AGRIC -YES , that their empowerment fund wouJd be ready soon (OJ- disbursement as its beinq delay as a result o( d ue proces~. On the CaSS8V:l value chain programme, Minister for Agriculture and Rural DeveiopmE-nt, Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina , (i ;closed th e amount at 111' nag 0(( of cas s ava val ue chain programm-? in l.agos held at Lagos S t ilte I\gricultural uaining Instit lte, Araga, Epe Tbe progtammewhich came unde r Nalional Agricultural TransfomlUtioo o\genda, ATA. saw the dis tril.ution of 25,000 cassava bUTldl ~ to benefitting registered crO? ~armers in the state. About 21)( oulof34,000 reg i stered : IOP farmer s receil' ed thE ir cassava bundles at ceJe:nony. The nag-oU was the second in the series of tbe interventio h under tbe Growth ::lIhancement Support Sche;ne. The indusb iill uses along tbevaJue chai n include: High Quality Cas::ava Flou e, HQC F. for the ,.~placement o f up to 20 percent wheat Dour in bread with cassava. Native a011 modified starches krilLdusUial uses to
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FG releases N460M for cassava value chain prog • Distributes 25,000 cassava bundles to crop farmers in Lagos replace com starch imports. Dried chips (or support and livestock feed production as well as external demand of cassava for industrial use such as large ethanol production Sweetenen- High Fructose Cassava Syrup, HFCS: (or sugar requirement lor soft drink bottlers and juice manufacturers in Nigeria estimated at 200,000 tons of sugar per annum . A replacement of half of this by
HFCS from cassava would create a 10,0000 ton demand. Fuel Ethanol. E10,policy in Nigeria; the policy of blending gasoline with 10 percent ethanol that represents a potentiallbillion litrcs per annum market of fuel ethanol and, assuming 50 percenl of feedstock comes fro m cassava, a new raw material requirement of 1.7 million tons of dried chips is required. Addressing t he elated
beneficiaries during the week • Adeshina. represented by Dr. Odeyem1 Julious, a Regional Director. Soutb West, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, explained that the exercise, which is being done in collaboration with other slates of the federation , aimed at enhancing yield of various crops that the nation has comparative advantage and ultimately their production. "N460 milBon has bee n committed for the
implem.entation of the programme and attention is bei ng given 10 the whole value chain of the various enterprises with cassava as a major focal point." He stated. Adeshina, said that various transformational plans of the ministry is to SlOp al1 importation of agricultural produce that could be produced locally. He disclosed that aboul N635 billion was spent for the importation of wheat into the country on a yearly basis. "This present administration. is poised at improving the efficiency of willing farmers towards enhancing food production as well as ensure food security. " Importation is a chaUenge to the economy, food security, job creation and natio nal security. Therefore, there is no going back on ensuring food security in the country. ~ The minister however, commended the eHort of Lagos slate government in improving the agricultural sector in the state. In his address , state Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr Gbolahan lawai, described the intervention as a welcome development at the right time. According to h im :" This occasion is another effort of th e state to revamp the agric uJtural sector with the Strategic Programme for Accelerated Agricultural Growth, SPAAG, which has the six " IN S", Incentives, (np uts, Innovation, Information, Infrastructure and Institutions, as its major thrust.
Ond()1 State throws weight behind FG's GES ... disburses N45m to Fadama ByJ IM OH
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B, ~BATUNDB
ado state Govel?unentdisbursed N45 ~illlion to fadama communitie~ Lnder Fadama Lll programa.e, th e state commissioner ' ":Ir Agriculture, Egm. Ademdla Olorunfunmi has given hi i nod to the Growth Enbancement Support s!:t erne u nd e r Federal Government's Agriculture TIansformation Agenda. Speaking " head of the disUibulion ,( the fund to the gil> set of bene'iciaries of the scheme in t is office on Monday. hi> sajd that the prese nt c h al enges being experienced by farmers are inevitable srnC>! the scheme is new and quite different from what they hac been used to in the past. wrbe genesis of the progrdJll is based on r~earch that less than 11 % of f.anners get the
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fertilizers procured every year. 11tis only the first year of the program and we know that there are hiccups which will be over come." Olorunfumi disclosed that as a support of the laud able mitiative of the Agriculture Ministe r, Dr. Aklnwumi Adesina, that the Ondo state government has paid over three hundred Naira (N300,OOO,000) million as their payment. 'This is a demonstration of our avowed commitment in actualising our lofty objective in the agricultural sector of the state. "Our Governor is committed to fulfilling its oblIgation through supporting aU the externally. founded projects in the slate financia.lly and with the required political will," Speaking on agriculture financing and supports to farmers in the state, Olorunfumi disclosed that the
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s tate government has given · management of the scheme out loans to about over 2000 and achievement of the deliverables. These are items fanners . "We have given out over that are clearly stated." N700million, under IFAD, He added that the slate had ADP, FADAMA ; we have earlier disbursed about N290 given out grants of over half a billion since inception of this government . "The I FAD, ADP and Fadama a re special proj~ that are communitybased. and e National Directorale this government has been of Employment (NDE) paying its counter part has commenced training funding to the World bank, of 80 unemployed youths in Abica Development Bank and Anambra on modern the Federal government. I glad to say that in all of these agricultu.ral techniques as part of its efforts to reduce we have always been top." The Agriculture unemployment in the state. The state Coordinator of commissioner added that "For NDE, Mr Mike Mbata, wbo the third year running in declared the workshop open in Fadama project, the World Ban k has declared the state Awka , explained that it was as the best performing state under the Rural Agricultural Development and Training in the Fadama project. TIlis are judged largely in terms of Scheme (RADTS) . Mbata said that RADTS was the prompt payment of counter part fund; the appropriate one of the empowerment
million under the Fadama project, ~these are money that go to cooperatives, the people fo rm cooperatives, determine what they want and we provide the technical evaluation and pay this money 10 their account and monitor and this has developed over 4000 rural families .
NDE trains 80 Y,ouths in modem agricultUle
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programmes of the directorate aimed at addressing the current unemployment situation in the country. He noted thai joblessness had resulted in various crimes in the society, adding : "the attendant consequences had brought in frustration and anti-social practices inimical to law and order. "Some youths resort to aU (orms of criminality, trafficking in drugs, armed robbery, kidnapping, destruction of lives and property, prostitution and child trafficking," he said.