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V.ngUitrd fRIDA Y ttARCH 23 lO 2
ESSj A "'RIC ULT UR
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ey t consum tion of pro-vita va varjetaes . geia
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. .. plants to process 1..3m MT of cassava on the way h~
asHlva Is mosl Impo-til'lt lie food C Nigena q'v('n II," number of Sid
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1)f'C'plpwh,)E-at II im.lyand ~ huge- amount I) calortes th>nvablr Over Inne, II IbS evolved hom belOg a j:ea.ant's crop 10 cash and tndllSlnal crop with ('arller rf'SN. rc II work and .. u(ce!;ses locu' ed on lood !i("( unty as well :u cash crop roles WIthout alt"nllon on Its nutnbonaJ ViLUI II IS said that large C"omponrnt 01 yulnerable populatton. Yomen of cluldbeannc; i1gt' lI'ld duldren In areas whf'lf" cassava lonsumptloliis t1 gh are at osk fir '.'ilamm A dehoency It wa~ aoa nst IhlS I~rkgrowxt that e earchers at I lip NatlO lltl1 Itllot Crops 'tl·"ran..h Irlsht h fNRCRI) UIQudlkf'. If by Dr ChledoZll' 1·lIe a Cassava ijlt-ed.f>1;, to I'r gt' II "llh ollll'r partuers III df""ff" 'PtlKJ cassa\ia t'nnl'ht"d WI I \i a ni'l A. Th.. Journe" , h.c-h started .1bout 12}e.!fi q., lO sol\1ng Vitamm A de..1l. 'f q came to IrUllion O~('m If r last }le-ar With the r .. le.;1 o( thrf"e yello" van£:tlcl of cassa\'a that are nch in ,tanun A On Pet~r Ku l).OW or IITA and Chlgozlr Egesl~ 01 NRCRI saJd the d "Velopment of tlte van£'t.eI '" 1115 a malor breakthrough 11al would changethenutn 1C'\lI..I status of people llVlTll:J I)n '"3aava'b{lsed food Whil~ expldlll lh~ had com~
n oJ lhat what u With IS not G~nellcaUy M Klhed crop. Ege:si noted lI'lt what they breed developer born onglnal
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'finislerof Agriculture disp/d)"S d5:.-orled products from p ro- I 'ilam/" A Glga'il {P '~tJ d uring 11". lil UIl ch o f th e p I'lie CifSU,., vilriel r il' U IJl u dik ,..
selooed parents and evaluated theH promlslIlg progenies dUlling a penod of over 10 years The result was Ihe release of three IlPW vanellf':5 With mtermrolate content 01 VltanunA aul Ilona of lIarvestPlus said " Given the Ilnportanc~ of cassava In Nigena, these new va netles could proVIde more Vltaman A In the diets of over 70 milbon Niyenans and con tinue to reduang Vltamm defiaency, which is Widespread in the
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Our g oal i s to a dd an addj[jo.naJ 17 nuDion MT of cassaJ'a 10 OUI· domestic food s uppJy
stem received from Brazil through internah,na] Institute ofllopical Agrkulture UITAI Ege51 dlSdoiKt that from over 20 varlf'! es eather Identified and t rough intense selection and :"nnvenllOnal breedlllg work Ihlt they were able to amve at .hree vanelles thaI compare a~ourably in proVitamin A. "Vltanll'll A ~(lssava was d~ v~lope cl throug h conventional bl "'E"<ilng sumlar to m os t othf'r Imp ro ved Vllrieues thllt 1lJt>,'ultlvated by fanners In Nigen31 "1b u\CJease '!itamm A 10 a level that can h3l'·e an Impact 111 health, breed~rs conducted a senes of croile. amo ng
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country " Elated Minlsle r of Agriculture. Dr Alunwuml Adesma al the orfida1launch orlhe released pro-VItamin A cassava vaneue! In Nlgena last week at Umudike. Abla state said that ProVitamin A or beta carotene vaneUes of cassava would go III long way in correcting the deficie.ncy of till S nutnent In diets, parucularly those of the poor and the vulnerable -Because cassava IS sUll a cheap crop, affordable 10 mosl people, the betll ·carotene vanety wtll go a long way UI helplllg to correct mdlViduai and household vitamtn A defiCIency."
He Srld Ihe success made 15 part of 'hedrivc orthe Federal Government to transform dgrlcl.lture through Ils Agricultural TransformaUon Action Plan -nus plan. called ATA, has as liS goal the addillon of 20 M1l.lton MT o f food to the domestic fo od suppl) .. The M illiliter lidded that
caSJIava II one of the major crops under the /UA as theIr locus IS to create new markets for cassava through high quahty cassava flour. to be used III replaCIng some of the wheat Oourbetng Imported to produce bread, !ugh fructose cassava syrup 10 replace the 200,000 MT of sugar currenUy betng used in th~ JUice
manufactunng Illdustry, dned cassava chips. and the production of ethanol "Our goal IS to Ildd an addltlonaJ 17 million Mf of ,assava to our domeslic food supply The Agricultural lransformatlon Action Plan hopes to create 1.3 mtlbon Jobs across the cassava value chaIns." Dr Meslna, however, said producmg more food IS not enough, "we musl also ensure that there IS enhanced food nutnllon and health -Annually. Nlyena loses over USS I 5 bllhon In GO P to vltamm and mtneral d e fl ctenCles as many staple foods are low In essentl,,1 mlcronutnenls," he added AdeslIla said that II WillS cruC ia l that Nigeria accelerates efforts and polley m&lSUIt':S on ImproVIng hea.lth and nutllt!on of vulnerable groups. especially women. infants and children. addmg that scahng Up core mlcronutnenl interventions would cost less lhan USS 188 mIllion per year-whIch makes economic s~ns~ To populartze the Pro Vitamin A cassava. he stud greater effort will be needed to mereale the nutnuon capaaty Wlthlll the Muuslnes 01 I lea.ilh and Agnculture and Rural Development. Improv~ mfant and young child feedIng through effectIve educalJon and counlielhng sef"Vlces.
Food security: lagos targets agriculture at Ehingbeti 2012
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th I.'5Umaled 20 million residents to feed, the i..agos StateGovenunenl has: arihounced investment opportunities In the agricu1ture sector where It IS targeting to attract investors during the 6th Lagos Economic Summit (Ehlngbeti 2012) as part of steps to ensure food secunty II'Ilhestate. The inv ~stment opportunities include provisio n and supply 01 agnculture InpUIS , equipment manufactu re, producllon. processing, storage and markeling among others. Commissioner for Economic PllInning and Budget. who doubles lIS the Ch&nnan. Lagos Economic SurnmJI Group, Mr. Ben Akabueze, said I h~ state remams Ihe largest market In igeria in terms of
concentratJon of people lIS well lIS market opportwutles "Over 20 million people are 10 be fed in LAgos alone. The potential IS huge for agricult~; there IS bvestock. there is food processing and a lot of agricultural products which constllute raw materials forothe!" industries", he stated. Accord ing to av"lIable slalistics from the stale Ministry of Agricultu re and Cooperauves, over 3,.500 catUe, 5,000 sheep lind goats: lIS well as 2,600 pigs are being consumed pet day III U,e state thus offer ing huge opportuniues fo r in~tors who may be Interested in m~at processing and adjunct sef"Vices such as storage, distribution and transportation. A whole session tilled ':.\g n culture and Agro Allied - Path to Food Secunty in Lag os" is already ded.icaled to
discuss lOvestmenl potentJaIs In Ih ~ sector dunng thiS year 's eci1t1on of the blenrual SUBUnit holding on Apnl 22 25, 2012 under the theme " From BRlCS to 8RlNCSLagos Holds the Key " Four key sectors namely power. agncullure. transportauonas well as bouslng and urban renewal are being focused A1r.abueze while underlirung theslgmficance of attracting more investments into agriculture said It was part of th~ proactive steps betJ19 taken by the state government towards the aUarnment of the Millennium Development Goals fMDGs) m the slate. " The investment must contribute towards the attamment of the Millenruum Development Goals in the state", he said On agro-p rocessing, he slaled that there are lots of