11000 farmers to participate in IITA's on-farm trials for weed control

Steering Committee of the Cassava Weed Management Project of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-CWMP) has approved the establishment of 58 on-farm trials for weed control across Nigeria.

The plan, accordingly to the decision that formed part of resolutions and recommendations of the 2016 Steering Committee meeting held in IITA, Ibadan 28-29 April 2016, “is to reach, through the on-farm trials, at least 11,000 farmers with a basket of weed control options, and offer farmers the opportunity to choose by themselves, weed control methods that best suit their locality and address their needs.”

Weed control is the botanical component of pest control, which attempts to stop weeds , especially noxious or injurious weeds , from competing with domesticated plants and livestock .

Prof. John Ayoade, a Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Agriculture Makurdi, who chaired the meeting on behalf of the Executive Director of the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Dr Julius Okonkwo, said the on-farm trials would validate the two-year results obtained from research stations.

The on-farm trials will involve farmers from Benue, Abia, Oyo and Ogun states on different aspects of weed control including the use of motorised mechanical weeders, best-bet agronomic practices including correct spacing, improved variety, cassava/maize intercrop, use of fertilisers and tillage practices, and the use of environmentally friendly herbicides. Each on-farm trial is about one and half acres and will be researcher-managed.
Project Leader, IITA-CWMP, Dr Alfred Dixon, said the on-farm trials would provide opportunity for both researchers and farmers to work together on the path of discovery in a participatory manner.

“Our research approach is inclusive and farmers are important stakeholders in this equation,” he said.
Though Nigeria is a global leader in cassava production, the average yield on farmers’ fields is about 14 tons per hectare, representing half of those obtained on research stations. One of the limiting factors to increased productivity is poor weed control, and the IITA-CWMP is working with partners within and outside Nigeria to provide solutions to weed damage to crops.

The Steering Committee, which plays an oversight role on the project, is headed by the Executive Director of NRCRI, Dr Julius Okonkwo, and other 11 members drawn from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), CropLife, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), University of Agriculture Makurdi (UAM), Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), a private consulting firm, IITA, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Environews)

Ooni's investment in cashew production excites NCAN

The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) says it is excited about Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife’s interest to invest in cashew plantation.

The National Publicity Officer of NCAN, Mr Sotonye Anga, said on Monday in Lagos that the plantation would cover 100 acres of land in Ile-Ife, Osun.
Anga said that this was coming at a time when the association was driving toward establishing new cashew plantations across the country.
The NCAN spokesperson said that existing cashew plantations were over 50 years old and the need for new ones was important.

"I am pleased to announce that the Ooni of Ife, His Royal Majesty, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has joined Nigeria’s cashew family.

"The Ooni is now a cashew farmer and by farming cashew, we can build the future of Nigeria’s cashew and earn more foreign exchange and reduce the pressure on the Naira.

"The dynamic traditional ruler took to cashew farming so as to create jobs and make Osun the leading cashew powerhouse in Nigeria and worldwide.

"The state of the art modern cashew plantation owned by the Ooni covers over 100 acres of land in the heart of Yorubaland,’’ Anga said.

He also revealed that the opening of the plantation has been scheduled for June 7 to kick-start the 2016 cashew planting season and cashew expansion programme.

According to him, the establishment of cashew plantations will create diverse opportunities for other businesses to flourish.

He said: "Cashew plantation establishment is labour intensive and starting one has multiplier effects and creates diverse opportunities for other ancillary businesses to flourish.

"It will stimulate economic activities in rural areas, encourage urban to rural migration as people will go to where the money is and help diversify the nation’s economy.

"So, we are proud of this giant step taken by the Ooni of Ife in establishing a cashew plantation and we urge more well meaning Nigerians to do the same.

"Cashew is money making, health promoting, soil-conserving and environment friendly crop’’.

The Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development; Trade and Investment, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola and other dignitaries will grace the plantation’s opening in Ile-Ife on June 7. (Vanguard)

Read: Cashew cultivation in Nigeria

FG votes N940 for grazing reserves despite opposition

Grazing animals

The Federal Government has set aside N940m to be spent on grazing reserves across the country despite growing opposition to its establishment.

There have been reports that the government is considering the establishment of grazing reserves across the country as a way of ending Fulani herdsmen attacks on farmers and residents of their host communities.

The proposal has, however, met stiff resistance from individuals and some state governments especially in the southern part of the country, who believed that the creation of grazing reserves would give the rampaging herdsmen the opportunity to increase their attacks.

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Archbishop Adewale Martins; and a former General Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Archbishop Joseph Sunday, are among those who have opposed the proposal to establish grazing reserves across the nation.

They said instead of establishing grazing reserves, the Federal Government should build cattle ranches in states where cattle rearing is the major occupation.

Also, Oyo and Ekiti states have made public their opposition to the creation of grazing routes, with both states saying they had no land for the routes in their states.

In a similar vein, the grazing reserve bill is still being debated in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Some stakeholders, except the Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body for the cattle rearers in the country, have advocated the creation of cattle ranches to curb the movement of herdsmen and stop the attendant destruction of crops and the loss of lives.
According to the details of the 2016 Budget, made public by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Idoma, on Thursday, however, the development of strategic grazing reserves is one of government’s priority projects for the year under agriculture.

This is an indication that the Federal Government may have decided to go ahead with its plan despite the opposition.

According to the budget details, the government will spend N940m on the project in 2016.
The document is, however, silent on the number of such grazing reserves that would be developed and where they would be located. It said the project, among others, was in pursuit of the nation’s goal of self-sufficiency and food security.

It also noted that N1.3bn would be spent on supports for 187,500 farmers; another N1.3bn would be spent on rural roads; N939.7m for extension services; and N940m for price stabilisation/buy-back/price guarantee scheme.

Meanwhile, despite considering concession options for Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port-Harcourt airports, the government has planned to spend over N2bn on the airports in 2016.

The Federal Government has budgeted N1.06bn for Airside Rehabilitation of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, despite that concession option is being considered for it.

Also, the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos; and the Port Harcourt International Airport, which are also part of the concession arrangement, will also benefit from the N865m budgeted for the procurement and installation of Airfield Lightening System for seven airports across the country.
The airports in Kano and Port Harcourt will also benefit from the N432.5m earmarked for procurement and illumination of Thales Navigational Aids in five airports.

Meanwhile, the Presidency on Sunday said the various social safety nets, for which N500bn was allocated in the 2016 budget, recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, were capable of assuaging the pains arising from the new fuel pricing regime.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, said this in a statement he made available to journalists in Abuja.
Akande said over eight million only, out of over 140 million Nigerians, would benefit from the programmes this year.

He, however, said the figure of the beneficiaries was apart from the jobs that would be created by the infrastructural projects that would be restored and the new ones that would soon take off.
“Long before now, the Presidency has made adequate arrangements in the 2016 budget to ensure that Nigerians are lifted from poverty and hardship,” he said.

For the umpteenth time, Akande gave details of the interventions and palliatives, some of which he said would be starting in a matter of weeks.
These include the payment of N5,000 monthly to one million extremely poor Nigerians for 12 months for which N68.7bn has been budgeted for; soft loan for 1.76 million traders and artisans, for which N140.3bn has been earmarked, and payment of between N23,000 to N30,000 per month to 500,000 unemployed graduates, who would be trained, paid and deployed to work as volunteer teachers, public health officers and extension service workers among other responsibilities.

He added that the youth would be given electronic devices to empower them technologically for their assignments.

The VP’s media aide stated that 100,000 artisans would also be trained and paid from N191.5bn that had been set aside for this in the budget.
Akande stated that at least 5.5 million Nigerian primary school children, starting first in 18 states – three per geopolitical zones – would be fed for 200 school days under the free Home-grown School Feeding Programme, for which N93.1bn had been appropriated. (Punch)

Michael Aondoakaa's Miva Rice Mill to boost rice production

The former Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa has now ventured into rice production and processing business worth billions of Naira. His activities attracted attention of the US government on April 8 2014, when the US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle paid official visit to the his Miva Rice Mill, located in Makurdi, Benue State.

PREMIUM TIMES went on a facility tour of Miva Rice Mill and met Michael Aondoaka brimming with confidence as he talked about his company’s backward integration activities, his joy working with over 10,000 farmers, support from the Central Bank, the growing popularity of Miva Rice with orders coming from neighbouring Cameroon, his mission to grow rice in other West African countries and his ultimate dream of continuing a family legacy started 35 years ago by his late uncle, Aper Aku, agovernor of Benue State in the Second Republic.
Aper Aku established the only integrated rice mill in the whole of Nigeria. The fact that Mr. Aondoakaa lived in the same house with Aper Aku explains what can be described as a burning passion for rice production in the family.

In the beginning
In 1982, Mr. Aondoakaa was an undergraduate of the University of Maiduguri when there was a students’ riot. In the aftermath, the university authorities imposed a fine on all students for damages done during the riot.
Mr. Aondoakaa returned home to his father who, having no money, gave him a measure of locally grown rice to sell in the market. The law student journeyed to a distant market in the city. He was however unable to get a good bargain because of the menace of middlemen. For many years he lived with that bitter experience of peasant farmers in the hands of market shylocks.

When he was minister, he found out that the only business the constitution permitted a government official to do was farming. He reinvigorated Mikap Nigeria Limited, a company he had incorporated in 1990. Mikap was founded for the development of agricultural value chain, energy trading and development consulting.

Specifically, the company is aimed at promoting commercial agriculture, agro-processing and marketing. Since 2011, Mikap has invested in polished parboiled paddy rice processing, with a capacity of 8.5 metric tons per hour under the brand name ‘Miva Rice’.

Located at Kilometre 5, Gboko Road in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, the company has functionally engaged over 10,000 farming communities in Benue and Cross River States in diffusing improved methods of paddy rice production. These were made possible by working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the MARKETS II scheme of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Inside Miva Mill
Mikap’s initial investment in the rice value chain was the commissioning of 2.5-ton per hour (2.5TPH) rice processing mill in Year 2011.

The processing capacity of the plant was increased to 8.5TPH in 2003 within two years of its operation. The mill applies state-of-the-art technologies and implements international best practices of parboiled polished rice processing, packaging and marketing.

The plant delivers an upscale, export quality flagship product, ‘Miva Rice’ to the market. Miva Rice is a brand of quality parboiled polished sortexed rice that is processed from locally grown long-grain hybrid rice varieties of Farro 44 (sippi) & Farro 52 (Mars) and packaged into 50kg, 25kg, 10kg and 5kg bags, respectively.

At the moment, market outreach is the Nigerian market with target being the West African sub-region. Already viable and substantial commercial orders for Miva Rice have been received from the Republic of Cameroon.

Total investment in machinery and land is N1.369 billion, made up of N869 million in equity contribution and a loan facility of N500 million under the Nigerian government Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).

Components of the investment include: two units of Steam Boilers from India (1st unit 2,000kg/hr and 2nd unit 6,000kg/hr); two units of raw paddy pre-cleaning machines (from India); three units of paddy rice parboiled plants (from India); two units each of 250t parboiled paddy storage silos (from Turkey); two units of Rice milling plants (1st line 2.5MT/hr from S. Korea and the 2nd line 6MT/hr from India); a 60-ton Road Weighbridge (from Italy); and locally-sourced vehicles, 2Nos. 250KVA diesel generating sets, 1No. 500KVA diesel generating set, 1No. 100kVA diesel generating set, main factory building, raw paddy warehouse, finished product warehouse, administration block, water works and fuel storage dump.

Mr. Aondoakaa told PREMIUM TIMES that one of his key intentions is to add value to local foods and create sustainable wealth that will provide employment by making agriculture posh and attractive to the youth population. To this end, Mikap has committed to developing markets and adding value to locally grown rice as a way of boosting food and agricultural production for wealth creation and employment generation. Interactions with various stakeholders, including marketers, distribution chains, consumers and farmers themselves have been beneficial in honing the mastery of rice processing technology.

Partnership with USAID
The integrated mill established by Aper Aku was not used by successive governments for 25 years after he left office. A major agro player, Olam Nigeria Limited, took over the mill and they operated an out-grower scheme supported by US government.

Explaining further, Aondoakaa said:
“For reasons bothering on communal issues and preferences, Olam left the scheme in 2011. When they left, the US government became stranded because they had secured approval of the State Department to fund the scheme until 2018. So they were looking for somebody else and that was how I came in. They said I had to pay 30 per cent contribution while they pay 70 per cent. I complained about my ability to pay the 30 per cent. The ambassador said they will work it out. Eventually we signed the first agreement in 2012.

“We started the out-grower scheme market tool in 2013. The following year 2014 was when the US ambassador gave notice he will come and see our operation; that is accountability to the US, to see how the project is going. So on the 8th of April, 2014 he was here with his team to have direct discussion with the farmers for the market tool. He spent about two and half hours talking to the farmers about their needs. I pleaded with the Ambassador that the out-grower scheme should continue, so we now enlisted Cross River State. We realised the proximity of Cross River to Benue is just two hours or so, and Cross River already have got a very good Fadama land. The Ambassador advised that I should expand. We wanted to expand to Taraba but the crisis in Taraba was a challenge. He had got approval from the State Department for the expansion of the scheme for me, so we now expanded to Cross River. Now the agreement is signed for Benue and Cross River to train the local farmers.

“So we have about 10,000 farmers working with us. That is how we became the first company to have a large farm cluster on rice supported by US government through the USAID Market Tool. They started training the farmers. They brought milling consultant from US because these people cannot give you money without consultant to manage it. The US government sent a team that came from Washington. Among them was a director from the State Department on Market Tool for Development. We signed the agreement for 2014, we signed the agreement 2015 and we have now signed for 2016. Annually they bring the agreement for me to sign.

“I think they were able to influence Bill Gate Foundation which later came here and offered to develop rice scheme in Benue for $100 million. But up till now we have not been able to access the money. There are things people are supposed to do before they can benefit but all these people from government just wanted to be a member of the committee. I was scared as the chairman of the committee so I am doing things more cautiously because these white people don’t joke with their money. We are still discussing and putting up structures because I don’t want anybody to hold me at the end and say the $100 million was not well utilized.”
CBN Anchor Borrower’s Programme
At the national level, Miva Rice has received support from the Central Bank of Nigeria through the CBN Rice Farmer Anchor Borrower’s programme. The CBN, based on its findings selected Umza Rice Mill in Kano and Miva for the programme modelled after the farming method in India.

Again, Aondoakaa explained how it works:
“In India you cannot own land more than two hectares because the population is over one billion. They have developed perfect clusters. The Indians have farm clusters for wheat, farm clusters for rice, farm clusters for tomatoes, etc. If farming is in clusters, it is easier for farm inputs to be distributed; it is easier for them to access credit and it’s easier for them to market their produce. So the CBN said look, we will develop the farm cluster for rice. You will be the anchor; you need the farmers to grow the rice paddy before you can mill.

“Before now, the CBN had had challenges in disbursing money to these farmers. There were issues of collateral, insurance and access to fertilizers. Now, with the anchor programme, the farmers working in cooperatives of not more than fifty members, sign the anchor agreement with us, the CBN and the banks. You also do cross guarantee among the cooperative members. So this is the first time credit is being given to the farmers without collateral. And we are able to link the farmers to inputs supply like fertilizer. They are given adequate training on improved seedlings and through these clusters like the ones in Gboko, Katsina Ala, Agatu and Otupko, fertilizers are delivered to their doorsteps.

“Through this approach, farm yield has improved over three-fold from 1.5 metric tonnes of rice per hectare to over 5 metric tonnes over the same acreage. Working through the CBN’s Rice Farmer Anchor Borrower’s programme, we are expanding our rice-farmer support to also cover Nassarawa, Kogi and Taraba States of Nigeria and hope to achieve the yield of 8 metric tonnes per hectare during the 2016 cropping season. Five additional rice processing companies have enrolled in this scheme of CBN anchor programme so we are hoping that in two to three years the national supply gap of 1.5million metric tons will be no more so Nigeria won’t need to import rice,” the former Minister said.

Growing acceptance for local rice
Not too long ago, local rice found in Nigerian markets were totally produced by peasant farmers. Though more nutritious than imported rice, it was not the favourite of the middleclass and the elites. The grains were short with stones in them. With the coming of upscale entrepreneurs and the establishment of rice mill equipped with sophisticated technology such as optical colour sorter, the story has changed. The overall quality strategy targets ISO, SON & NAFDAC specifications. In addition, brands like Miva Rice have done a lot of work on product packaging, making local rice not only attractive to the Nigerian consumers but foreigners as well.

Mr. Aondoakaa’s mill got an order from Cameroon he could not meet. Speaking on the experience he said: “It was for 25,000MT. I think some of our Nigerian brothers took our rice to that country; they ate it only to come back here with an order. I cannot even satisfy local demands in the country, how can I think of export? But time will come when we can export. Of course if we have quality rice and surplus quantity, why would Ghana go to Thailand to buy rice and incur more cost because it takes the ships long time to arrive from Thailand. But with Nigeria, you can place your order today and it will arrive Ghana tomorrow.
Time will come when we can export tomatoes; time will come when we can export; our food is tropical which is much better.

“We only need to improve our quality so that we can be more competitive. We must make sure our standard meets the international standard; and if our production cost goes down like by solving the electricity problem, it would not make business sense for any importer to journey to Thailand to import rice, get a ship to carry the rice, worry about insurance and worry about customs duties when that importer can get what he wants here locally. Local rice is healthier and more nutritious. Many consumers are not aware that virtually all the imported rice from Thailand and other places are not fresh rice. They are old stocks that had been kept for as many as eight to ten years in that country’s food reserve. They cannot sell new rice to you. Some of the imported rice are expired and have lost nutritional value,” Mr. Aondoakaa explained.

Bridging national supply gap
Former Minister of Agriculture, now President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, had in 2014 worked out Nigeria’s national supply gap in rice to be 1.5 million metric tonnes. This, Aondoakaa said can be bridged in four to five years if current momentum in local rice production is sustained.

PREMIUM TIMES expressed doubt over his five-year projection, pointing out that some of the capacities claimed by some mill owners have been found to be misleading. But Mr. Aondoakaa argued that the true local capacities cannot be measured by the installed capacities of existing rice mills. He said:“The capacity doesn’t mean the capacity of the machines but the capacity of the farmers to give us the quality paddy. The machines are there; we have up to 24 integrated rice farms in Nigeria but where is the paddy? That is the problem. There was a pyramid of paddy outside this mill.
“If I am milling at full capacity, the whole of my two warehouses, I can finish the paddy in less than one month. So where is the paddy if I am supposed to run three shifts, I am just doing two shifts until when I have enough paddy.

“We are hoping that by 2018 the farmers would have had sufficient training to produce more paddy. The anchor program of CBN coupled with what I am doing with USAID Market Tool and what others millers are doing, we are hopeful that we can get there. Mali has attained self-sufficiency in rice production. Nigeria can do same. I am the President of West Africa Rice Investors Association and we are telling other West African countries to start local rice production. I am working towards growing Miva Rice in Cameroon and Sierra Leone as well.

“However, the major problem is insecurity in the Middle Belt region, especially in Benue popularly referred to as the food basket of the nation. Go to Kogi, go to Taraba, the Fulani-Farmers conflict is harming local rice production. Agatu area used to be a major supplier of rice paddy but since this year I haven’t got one pin from that area. We invested there, through the US market tool; the rice is there in the bush but I can’t go there; the farmers can’t go in there. So whatever we did in terms of training, in terms of seeds assistance to farmers is lost; I am not getting any compensation. Any time you want to go there you have to meet the commissioner of police to get 12 mobile police men to go with you and spend three days. You can imagine maintaining 12 mobile policemen for three days just to harvest how much quantity of rice,” Aondoakaa regretted.

CHALLENGES:
As Miva Rice continues in its quest to someday become a global brand, Mr. Aondoakaa says the challenges are multifarious. A combination of different species of paddy by farmers creates considerable difficulties in the parboiling process throwing up soaking temperature and overcooking challenges. Paddy supplies are also not thoroughly cleaned by farmers. Paddy usually contains large amount of chaff, dust and immature grains which generate Black Rice and overload the mill’s optical sorter.
Large scale rice milling is water intensive. As a result, the Miva Mill is currently spending considerable capital on water purchase. Other major challenges facing investment in the rice value chain are capital mobilization, lack of basic mechanization, and seasonal availability of paddy.

Complete reliance on rain for cultivation and primitive planting methods in Benue State results in single cropping per year by farmers. Because paddy is only available for a short period of 90 days at harvest time once a year, this has imposed on the company the need for long periods of stock-holding.
But all these Aondoakaa assured will be surmounted as he strives to someday be remembered by history as a major contributor in the diversification of the Nigerian economy. (Premium Times)

Read: Rice cultivation in Nigeria

Stakeholders urged to plant trees as the world marks 2016 Earth Day

As the world marks this year’s Earth Day on Friday 22 April, government at all levels as well as private individuals and organisations have been urged to vigorously pursue tree-planting initiatives so as to check the myriad of environmental challenges.

Concerned environmental experts made the call in separate interviews while commenting on the annual event which is marked on April 22 as coordinated by the Earth Day Network to draw global attention to the protection of the environment.

The 2016 Mother Earth Day , which is expected to be celebrated in 193 countries, is significant as it is coming shortly after the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, which produced a widely accepted agreement.
This year’s celebration is also unique as the landmark Paris Agreement is scheduled to be signed by the United States, China, and 150 other countries.
The ceremony satisfies a key requirement for the coming into force of the historic climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations that attended the conference in Paris.

An environmentalist, Prof. Olukayode Oladipo, explains the essence of the celebration as it applies to Nigeria.
He said: “The Mother Earth Day is meant to make people be aware of the need to take care of the earth without which we will all be gone. It is a day when more than one billion people celebrate the earth and a lot of activities are normally planned by each country, individuals, corporations or organisations.

“Some decide to clean up areas that have been polluted. All efforts are to make sure that the earth upon which all of us depend, is protected so that it can protect us. Every Nigeria should plant at least a tree. That is one way that we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is causing the type of excessive heat.”

The theme for the celebration, “Tree for life”, seeks to get governments across the world, public and private sectors, non-governmental organisations as well as public-spirited individuals, to intensify tree-planting efforts, in order to meet the goal of 7.8 billion trees within the next five years, when the Mother Earth Day would clock 50 years.

A cross-section of government officials and environmental advocates wants all stakeholders not only to embark on aggressive tree-planting but also to preserve the nation’s remaining forest reserves because, according to them, trees help to clean up the atmosphere and sustain life.

“If 155 Nigerians should each plant a tree, we can be sure that our goal of creating a green environment free of pollution, erosion and other natural disasters will be achieved. Trees help the planet by taking carbon dioxide into animal food and give out oxygen for humans to breath. Planting tree is the best,” added Prof. Oladipo.

To tackle desertification, which is reported to be affecting about 33 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass, as well as to key into global afforestation programmes, including the Billion Tree Campaign by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2006, the authorities have launched various tree-planting initiatives in the country.

These include the “Eko Green Dream Initiative” aimed at planting 6,000 trees in three Local Government Areas in Lagos State and “The plant a million trees 2020” by the African Centre for Environmental Protection.

Nigeria is also pursuing the Great Green Wall (GGW) programme that is creating a wall of trees along the desert front-line states in the North to check further encroachment of the Sahara Desert down South and recover land already destroyed by the phenomenon.
Desk Officer for the GGW in Kano State, Alhaji Garba Sale, who is a tree-planting campaigner, explains the benefits of the programme for the country.

“The wall itself is a plantation of trees that is 7,500 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide, which runs across the sub-Saharan Africa. It enters the country from Kebbi State passing through 11 desert-prone states. It is a programme that has the socio-economic benefit for the country, the environment and the general public,” he said.

Many Nigerians believe that the idea of tree-planting has not yielded the desired result which is buttressed by the fact that the nation has not been able to replace its trees the way they were at independence decades ago.

According to them, tree-planting has been sabotaged by factors such as discontinuity in government policies, the ignorance on the part of the people on the importance of trees, as well as the heavy use of land for physical development at the expense of the provision of green areas.

The loss of tree covers has been blamed for most of the nation’s environmental problems, such as global warming, erosion, increase in the number of diseases and the reduction of life expectancy which currently stands at about 40 in the country.
An environmentalist, Desmond Majekodunmi, says that in order to protect future generations, the way to go is “tree-planting”.

His words: “What we need now is to plant trees, a lot of trees which will absorb the carbon dioxide and keep us alive. The whole essence of human existence is under threat by climate change due to too much carbon dioxide we introduced by yourselves. We have to come to the realisation that this is a serious issue and we have to avoid the crisis from growing worse. That is the best legacy we can leave behind for the coming generation.”

Humanity derives immense benefits from trees such as absorbing excess carbon dioxide, which destroys the atmosphere and causes global warming. Trees also make the air clean for people to breathe while also helping communities to achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability by providing them with food, energy and income. (Environews Nigeria)

Dangers of accepting GMOs in food production

An agriculture economist, Dr Thaddeaus Thompson has warned against accepting food production and preservation using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the agriculture sector.

Thompson made the assertion while considering the food politics played by some agriculture multinationals that are seriously luring some African countries to accept genetically modified (GM) seeds for food production and preservation in order to make huge financial gains at the expense of the health and environment of the people.

He particularly cautioned the Nigerian government to consider the gray facts left out in the GM seeds offered by agriculture giants from America and Europe before making any decision to accept it or not, noting that Nigeria lacks the finance and technology to handle the negative side of GM seeds.

According to him, “A decision to accept GMO in Nigeria will be a huge mistake, especially at a time when most citizens in developed countries are rejecting them and turning back to the natural way of food production. The consequences of GMO outweigh its benefits and undeniably raises the concerns that it could harm humans. Given that some GM foods are modified using bacteria and viruses, it is advisable for the Nigerian government not to undermine the concerns that new diseases could emerge and create a health cost that the country cannot handle.

“Developed countries are financially and technologically better prepared to manage a health risk that develops from GMOs than Nigeria could afford. Because genetically modified food production is more focused on financial gains rather than feeding populations, the government must exercise caution engaging in any contractual deal with the big biotech companies which interest is making money. What Nigeria lacks is excessive technology and not excessive food. Biotech companies make the most gain and not the local farmers. A lot of misleading information has clouded research, leaving gray areas around the GMO conversation.”

“GMO technology was designed for mass production of food and would be necessary for countries in famine, which Nigeria is not, and the government should not think of that option to meet the people’s food demands as there are better and environment friendly food production and preservation technologies that could be adopted for mass food production for the teeming population. (Leadership)

GMOs, GM or GE foods are defined as follows:

A GMO (genetically modified organism ) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans.

Genetically modified foods or GM foods, also genetically engineered foods, are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering . Genetic engineering techniques allow for the introduction of new traits as well as greater control over traits than previous methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.

Read: Organic farming and benefits of organic foods


Fulani herdsmen attack farmers at Lagun, Lagelu LGA, Oyo State

Fulani herdsmen are causing serious threats at agrarian communities across the country. Their attacks on the farmers and destruction of farms have increased recently, therefore there is need for urgent action to curb this new trend of violence that can reduce farm productivity and cause food shortage.

Punch reports:
Farmers in Lagun, Iyana Offa, Offa, Atagba, Lapata and their surrounding communities in Lagelu Local Council Area of Ibadan, Oyo State, have alleged that a group of Fulani armed men attacked their communities at night, injured a guard and carted away valuables on Tuesday.

More than five farms and surrounding agrarian communities were allegedly visited in the attack, with eyewitnesses saying they also suspected that the attackers were Fulani herdsmen because of their mode of dressing.

Villagers, who spoke with our correspondent, said more than N500,000 was stolen by the attackers. They alleged that apart from money, clothes, shoes and foodstuffs that were taken, cooked food items were taken away by the attackers who had a field day roaming the places for more than seven hours. Various sources also put the number of the attackers at between 30 and 40.

Owner of one of the farms, Ayodele Adigun, called on the Federal Government to intervene in the frequent Fulani herdsmen attack on the communities lying on the border between Oyo and Osun states. He said unless urgent step was taken, the situation could degenerate into an ethnic clash.
A supervisor at the farm, Olaonipekun Ogunkolade, explained that the attackers stormed the farm around 8pm in a commando style, wielding guns and other dangerous weapons.

The supervisor said the attacker gathered the workers into groups and held them hostage while the operation lasted. He said they were thoroughly beaten and threatened with their weapons.
The injured guard was later found in the pool of his own blood after a headcount showed that he was missing. Another worker, simply identified as Haruna Usman, said he escaped death after he was shot by one of the attackers as he was returning to the farm.

Usman, who was coming from Jos in Plateau State, said, “The robber who chased me was speaking Fulani language to me. Later, he spoke Hausa, telling me to stop. He threatened me that he would shoot me if I didn’t stop.”

When The PUNCH visited the injured guard, Jimi Aido, at the Iwo Medical Centre, Iwo, Osun State, the senior medical officer on duty, Mrs. Adeola Adelabu, said that the health condition of the victim was stable.

The national grazing bill has expired - Senate

The senate has refuted claims that there is a national grazing bill pending before it, saying the document presented to the preceding upper chamber had expired since June 2015.

Babajide Omoworare, chairman, senate committee on rules and business, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday. He said such bill had not been presented to the 8th Senate, but recalled that a bill relating to the issue was presented to the 7th senate.

“Several distinguished senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have been inundated with the request by members of the public concerning a national grazing bill in the senate,” the statement read.

“This is to clarify that no such bill has been presented by the executive arm of government and none has so far been filed by any senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 8th senate.
“For the avoidance of doubt, a ‘national grazing reserve establishment and development commission bill (SB. 60)’ was presented by Senator Zaynab Kure (Niger Central) during the 7th Senate (2011–2015).
“That Bill has now expired by the operations of law on the 6th June, 2015, in furtherance of Section 64(1) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”

Earlier at plenary, Eyinaya Abaribe (PDP Abia South), who raised a point of order, said there was no such bill. He had said many of his constituents had called him over the bill, and urged the senate to come out with clarifications “so that Nigerians can know the true position’’. (TheCable)

Read: Dangers associated with the establishment of grazing reserves

Consequences of signing grazing reserve bill into law for establishment of grazing reserves in all states

Femi Fani-Kayode writes:
1. SUDAN DOWNLOADING IN NIGERIA.
"I decided to read a copy of the National Grazing Reserve Council Bill and I was surprised at what I saw.

The Bill creates a council to be chaired by a Chairman to be appointed by the president.
The council shall have the power to take your land anywhere the land is located in the country and then pay you compensation.
Your land, when taken, shall be assigned to herdsmen who shall use your land for grazing purposes.
They shall bring cows to the land and you shall lose the land permanently to those Fulani cattlemen" - OKONKWO AFAMEFUNA, FACEBOOK, 18th APRIL, 2016.

2. YUGOSLAVIA DOWNLOADING IN NIGERIA.
"I decided to read a copy of the National Grazing Reserve Commission Bill and I was surprised at what I saw.
The Bill creates a commission to be chaired by a Chairman to be appointed by the president, to be confirmed by the senate.
The commission shall have the power to take your land anywhere the land is located in the country and then pay you compensation.
Your land, when taken, shall be assigned to herdsmen who shall use your land for grazing purposes.
They shall bring cows to the land and you shall lose the land permanently to those cattlemen.

If you feel that the commission was not right to take your land, you can go to court but before you go to court, you must first of all notify the federal attorney general of your intention to sue the commission.
Apart from notifying, you must get the consent and authority of the Federal Attorney General before you can sue.
So that means that if the Attorney General refuses to give his consent to the suit, you have lost your land forever to the herdsmen.

And this law, when passed, shall apply to the whole country so it means that your land in the village or anywhere is not safe.
The National Grazing Reserve Commission would have the power to take away your land from you anytime they want and pay you whatever they want as compensation (even when you don't want to sell, and remember that for you to get compensation, you must have documents showing or proving ownership).
So I think that we all in the South West, South South and South East must rise up and reject this Bill. We must do all things to force our national Assembly members from passing that bill into law.
That bill is a deliberate attempt to take our lands and hand the land over to the Fulani cattlemen since it is only the fulanis that rear cattle in Nigeria.

That law, when passed, shall fulfil the directive of Uthman Dan Fodio and other northern leaders to take over other parts of Nigeria. I implore you to use all available means to implore your senator and Rep not to pass that law.

That law will destroy Nigeria.
All over the world, ranches are established and used to rear cattle. The farmers buy land and put there cattle there. There is no country where the land of the citizens are compulsorily acquired and given to others. This is evil, and designed to favour the Fulanis where the president comes from. We must resist the passage of that bill into law to save Nigeria, and to protect our future generations" - EMPEROR GABRIEL OGBONNAYA, FACEBOOK, 18TH APRIL, 2016.

3. LEBANON AND ZIMBABWE DOWNLOADING IN NIGERIA.
"This National Grazing Bill if passed into law will just mark the beginning of apartheid in our country. When the government of Zimbabwe collected land from the white people who naturalised there the whole world worked against President Robert Mugabe. Sanctions were stiffened against his regime even though the whites in Zimbabwe were not African by origin. In our country today there are people that are not Nigerians by origin and these people are making laws to take over our inheritance. This nation will burn once this law is passed" -DURU COLLINS, FACEBOOK, 18th APRIL, 2016.
4. COLONIAL INDIA (BEFORE SHE WON HER INDEPENDENCE FROM THE BRITISH AND BROKE THREE WAYS INTO PAKISTAN, BANGLADESH AND INDIA) DOWNLOADING HERE IN NIGERIA.
"The National Grazing Reserve Bill is the ticket to kill us ALL down south. This is not the time to sit and watch evil triumph over good.
I have called the Senator representing me and I have spoken common sense to his senses! He KNOWS what this is all about NOW.
Listen people of God, it's time to get angry! You will come to understand how devilish Buhari's APC government is the moment you realise they are talking about a Bill that will protect the Fulani militants who, according to the Global Terror Index, are ''the 4th deadliest terrorist group" in the world, and neglect tens of thousands of victims that have suffered gory attacks by these daredevils.

This government is gradually telling us their priorities and it's clear the lives of the southerners are not their priority. THIS GOVERNMENT IS EVIL. The ploy is on. They want to send the Trojan horses to our walls. They want to start the war from our lands. They will fail.

They can't send their militants here in the guise of herdsmen. Those herdsmen don't own those cows, the rich Fulanis do. And I know their plans. Subsequently I will tell you guys more, you will be shocked. But for now, please get on your phones and call those representing you.

Tell them not to accept this Trojan horse. It will burn our region, it will kill our children's future. Let idiots that are southerners keep supporting APC. They don't care about you, they don't. You will BURN if their plans work!" - OYINEMI NICHOLAS ENDELEY, FACEBOOK, 19th APRIL, 2016.

5. SYRIA AND IRAQ DOWNLOADING IN NIGERIA.
"And if they are still in any doubt about where all this is heading in the Nigerian context they should consider the following.
On December 30th 1964, Mallam Bala Garba told the West African Pilot newspaper that:
"the conquest to the sea is now in sight. When our god-sent Ahmadu Bello said some years ago that our conquest will reach the sea shores of Nigeria, some idiots in the South were doubting its possibilities. Today have we not reached the sea? Lagos is reached. It remains Port-Harcourt. It must be conquered and taken.”

This is an eloquent expression of radical Islam, with its pervasive use of violence as a tool of conquest and subjugation, in its purest and most obvious form.
Inspired and equipped with this Janjaweed philosophy and ethos, the whole of core northern Nigeria was conquered by Sheik Usman Dan Fodio through the use of terror and by the power of the sword in the name of jihad. Millions of innocent non-Muslims were cut to pieces in the process. Given the activities of Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen in our country today it appears that some in our shores are still interested in implementing that satanic agenda.

They wish to continue where Usman Dan Fodio stopped and they wish to "dip the Koran in the Atlantic ocean".
Their latest attempt is the introduction and proposal of what is known as the Cattle Grazing Act which will give the Fulani herdsmen the right to claim other peoples land all over the country and which will empower them by law to create their own settlements and communities in the territory of others.

Worse still under that law the government will be compelled to fund those settlements and put all that they need in terms of infrastructure in place for them. That is why our Minister of Agriculture is now talking about importing Brazilian grass for the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.

This subtle and exceptionally brilliant attempt to infiltrate and conquer by guile and assimilation reminds me of the frightful laws that were put in place in the old wild western prairies of 19th century America.

Those laws gave the white settlers rights over the lands of the indigenous Red Indians and saw the Indians themselves subjected to genocide and ethnic cleansing and herded into barren reservations that were not fit for human habitation.

It was in this way that the "wild west" was conquered and the once proud and noble war-like Indian tribes of the western prairies were subjugated and subdued.
Sadly our legislators in the National Assembly from the south and the Middle simply do not appreciate and cannot comprehend the serious implications of what they are doing by supporting this evil legislation and neither will the consequences of their naivety and folly be suffered by their constituents until it is far too late.

If that law is ever passed and implemented, two years from that time we will regret it deeply as a nation because it will result in nothing but conflict, chaos and strife between the Fulani herdsmen and settlers on the one hand and the local indigenous population on the other.
The tragedy that unfolded in Jos, Plateau state between the indigenous Christian Beroms and the settler Muslim Fulani for many years is a graphic example of what will be replicated all over the south and the Middle Belt between the Fulani and the various local indigenous populations if that law is ever passed and implemented.
As a matter of fact it will be far worse than anything that Jos ever saw. The Cattle Grazing Act will not result in enhancing unity and peace but instead it will result in division, bloodshed, carnage and chaos"- FEMI FANI-KAYODE, ''THE OUTLAWS OF ISLAM", PREMIUM TIMES, 25TH APRIL, 2016.

When you create a conflict which has its roots in religion, ethnicity, land rights, the attempt to marginalize, dominate, subjugate and conquer others and the quest for liberation and freedom from slavery and bondage all mixed into one you are toying with a conflagration that will not only be simply horrendous and that will not only affect the whole of Africa but that will also last for the next fifty years.

Let me be clear: the greatest evil that we are confronted with in Nigeria today is the National Grazing Reserve Bill. It is more evil than anything that we have ever seen before. It is more insidious and dangerous than anything that we can possibly imagine.

It will do more harm to us than Boko Haram and the Nigerian civil war put together and it will result in open war and the total disintegration of Nigeria. I am speaking prophetically and I am saying this under the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We must stop this cantankerous and divisive Bill from seeing the light of the day and being made into law. There are some things that are bigger, greater and more important than partisan politics and this is one of them.

We must all stand together regardless of our political affiliation and stop this evil Trojan horse from being smuggled into our ranks by those that seek to subjugate and conquer us. We must resist those that seek to strip us of our self-respect, self-worth, liberty and dignity.

We must stand up against those that seek to destroy us and rob us of our faith and our ancestral lands. We must say ‘’never’’ to those that seek to belittle and enslave us and that are hell bent on reducing us to nothing even within our own shores.
May God help our people and our country and may He deliver us from evil. (Facebook/FemiFani-Kayode)

Meanwhile the senate has said that grazing reserve bill has expired

Cummunal conflict between the indigenous farmers and herdsmen in some states, which has resulted in killings and destruction of property should have been a case study to evaluate the dangers associated with free range grazing and activities of nomadic herdsmen against farmers' families and enterprises. Many farmers want establishment of cattle ranch instead of grazing reserve that will cause serious problems in all farming communities.

Ambode visits Imota Rice Processing Factory, say Eko Rice will flood markets in six month

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode inspecting facilities at the rice processing factory.

The Lagos State Government, Akinwumi Ambode on Tuesday inspected rice processing facilities at the Imota Rice Processing factory, Ikorodu in the State's bid to promote local production sectors  and actualize the Memorandum of Understanding between Lagos and Kebbi State on rice production.

The factory which has production capability of 2,500 metric tonnes/ hour at present can effectively  parboil and dry rice.

“This is the only platform we can use to allow the inflow of rice paddy from Kebbi State. You will all recall that we just signed an MoU with Kebbi State and the intention is that we want a consistent flow of raw materials to come so that the era of importing rice from abroad would become a thing of the past, he said aside Kebbi State, Lagos is also looking at possible partnership with other states, saying that on the long run, such collaboration will ensure that residents can consume locally processed rice within the next six months.

The Governor said that a process to make the mill private sector driven will commence immediately, adding that a vibrant infrastructure that will attract the best professionals and experts to manage the facility would be put in place.

“This is a major investment and we cannot allow it to rot away. So in the next three to six months, when we come back here, we must be eating Eko Rice,” Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said.

Read also: Rice cultivation

Akwa Ibom targets 80,000 acres of cocoa plantation in three years

After months of disappointment from oil-based revenues, States are now seeing the need  to diversified the economy and boost internally generated revenue, involve investors and create more jobs through agriculture. It's time to explore and diligently exploit available resources that will keep the system working. Akwa Ibom State has made the move to revive cocoa production and boost the state revenue.


The news:
Akwa Ibom state government has said that in the next three years, it will increase cocoa production in the state to 80,000 acres of plantation.
The State Government also restated its commitment to undertaking the cocoa maintenance and production scheme as well as Coconut Oil Refinery in the state.

According to Governor Udom Emmanuel, the state investment in that aspect of agriculture was because of their viable value chain as the price of cocoa and coconut oil remained higher than crude oil in the international market.
Speaking in Uyo at the launch of Akwa Ibom Enterprise and Employment Scheme, AKEES, the governor said the scheme was to ginger Akwa Ibom youths to explore other avenues for economic growth through aggressive Agricultural enterprise.

Emmanuel said his administration would continue to encourage cocoa cultivation by providing incentives to farmers with at least five hectares and explained that if the state could cultivate a hundred hectares of cocoa it will regain it ranking as one of the major producer of the crop.

“Akwa Ibom used to be the fourth largest producer of cocoa in Nigeria and we are ready to get back there. Our target, which is very measurable, is that in the next one and half year, we want to double current production. In the next three years, we expect to have up to 70,000 to 80,000 acres of cocoa plantation in Akwa Ibom. I am sure with that we will rank among the first two in Nigeria”, he stressed.

He said the specie of cocoa produced in the state has the best flavour and that a business retreat to brainstorm on how to utilise the various natural endowments to create wealth would be held to enable the State go into large scale production of cassava, tomatoes, vegetables and other cash crops with the application of the right technology to feed industries and for both local consumption and export.

He charged youths of the state to explore the abundant economic potentials to create wealth for sustainability and self reliance as God has endowed the state with enormous human and natural resources that could be utilised to grow the economy, earn a living.

Emmanuel congratulated the beneficiaries of the scheme for taking a bold step to acquire innovative skills to boost their enterprises and described the scheme as an answer to the yearnings of Nigerians for the emergence of small and medium scale industrialisation programme.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Technical Matters, Mr. Ufot Ebong had described AKEES as a franchise scheme incorporating technical and vocational skill acquisition and entrepreneurial training designed for the implementation of the state government’s new enterprise development programme.

The scheme, he added, was aimed at empowering unemployed youths to acquire skills that would enable them produce goods and services that compete with those in other climes and to re-awaken the spirit of enterprise among youths and position them to benefit from the industrialisation programme of the state government. (BusinessNews)

Read about Cocoa production

El-Rufai lays the foundation of Africa’s biggest poultry farm in Kaduna

Malam El-Rufai

Leadership reports:
Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday laid the foundation of the N30b biggest West Africa poultry/hatchery farm along Kaduna -Abuja road.
The farm is to be establish by Olam group in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State.

Governor in his speech entitled Business is happening in Kaduna’ while performing the ground-breaking ceremony for the Olam Integrated Feed Mill and Poultry project in Chikpiri Gabas village, said the project was not about the size of the facility but jobs that would be created in building and running the poultry project.
el-Rufai said he believed that the return of vibrant economic activity, and the reduction of poverty will drive prosperity and reduce the divisions that became pronounced as the state’s economy entered dire straits from the late 1980s.

“I am delighted to welcome you all to this ground-breaking operation for the largest agro-allied investment project in Kaduna State. We acknowledge the confidence that the Olam group is displaying in the soundness of our policies and in the prospects of Kaduna State by choosing to site this USD 150m poultry project here.

“When I led a delegation from the Kaduna State Government to Olam’s headquarters in Singapore for discussions with their senior management in September last year, we went with a clear message that Kaduna is open for business, and that the government views the promotion of investments as vital for the realisation of inclusive growth and shared prosperity. Olam was persuaded, and they have pleasantly surprised us by the sheer scale of the investment project they have embarked on.

“Thanks to Olam, Kaduna State will be host to the largest poultry farm with integrated feedmill in sub-Saharan Africa”

“ The farmers that have an expanded market for their grains through the demand from the feed mill and other value-chain activities that are stimulated.

“We are today taking another significant step in advancing our governance agenda to create jobs and improve life chances for the people of Kaduna State. Amidst the challenges that confront us, we are drawing attention to the opportunities that abound. Kaduna State has comparative advantage in agriculture and mining; the government is delighted that many investors agree that we in deed offer a decent business proposition

“ Others are beginning discussions on new projects. We hope that the projects announced will be coming on stream with similar promptness like Olam’s. The government of Kaduna State gratefully acknowledges and thanks all the companies that are supporting our quest to develop Kaduna State” el-Rufai said.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh,who spoke through a director, Obina George Opera,director said el-rufai’s investment drive has started yielding fruits, stressing that President Muhammadu Buhari’s diversification of economy from oil to agriculture will remain the administration’s top priority.
Ogbeh however challenged Olam to embark on research to find vaccine against Alvan Influenza and other poultry related diseases.

“This administration will promote all year round agricultural activities and agriculture will no longer be seasonal. We will revamp dams across the nation for irrigations” Ogbeh said.

Country Head, Olam Nigeria,Mukul Mathur, said the N30b poultry project would produce one million day old chicks weekly when completed, adding that the feed mill capacity of 300,000 tonnes per annum will offer formulated feeds at competitive prices.



FG to launch N59.7bn Youth-In-Agriculture Scheme in September

NAN reports:
Dr Nteranya Sanginga, Director-General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), on Sunday said the Federal Government would launch N59.7 billion Youth-In-Agriculture Scheme in September.

Sanginga, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, said the scheme would be sponsored by the federal government and African Development Bank (AFDB).
The director-general said IITA would train those enrolled in the scheme, adding that beneficiaries would be trained on how to make agriculture a business with good networking.

"The programme tagged ``Enable Youth Empowerment Agribusiness programme, will engage youths in agribusiness for 18 months to enable them learn how to make agric business plan.

"Each will be given between 25,000 US Dollars and 300,000 US Dollars as loan to start a business.
"The programme started by IITA in 2012, was taken over by the federal government and AFDB to create employment in agric sector.
"To support this objective, the programme will be extended to 36 states and Abuja in September.
"After the programme, we expect the youths to become chief executive officers of factories, companies and creators of jobs rather than job seekers," he said.
Sanginga urged the youths to develop positive mindset in agriculture and take good advantage of the programme.
"They should be serious with the training because at the end of it only those who did well will be rewarded," he said.

Dangote opens Tomato Processing Company in Kano

Dangote Group, owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, opened a tomato-processing factory near Nigeria’s northern city of Kano aimed at vying for the local market with imports from China.

“We have fully started operations today and the target is 1,200 metric tons per day,” Abdulkareem Kaita, Managing Director of Dangote Farms Ltd., which runs the plant, said Tuesday, adding, “We are going to work with the farmers, they can afford to produce more because there’s a processing factory and they don’t have to suffer losses like they did before.”

The plant that will produce 1,200 metric tons per day was built following a 2011 Central Bank of Nigeria study that showed it was cheaper to process tomato paste locally than import from China, the source of about 300,000 tons a year worth $360 million. Yet the country produces 1.5 million tons of tomatoes annually of which about 900,000 tons rot, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Dangote’s facility will produce more than 400,000 tons of paste annually, with most of its raw material coming from farmers in the Kadawa Valley in Kano State. Farmers will receive a guaranteed price of about $700 per ton compared to an average of less than $350 now, according to estimates by the central bank, which helped organize the farmers and arrange credit from banks. (Dailytrust)

Mobile Money, Mobile banking, embrace cashless transactions

Mobile banking is a secure, convenient and affordable way to carry out bank transactions from mobile phones at your comfort zone. All transactions are done through your mobile money account or mobile wallet. Mobile banking will be helpful in rural areas where commercial banks are not located.

How to open and activate mobile money account
The most important requirement is your mobile phone and active network. Visit your bank to find out the process of registering and follow the instruction to activate mobile money. You can rather do it yourself by following the processes as discussed here. The two ways to carry out the transactions are through SMS and Mobile Application.

Transactions through SMS
Banks use different codes to register for their Mobile Money service, but each bank uses the same code across different networks. The network(s) that partner with the banks for mobile banking don't charge for SMS. You can confirm this when  registration and activation of mobile account is successful with zero balance, using the SMS code.

Transactions through Mobile Application
Download the application to Internet-enabled phone, run it and register for mobile account. If you have registered through SMS code, just activate the application and other channels. You are not charged for accessing your account.

Benefits of Mobile Money
* Airtime recharge. You can recharge any networks
* Payment of bills such as electricity, satellite TV bills, etc.
* Deposit and withdrawal of funds.
* Send  and receive cash. You can send money to others whether they have bank account or not and receive money into your mobile wallet as well.
* Intra and inter bank transactions.
* Payment for purchases.

Charges associated with Mobile Money transactions
* You are not charged when you buy recharge card
* You are not charged when you fund or receive money into the account
* You are not charged when you login to your account through Mobile Money application

But charges are minimum compared to other means of transactions when:
* You send money to other bank's account
* You pay bills and for the items purchased online
* SMS charges may apply, but not all networks.

Steps for registering and activating Mobile Banking
* Get a sim already installed with mobile money features or activate your current SIM.
* Download and install mobile money application.
* Register and activate by following the prompts and instructions.
* Link your mobile wallet to your bank account in order to remove some restrictions.
* Your phone number becomes your mobile money account.

About becoming  Mobile Money Agent
First bank offers the opportunity for interested individuals who want to become FIRSTMONIE agent. Visit the bank to register as an agent if you want to act as the bank's representative for registering subscribers and rendering mobile banking services such cash-in, cash-out, bill payment and fund transfer for handsome commissions. The agent will also have access to training, branding and marketing for efficiency in service delivery.

Follow the links below to register and activate mobile money acount and to download mobile applications of banks.

First Bank

Fidelity bank

FCMB

Gtbank

Heritage Bank

Zenith

Wema Bank

Unity Bank

UBA

Union Bank

Sterling Bank

Standard Chartered Bank
Itunes

Stanbic IBCT

Skye Bank

Access Bank

Ecobank

FG to import grasses for establishment of grazing reserves

The Federal Government of Nigeria is importing grasses that will be used to feed cows in the northern area of the country. Minister of Agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbeh who made the disclosure Wednesday said this is to curtail the frequent clashes between arm bearing Fulani cattle breeders and farmers.

According to Ogbeh, the Muhammadu Buhari was setting up grazing areas in various states of the federation as a response to the clashes. “We can’t allow cows to be roaming around anyhow,” Ogbeh said this at the Unity Fountain Abuja while addressing his Idoma tribes people who were demonstrating the massacre of the Agatu people of Benue State by the Fulani herdsmen. Speaking also to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Ogbeh said that invasion and massacre of the indigenes by herdsmen was no longer acceptable to the government.

He said that a formation of the Nigerian Army had been deployed to the communities to restore peace.“Yesterday, I spoke with the Ministers of Defence and Interior and they assured me that they have deployed a military formation in Enugu to move in and restore peace in Agatu.

“Today, I will also be speaking with Mr President about this issue to ensure that the problem is solved once and for all. The minister gave assurance that government was taking lasting steps to prevent cattle from grazing into peoples’ communities and farmlands. He said that most of the rampaging herdsmen were from some neighbouring countries. “Cattle herdsmen want grasses for their cattle; such grass is what we are growing in large quantities and, within the next three months, some of these will be ready.

“Most of these men are not Nigerians; they come in from places like Chad. “Recently, I was in Berlin and I met the Minister of Agriculture from Congo, who complained to me that some Chadian herdsmen also invade some communities in Congo to commit similar havocs.’’ He added that government was in the process of enacting a legislation that would control cattle grazing in unauthorised areas.

 “We are also sending a bill to the National Assembly to legislate that cattle should no longer roam in our cities and villages. “We will equally raise the issue at the level of the African Union, to compel member-countries to take steps to prevent their herdsmen from grazing into neighbouring countries.

“It will be a major international crises if we do not stop it now,’’ Ogbeh said. Ogbeh had recently announced that the herdsmen would be made to take care of their cattle in the government created grazing areas.

“We will grow grass in the South to feed the cattle in the North, just as Saudi Arabia did,” he said. According to the minister, if Saudi Arabia with the largest cattle ranch in the world can grow its grass for the cows in the United States of America, Nigeria should be able to do same. Ogbeh said the government would lobby banks to peg interest rate at five per cent instead of the current nine per cent.

 “We are producing massive hectares of grasslots for the consumption of cattle; we have received these grasses from Brazil and we are growing them in massive quantities.

Agricultural sector needs proper attention to tap its numerous benefits

This new shows some steps that can be taken to transform agriculture in order to boost productivity and income and to be self sufficient in the production of food crops.

 In this interview which is centred on food security and the reforms in the Agriculture sector, Dr Adesina said that the agriculture policy of the government had opened up the sector for more investments to thrive.

He said that the government had made necessary contributions in terms of high yield seedlings for small, medium and large scale farmers.

He listed different chains in the agriculture sector that the government’s transformation agenda was focusing on, emphasising that ‘rice is the most profitable’.

The agenda is aimed at shifting the mainstay of the Nigerian economy from crude oil to agriculture.

“If you invested 14 million dollars in an integrated rice mill in Nigeria today, the internal rate of return on the investment is 42 to 50 per cent and the time it takes you to pay back the investment is exactly two years. It is the most profitable thing that anyone can be doing in Nigeria today.

“That is because the population is rising and people are consuming more rice. “If we folded our hands in Nigeria today and keep importing rice from India Thailand, by 2050, we will be spending 35 billion dollars importing rice from them.

“We have started distributing this rice variety and when we started, we started with roughly about 406,000 farmers in 2012 then we moved to 2.6 million farmers in 2013. In 2014, we have added another three million farmers growing this rice.

“Fifty per cent of the farmers that are growing rice in the wet season have shifted to this variety of rice that could be planted in dry season. We can now produce in the wet season and in the dry season,” he said. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, had said he would be investing a billion dollars in commercial rice milling. Other big names in Nigeria are also coming into the sector with huge funds, evidencing the viability of the sector. Thai For Rice In Africa The Minister said that with the policy that President Goodluck Jonathan had put in place, more investments were expected to come in.

“Nigeria Agriculture has changed and that is why the big names are coming in. They realised that it is a big money making enterprise. There is a role for everybody, the small the medium and the large.

“Aliko Dangote said by God’s grace we will become the Thai for rice in Africa and that is what a good policy does. The Nigerian government is providing new rice seedlings that farmers can plant in both dry and rainy seasons.

“I think that what the president has done is extremely good. He has set very good policies and we are beginning to see the rewards of that.

“In Rice today in Nigeria we have a total of 1.6 billion dollars of private sector investment going there.

“I feel the momentum is there and we will achieve it. I believe that in three to four years Nigeria will, by the grace of God, become just like Thailand for rice in Africa,” Dr Adesina said, expressing optimism that rice production would continue to increase.

Over the years, the amount spent on importation of rice from India and Thailand has been on the increase and the government is looking to reduce this in the next few years.

“It is a shameful thing that Nigeria will continue to import rice when it has the resources to export.

“We could not continue the import demand that we were having. It is affecting the Naira, We are spending so much money defending the Naira and we are exporting our jobs if we continue to import,” he stressed.

Despite the increase in the production of rice, there is still a shortfall of supply, as rice is a staple food that most Nigerians eat.

To shore-up supply, Dr Adesina stressed the need for more awareness to be created to get consumers realise that the “Nigerian rice is great and better than what they have. “The next thing would be to continue to produce so that they can have regularity of supply to patronise the Nigerian rice.

“Nigerian rice is cheaper than the imported rice. An analysis of the market showed that the weighted price of the local rice is cheaper than the imported rice,” he said.

Since the government policy on rice importation was put in place, Rice smugglers have continued to bring in foreign products.

Mr Adeshina, however, urged security agencies manning Nigeria’s borders to increase surveillance and check smuggling activities.

“We have to deal with the issue of smuggling. We cannot have a situation where people defile our borders and come in with items they like. People don’t carry them on their heads. They go around in trailers and those that have to do their job must do their job,” he said.

Cocoa Farming Gaining Attention Nigeria used to be a major cocoa exporter, but the discovery of crude oil led to dearth in the production. But as the government is looking to diversify the economy, cocoa farming is gaining gradual attention, with production increasing.

To encourage cocoa farmers in Nigeria the government had started giving away high yields and high breeds of cocoa that give five times the yield that farmers are currently getting. Over one million farmers all across the cocoa growing states in Nigeria have received seedlings and that translates into roughly 39 million seedlings that have been given away for free. This will allow for the cultivation of 40,000 hectares of new cocoa plantations that will increase production from 350 thousand metric tonnes to 800 thousand metric tonnes in the next two years.

The Minister said that Nigeria was getting close to Cote d’Ivorie Coast and other cocoa producing countries, insisting that Ivory Coast will not beat Nigeria in cocoa.

 “We are doing the same thing also for oil palm and we have given away nine million sprouted nuts of oil palm free of charge to farmers.

“We are replacing the tall palm trees variety with short once. Because nobody can export a tree, we are investing in planting them so that it will be producing fruits in the next 30 years.

“We must be looking at our ports’ use which should not only be for imports but for exports also. Our rice today in terms of total value added to our local economy in terms of gross value across all the states is 750 billion Naira since we started in 2012.” (Channels) .

Agric Minister Says Nigeria Can Cutdown $4.6bn Wheat Import By 2018

Ogbe said 350 thousand tonnes of wheat is expected in the coming harvest season from up to 100 hectares of land cultivated in the northern part of the country, nearly 30 years after Nigeria’s wheat yield was label unacceptable.

He said the new breed of wheat recently nurtured in partnership with a Tunisian firm is gluten free and the Nigerian Milling Association is already queuing up to buy the entire harvest.

The Minister said Nigeria runs a risk of going hungry unless it ceases to engage in agriculture as a one season event, adding that to ensure the needed expansion, land clearing, quality control and crops certification, and mechanization are a must now.
Other areas that, according to him require urgent attention, are irrigation plans for farmlands across the states to rule out the threat of drought, the successful lobbying of banks to bring down interest rates so that as many Nigerians as possible will be encouraged to get into agriculture especially the youth.

Channels Television’s Omelogo Nnadi reports that if global projections that Nigeria’s population will grow up to 450 million by the year 2050 are anything to go by, then Nigeria must start now to produce more food domestically.

She adds that this is to ensure there is enough food to feed Nigerians, plus more to export to North Africa where up to 80 million people are said to depend on produce exported from Nigeria. (Channels)

Eat tomatoes to prevent breast, prostate and types of cancer

Tomato has been descried as one of the most healthy fruits because of its lycopene content which is an effective antioxidant property.

Researchers have found that consumption of food which is rich in lycopene reduce the chances of having various types of cancer, especially breast and prostate cancer. Lycopene helps prevent prostate, breast, lung, and stomach cancers by reducing LDL ("bad") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure.

Food For Life Cancer Project entitled “How Lycopene Helps Protect Against Cancer" reports that lycopene is one of the free radical-fighting antioxidants. Free radicals are damaging molecules that float around in the body disrupting cells and promoting disease. Antioxidants, such as lycopene, destroy free radicals so they can't attach to cells and wreak havoc on the immune system.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism shows how analysis of 70 postmenopausal women for 20 weeks demonstarted the potential of lycopene to reduce breast cancer risk.

In the stydy, for the first 10 weeks, the women were required to follow a tomato-rich diet. This involved consuming a minimum of 25 mg of lycopene each day. Lycopene is an antioxidant found in tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.
For the remaining 10 weeks, the women followed a soy-rich diet. This required them to consume at least 40 g of soy protein daily. All women were asked to refrain from eating any soy or tomato products 2 weeks prior to each diet.
Postmenopausal women showed a 9 percent increase in levels of adiponectin - a fat and blood sugar regulating hormone - after following a tomato-rich diet for 10 weeks, lowering their risk of breast cancer.

Results revealed that women who consumed tomato-rich diet showed a 9 percent increase in their levels of adiponectin - a hormone that plays a part in the regulation of fat and blood sugar levels. However, the women consume soy-rich diet showed reduction in adiponectin levels. Low adiponectin levels are linked to increased risk of obesity and insulin resistance.

Fruits and vegetables that are rich vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals such as lycopene provide numerous health benefits and can help prevent the chance of having some ailments.