The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Flood threatens feed production sector

    Flood threatens feed production sector

    Feed industry owners are seeking an end to flooding to stabilise the prices of maize and soya beans, key raw materials in feed preparation.

    Industry owners said if the flooding didn’t recede, feed prices would go up, further affecting local eggs and meat supply.

    Speaking with The Nation, the Managing Director, Feed Tech Limited, Mr Leye Alayande, said increasing flooding has pushed up the price of corn, soya and other raw materials for feed in the market.

    As a result, the cost of feed-meal production had increased greatly in the past few months .Costly grains have driven up prices of animal feed this year. Alayande said the price of a tonne of maize sold for N80,000 while a tonne of Soya bean sold for N130,000.

    The price hike of maize and other feeds in the local market has hit the struggling feed millers hard, he said. High feed grain prices, ‘ he said is causing some concern for producers, who are losing money. For operators, feed grain costs are the highest they’ve ever been. Producers are operating in the red later in the year than normal, as high feed costs, is creating challenges for the sector.

    He said feed is vital to the country’s livestock resource, adding that the country can best benefit from its livestock resources through adequate supply of animal feed.

    Adequate and reliable supply of the appropriate quality and standard animal feed, Alayande noted is vital in order to be successful in the meat and dairy industry.

    The Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, Mr Adedotun Agbojo, said it is really tough for a lot of poultry producers to hang on right now as many producers were shutting down.

    According to him, the prices of certain raw materials used in feedmills, such as soybean meal, maize and fishmeal, have been rising significantly over the past months due to reports of falling supplies. The situation becomes even worse with heavy flooding.

    Feed producers are already feeling the pinch as many feed traders have unofficially raised their selling prices. The high feed prices mean that animal products will be expensive and beyond the reach of many people in the country.

    Agbojo said the decline in raw material supply is affecting feed millers warning that the industry will need a good yield to help moderate prices of feed components.

    Right now, some livestock farmers are being forced to pay more to import animal feeds from abroad in line with soaring international grain costs. Production costs have risen more than 20 per cent, he said, adding that the prices of imported grain-based animal feeds have surged in line with other international commodities

    Farmers will likely have to brace for hard times next year if flooding continues. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, said the nation is expending close to N117.7 billion every year on the import of fish feed, and said 4 major investors in the feeds production sector had been keyed out to boost production capacity in order to satisfy local requirements.

    Adesina named the investors as Wonder Feeds in Kaduna State, Grand Cereals in Jos, Plateau State; Durante in Oyo State; and Multifeeds, an Israeli company; all of whom he said had stated their interest in the massive feeds’ production.

    Adesina also added that the government has finished the schooling of 120 expected investors in the new all male Tilapia production technology to increase overall yield.

    The minister went on to explain that the current administration was branching out the production of fish from artisan to aquaculture and explore moneymaking chances.

    Adesina added that the government’s aims in the fisheries and aquaculture value chain were to produce an environment for increased and sustainable output of in excess of one million MT of aquaculture.

    According to him, the government had projected enough output of fingerlings and juvenile fish to span the supply gap in the Nation’s requirement and to output 1.25 billion fish ‘seed’ each year; 400,000 MT of fish feed, along with the development of brood-stock bank.

    The minister remarked with delight that a large amount of locally based fish feed manufacturers in the 36 states of Nigeria and Abuja, in collaboration with the Nigeria Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), that had been accomplished.

    Adesina further stated that this was only accomplishable with the involvement of fish farmers located in five states who stated production of lower-grade Tilapia for the production of fish meal to supply and use in local feed mills as a feed ingredient.

  • Boosting food production in Katsina

    Boosting food production in Katsina

    Agriculture is the backbone of Katsina state’s economy as 75per cent of the people are farmers. The state is blessed with abundant land and a wide range of crops are grown. These include guinea corn, millet, maize, cow pea, cotton and groundnut, to mention but a few.

    In addition, the state possesses a large livestock population mainly made up of cattle, goats and sheep. The government encourages agro livestock production by providing extension services, pesticide sprays, subsidised chemical fertiliser and veterinary services to contain plant and animal diseases. Public and private forestry abound in Katsina.

    These include: established plantations, orchards, woodlots, shelter belts and trees on farmlands. Supported by the European Union (EU) and the Federal Government, trees planted amongst others include acacia species, eucalyptus and azadirachta indica (Neem).

    Moreover, seedlings, cattle wire fencing and extension services are provided free to farmers in the more arid part of the state. Runka forest reserve in the north western part of the state is the largest reserve. People utilise the forest in various ways as sources of fuel wood, wild fruits/vegetables, pasture for livestock, herbs for treatment of diseases and for hunting.

    Livestock include cattle, sheep, goats and poultry. Apart from providing food and meat for human consumption, these agro livestock products have the potentials for providing raw materials that could serve a wide range of industries including food processing, animal and poultry food, textile, pharmaceutical as well as hides and skin industries.

    The agricultural sector is the second development priority of the current administration. The population boom, cost of commercialisation and advancements in modern agriculture have resulted to the need for increased government financial and technical support. In order to address these issues the state Government swiftly revived farm settlement centres with the aim of providing technical support in areas of crop production, livestock rearing, fisheries and bee keeping, amongst others.

    Several interventions have been provided in the sector. These include amongst others: 36, 000 metric tonnes of fertiliser in 2008 and 2009 farming season, estimated at N2.6 billion. In line with the administration’s efforts to address youth unemployment and revive year-round farming and irrigation systems, the government established four fertilizer blending plants across the state. Each of the plants has a capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes per year productin.

    To cut down on post-harvest losses, the Government rehabilitated the Katsina Grains Silo project. The government is concentrating its efforts in developing irrigation. For this reason, the government sought and was granted permission to conduct rehabilitation of the Jibia Federal Dam. Since the construction of the Dam 20 years ago, only an estimated 100 hectares was being cultivated. With the intervention of the current administration, 1500 hectares is now cultivated yearly and the effort, this, year, is to achieve 2000 hectares. The state government has also articulated holistic work plans for the systematic rehabilitation and upgrade of other dams. For Instance, the Ruwan Sanyi dam was recently rehabilitated to restore 30 hectares of irrigable land. Over N150 million was expended in the purchase of irrigation pumps, repairs and renovations of Kusa and Kusada dam. Recently, the Katsina State Government signed a multi million naira agricultural partnership agreements with a Benin Republic based Songhai farms as part of measures to boost food production in the state and ultimately stimulate food security and self sufficiency.

    According to Governor Ibrahim Shema, the multi-million naira agreement which covers diverse areas of food crop and animal production, is to serve as veritable source of employment generation to teeming youths and would run for four years.The agreement involves the provision of training in different fields of agriculture to youths running for a six months period.

    Essentially, the Songhai initiative is to provide training on modern techniques of both production and processing of cash crops and indeed other crops including maize, sorghum, millet, beans, cassava, rice, wheat and a host of others for which Katsina have comparative advantage in their production.

    The Songhai farming initiative which is an advanced farming technique that covers all areas of farming with the full utilisation of waste materials from the products for further agricultural purposes, many believed, would translate to enabling over 50,000 farming youths to earn a lawful living and to engage themselves in agriculture-related activities all year round.

    Songhai Farms is known the world over for its expertise in general land transformation and utilisation for three cultivations in a year and the waste products are then recycled or converted for other uses.Part of the package the Songhai farms is aimed at providing to farmers in Katsina State is the establishment of satellite farms from each of the three farms to be located near Sabke, Zobe and Mairuwa dams to widen the coverage for optimal utilisation of the vast agricultural resources/land in the state.

    The satellite farms are to pay attention mainly to honey production, honey processing, honey packaging, fisheries production, fishery management, poultry and livestock production, animal husbandry, crops and cereals production among many others.The Katsina State Commissioner for Agriculture, Musa Adamu Funtua stressed that the state government has accorded top most priority to agricultural revolution as part of measures to boost food production and enhance the state’s internally generated revenue.

  • CBN agric loan to boost food production

    CBN agric loan to boost food production

    If poperly applied and disbursed, the N200 billion commercial agriculture credit scheme set up by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to promote commercial farming can boost food production, ,the National President, Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI)), Mr Chuku Wachuku, has said.

    Wachukwu, an economist and former Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) said in Lagos that the major constraints of farmers are access to credit to obtain inputs and processing equipment.

    With the guarantee of state governments, he said farmers can access the fund to finance the purchase of inputs and improve seeds, adding that this has a great potential of changing the lives of rural people.

    A laed consultatnt at International Centre for Entrepreneurship Development(ICED), consultant to Abia State Ochendo Agric Empowerment Scheme, Nwachukwu ,disclosed that farmers in the state have benefitted from the fund .

    According to him, loans ranging from N200,000 to N1.5 million have been allocated to farmers from the N1 billion allocated to Abia State from the CBN.

    He said N679 million has been disbursed to 741 people, describing the number as one of the highest in the country.

    The loan, he explained, were disbursed directly to the bank account of beneficiaries, after meeting stringent criteria set for them, adding that it will help farmers and boost the nation’s economy.

    Since the farmers got the loans at low interest rates, it is expected that repayment terms will be easy while huge employment and creation of agro- infrastructure are expected.

    He said one of the areas the Abia State government is supporting farmers is the dried cassava chips value-chain, which has a national potential demand of 900,000 tonnes per annum. Out of this, he said 520,000 tonnes is destined for the China export market.

    He said the government has provided loan to a processor in the state to acquire equipment ,adding it will help to increase productivity of farm families who will sell directly to the processor. In addition, Wachuku said the government is developing agro-dealers and other service providers and linking them with participating farmers.

    What makes the Abia State formula different, he explained was a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the state government and ICED to provide entrepreneurial training for the farmers.

    The whole idea of training farmers as entrepreneurs, he said is to help them surmount the challenges that would confront them during the course of their businesses.

    He expressed belief that the fund made available would go a long way in enhancing the development of small and medium enterprises in the sector as well as helping the impoverished people in the state.

    Wachukwu said the system of using cooperatives and groups to secure loans for farmers was too expensive and ridden with fraud, adding that farmers need to be provided with easy and affordable credit.

    With the expected high repayment rate expected from the success of the strategy employed in Abia State , Wachukwu, said he will encourage other state governments to give farmers loans without going through cooperatives and groups.

    He said the approach has proven pragmatic and there are incentives to boost immediate repayment by farmers.

    The CACS which was set up in 2009 by the CBN to finance large ticket projects along the agricultural value chain was to be administered at a single digit interest rate of nine per cent over a seven year period, with state governments and the Federal Capital Territory administration expected to access a minimum of N1 billion for on-lending to farmers cooperatives or other areas of agricultural intervention that suits them.

  • IITA chief canvasses redoubled efforts to save Africa

    The Director-General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga, has called on world leaders and other stakeholders to redouble efforts to save Africa from the pangs of hunger and poverty.

    Sanginga spoke at the 21st Annual Congress of the Nigerian Rural Sociological Association (NRSA) held at the University of Ibadan

    “Challenges to food security in Africa are huge, and the barriers to wealth creation, food security, improved nutrition, and sustainable management of natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa are on several fronts,”he said.

    For instance, Africa’s population growth remains high compared to other regions (2.4per cent in sub-Saharan Africa) against 1.3 per cent in non-African countries.

    In addition, the urban population is rapidly growing, putting pressure on the rural areas to produce more food at affordable prices. There is also the problem of depletion of soil nutrients, which if left unchecked, could have catastrophic effects. Furthermore, destructive agricultural practices along forest margins in Africa aggravate deforestation.

    “While the attainment of food security is a huge and increasing challenge, production per unit area has not increased as elsewhere in the world, and increments in total production have come at the expense of the natural resource base,” he said.

    “Clearly there is much work to be done in sub-Saharan Africa,” he emphasised.

    To save the situation, Sanginga, who was represented by the Deputy Director General, Partnerships and Capacity Development, Dr Kenton Dashiell, said :“There is a need for the adoption of sustainable intensification of agricultural production practices to conserve and recycle soil nutrients and reduce the need for clearing new lands for agricultural production.”

    This approach, he said, would increase agricultural productivity. Besides agricultural productivity, food availability, and food safety; adding that the agric sector’s overall performance must all be increased against the backdrop of a growing and larger, more urban population, uncertain effects of climate, increased demand for energy, disease pandemics, rural-to-urban migration, and, in some cases, civil strife.

  • ‘Ekiti to become southwest’s food basket’

    ‘Ekiti to become southwest’s food basket’

    Ekiti State plans to be the Southwest’s food basket.

    Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources Mr Babajide Arowosafe told The Nation that the state has all it takes to achieve this dream.

    The administration, he said, has been encouraging young farmers to boost arable production.

    Governor Kayode Fayemi recently presented cheques of N500 million to 150 graduating participants of the Youth in Commercial Agricultural Development (YCAD) programme to boost commercial production of High Value Crops.

    The beneficiaries participated in a two-week agro-business start up and managerial training programme tagged “Start and Improve Your Business” (SIYB) under the Youth in Commercial Agricultural Development (YCAD) programme of the state government.

    The governor said each of the 150 participants would have access to an expandable credit facility of not less than N1.4 million to boost commercial production of rice, cassava, oil-palm and cocoa.

    Fayemi said the administration is directing its attention on measures aimed at facilitating the participation of youths in practising modern agriculture.

    The governor said: “I am delighted to inform you that my government, with the support of UNDP, had finalised the engagement of the service of a Business Support Manager to consolidate management of your individual businesses. The manager, with vast technical and farm business management skills, will help in hand-holding you to drive a successful commercial agricultural operation. Also, with several millions of naira committed to the purchase of farm equipment such as planters, boom sprayers, seed drills etc, he will support you in the usage of these newly acquired modern farm equipment for commercial plantation operations.”

    Fayemi said he hopes that by 2014, the state would have been able to generate at least 50 per cent of its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from agriculture.

    The state is renewing hectares of ageing cocoa plantations.

    Arowosafe said the revolution in the agricultural sector would create over 20,000 Jobs for Ekiti youths and raise the IGR by 100 per cent at maturity.

    He said young farmers have been supported by the government to cultivate 750 hectares of rice to boost food production in the state.

    He said: “We are modernising agriculture. For us, it has gone beyond subsistence level. We are giving it everything it takes and we are achieving results. We believe that with time, the results will keep improving until we get to our destination of making agriculture contribute immensely to our IGR. We are focussed and have the full support of the governor and will get there.”

    According to Fayemi, the desire to make the state the corridor for the agro allied sector would soon become a reality.

    He said: “Our desire to make Ekiti State an industrial corridor for the agro allied section of the national economy is a done deal. This will no doubt have a multiplier effect on the state economy. It should therefore be seen that this singular effort would deal a further blow on poverty structure in our land as another step to put the monster to flight in Ekiti State. I call on all farmers to take a full advantage of this opportunity to change their socio-economic status. Let me stress that the state government is taking this proactive step to make the state the first port of call after the commencement of the revolution at the federal level.

    “In the last one year, several cassava processing factories are in operation in the state. Vegafresh is producing cassava in Orin. Daatco just signed an MoU with our government.

    “I like to assure you all that the government will aggressively drive this project for our people particularly the army of young farmers to maximise its full advantages. I also like to emphasise that necessary support will be provided to make the Initiative a huge success. As a matter of fact, necessary organs of government have been mobilised in this regard.”

  • ‘Nigerian farmers without succession plans’

    Many Nigerian farmers have no succession plan, an expert has said.

    Speaking with The Nation, the Managing Director, Talon Nigeria, Dr Lanre Talabi, said most farmers didn’t have succession plans because they don’t consider agriculture a dependable source of livelihood.

    He believes that lack of formal succession planning could add a considerable risk to the agricultural sector, with so many people quitting farming for other vocations.

    According to him, farmers without a succession plan do not involve their children in the running of the farm or the business on a day- to-day level.

    This lack of involvement, he noted, could impact negatively in the short and long term, because they don’t have successors to manage the farm after their death. Because of this, he said more farmers work beyond retirement age.

    Talabi said he has a succession plan in plan to ensure smooth transition. Some farmers, he said, continue to work to earn a living out of the farm throughout their retirement, adding that the proceeds can’t take care of an extra partner.

    He said returns from the farms cannot guarantee regular income in retirement adding that some don’t have capital asset to pass onto the next generation.

    For watchers, succession planning has to be considered far earlier and in a more formal way than it. There are growing concerns about farmers who work beyond the standard retirement age and frequently farm to an advanced age. Concerns border on health and safety needs and challenges. At a time of physical diminishment, older farmers face increased vulnerability to injuries and illness and may continue to perform tasks beyond their ability to safely accomplish the work.

    Reacting to the issue, the Managing Consultant, BA Consult, Mr Biodun Adesina said as self-employed workers, farmers can’t help continuing to farm – often at a reduced scale. Since they – don’t earn wages, he said they will not be able to retire at the age at which wage and salary earners quit the job. Unlike the rest of the population, he noted that farmers tend to remain in farming beyond the normal retirement age. It is not surprising to see farmers in their 70s still farming full-time.

    For watchers, with a large population of older farmers, retirement planning, including farm succession decision-making, is of considerable importance to farm households. On the balance, lack of interest in farming among heirs is the reason why older farmers don’t plan succession. Experts, however, canvass smooth and equitable transfer of the farm assets in families where some heirs intend to farm while others do not.

  • 10,000 farmlands destroyed by flood in Adamawa

    More than 10,000 farmlands were destroyed by flood in Adamawa State, following the release of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon Republic.

    The Federal Director of Agriculture in the state, Dr Walia Hamman, said in Yola that the flood affected almost half of the state, adding that thousands of farmlands were washed away and over 30,000 large-scale and small farmers directly affected.

    He urged the three tiers of government to urgently provide the enabling environment for irrigation farming, to mitigate the impact of the disaster on food production.

    “The only clear solution to avoid food crisis is for governments at all levels to urgently intervene and provide farmers with agricultural inputs and also create the enabling environment for them to practise irrigation farming.” Hamma said.

    Also reacting to the development, the project manager, Lake Geriyo irrigation project of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, Yola, Mr D. Mamtso, said about 221 farmers were affected with an estimated 150 hectares of farmlands destroyed.

    “In all, 221 farmers from Lake Geriyo irrigation project in Yola North Local Government area have been identified with an estimate of 150 hectares affected by the recent flood.

    ”He said the farmers were in need of assistance in order to recover from the shock of the disaster.”

    Commissioner for Agriculture Mrs Lucy Ishaku expressed concern over the implication of the flood on the envisaged bumper harvest.

    Mrs Ishaku noted that the prices of foodstuffs had skyrocketed in markets across the state as an aftermath of the flood.

    ”Considering the price of foodstuff last year at this time, there is an indication of confusion in price of the food commodities now.”

     

     

     

     

    She said the people of the state had not experienced such a disaster in the past 40 years.

    Mrs Ishaku said that the ministry had initiated a census of farmlands affected by the flood, with a view to ascertaining the level of damage to agriculture and ways to assist the affected farmers to recoup through dry season farming.

    In a separate interview, Malam Abdullahi Tafida, the Chairman, Adamawa State Rice Farmers and Water User Sssociation, said that 75 per cent of members of the association lost their crops to the flood.

    ”Seventy five per cent of our members lost their crops completely as a result of the flood. And our members are engaged in both rainy and dry season farming of maize, rice and assorted vegetable.”

    He appealed to the federal, state and local governments to assist them with early maturing crop varieties, fertiliser, irrigation pumps and herbicides. “ These inputs will help us to start dry season farming immediately as the flood begins to recede,” Tafida said.

  • Towards an agrarian legacy in Kano

    Towards an agrarian legacy in Kano

    Kano is an agricultural State. Farming is an important part of life in the state. A large percentage of the state’s population work in the agricultural and pastoral industries. The state has the following as the main crops being produced: groundnut, Guinea corn, Maze, Sugarcane, Gum Arabic, Rice, honey, ginger, pepper, coloring leaves, sugarcane herbs and vegetables.

    The livestock comprise cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys, camels and horses . Greater diversity have been developed a wide range of grain, fruit and vegetable crops. The state produces almost all of the agricultural products it consumes. Crop growing contributes to over 50 per cent of the value of agriculture every year.

    Grain crops are spread fairly evenly across the state. Agriculture is extensive as farms still take up around 60 per cent of all the land. Farmers occupy huge areas of pasture.

    As irrigation systems were established further inland, new farming practices other than cattle grazing became more viable. The creation of railways has helped to connect the more remote farmers with quicker and easier transport of their produce to cities. Livestock grazing activity, mainly cattle, takes place in most areas of the farming zones.

    But the population is predicted to grow. As a consequence, there are substantially more mouths to feed. This means the industry has to find ways to increase its production. The only way forward is to further improve the sector’s efficiency by using smarter and more sustainable production methods.

    These developments have created opportunities in the agricultural sector. Opportunities for investors exist in the areas of greenhouse technologies, irrigation, sustainable agriculture, food processing (valueadded) industry and new (plant) varieties. The investors are going to benefit from rising demand for primary products. The farmers are very receptive to new technologies.

    In some parts of Kano,large tracts of land are prone to droughts, sometimes lasting several years. Therefore, irrigation is a very important factor in making farming viable in inland Kano. Due to climate change, there is a growing awareness in the agricultural sector that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option. As a result, a trend is emerging towards more sustainable farming practices.

    This trend is largely fortified by an increased consumer awareness of, and demand for better produced agricultural products. Making the best use of the available water resources has been a challenge for many years. The demand for more efficient irrigation systems has increased.

    Besides, the state government endorses the use of more efficient irrigation systems. There are many initiatives, which can have a substantial impact with ample opportunities for future growth.

    Specific targets include achieving total productivity growth across the state’s key agricultural industries. As more sustainable methods of agriculture will be the future, new varieties of plants, vegetables, grasses and trees will be an important part of this.

    To this end,the government is determined to provide varieties which are ideally suited for the state’s conditions, can grow in harsh, warm climates, need less water and are pest resistant. Across the state, the government provides assistance to farmers and primary producers to encourage production, employment and export.

    The government is working to use scientific and technical advances to make farmers efficient in food productivity.

    Over 5,000 women are to be trained in animal traction in the state. The women would be camped and trained for a few weeks at the Kadawa, Dambatta and Gwarzo animal traction schools in the state, following which they would be given cows to rear.

    Part of the arrangement is that the women will be trained to obtain milk from the cows which they will sell and reuse the money in other worthy ventures. The policy of the government is to turn around the agricultural sector so they can have all-year-round farming, so that the farmers will be permanently engaged, and have value for their labour.

    Right now, the state is working on establishing a tomato factory in the state and partnering with relevant agencies to ensure better storage.

    Another project is establishing preservation and storage facilities. The government is educating famers about aflotoxin which makes maize unmarketable internationally.

    Agriculture in LGAs in Kano state is getting a boost as the government has released N500 million to the 44 Local Government Areas of the state for agriculture production. The amount was for the purchase of veterinary drugs, establishment of orchards, annual animal vaccination exercise and purchase of five motorcycles for agricultural extension officers in each local government area.

    The government had also purchased and distributed 80 pieces of traction equipment. Over 500 youths have benefited from the programme, and the government had rejuvenated the Kano State Agricultural Supply Company with the release of N180 million to enable it procure enough fertiliser for farmers.

    Kano State had also established a radio station for farmers to help provide useful tips that will facilitate sound agricultural performance.

    The governor is establishing 14 institutes for youth development and eight of these institutes are for agriculture.

  • How to curb hunger, by governor

    Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State has called on all tiers of government to be committed towards improving agriculture to avert hunger.

    He spoke in Lafia, the state capital, while opening a one-day meeting organised by UNICEF D-Field office in Bauchi for stakeholders from 10 states of the federation.

    Al-Makura said the only panacea to eliminate hunger that was threatening more than one million children in the Sahel region was for Nigerians to utilise the nation’s vast agricultural potentials.

    He noted that the most vulnerable groups to the threats of disease, illiteracy, ignorance and poverty were women and children.”It is, therefore, a clarion call on all and sundry to come together to explore the possibilities of saving our people from imminent hunger.

    “The only panacea to the threat of hunger is our will to utilise the huge agricultural potentials which nature has endowed us with.

    ‘’To this end, we must overcome the lip service syndrome to realise our dream of achieving food sufficiency, security and, indeed, other development needs.”

    Al-Makura said his administration placed a high premium on the provision of basic social amenities to the people.

    He said since he assumed office in 2011, he had shown keen interest in synergising with UNICEF and other development partners with a view to meeting the development aspirations of the people.

    ”It is pertinent to reiterate that improvement in the living conditions of the citizenry requires collaborative efforts at all times.’’This means UNICEF alone should not be left with this enormous responsibility.

    ‘’Similarly, Government alone cannot shoulder the burden; it is, therefore, necessary that all hands are on deck to achieve the desired goals.“

    Al-Makura said the state government had already signed the Programme Implementation Agreement (PIA) with UNICEF, remaking that the agreement was aimed at actualising the objectives of the fund for 2012.

    “Accordingly, efforts are being completed to ensure the release of the Nasarawa state counterpart contribution to facilitate the replication of projects of the fund so that additional communities would benefit in the state.” The governor noted that this year’s theme; “The Sahelian Nutrition Crisis -A call for Collective Action” was apt.

    Al-Makura said the theme was a reflection of the prevailing food situation in the Sahel region, among which were many African countries, including parts of Nigeria comprising some States in zone ‘D.’Earlier, the UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Mr Ibrahima Fall, emphasised an integrated approach, in which all relevant sectors should work collaboratively to address the nutrition situation in the country.

  • AfDB, IITA to assist farmers in flooded states

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) agricultural-assisted programme is to partner with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to support farmers with early yields varieties in flood-affected states.

    The national Co-ordinator of AfDB Community-based agricultural and rural development programme, Dr Ibrahim Arabi gave this assurance in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

    Arabi, who spoke after a meeting with some government officials and affected farmers, said the measure was to curtail imminent food crisis because of the floods. He said the effort was to intervene in the imminent food crisis in some flood affected states in the zone.

    “The bank has concluded arrangement with the management of IITA to urgently provide and release early yield varieties of maize, cowpea, rice among others to farmers in flood affected states to curtail the imminent food crisis,” Arabi said.

    He said that the short-time varieties to be provided were to replace the already submerged crops whenever the flood subsidised and was expected to be harvested within 60 days to 80 days this year.“Anytime from now, when the flood begin to subsidise, farmers should start planting the seeds because we still have two months or more of rain season in some parts of the country and that period would enable them grow the crops,” he said.

    Arabi, who is the Zonal Director, North-East, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that among the beneficiary states were Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kwara and Kaduna. He also said there was arrangement to extend the provision of the seeds to other affected states.The director expressed shock on the level of devastation caused by the flood, especially on farms and urged the federal and state governments to sit and find a lasting solution to the disaster.