The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Akinwunmi Adesina

  • Jonathan approves N10b cassava bread fund

    Jonathan approves N10b cassava bread fund

    President Goodluck Jonathan has approved N10 billion for the Cassava Bread Development Fund, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has disclosed.

    Adesina also announced Jonathan’s readiness to launch the Youth Employment Agricultural Programme called the “Nagropreneurs.”

    The minister said President Jonathan would be actively involved in the programme of creating employment through value-chains of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

    In a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Mr. Greyne Anosike, on Wednesday in Abuja, the fund was to complement the ministry’s target for the nation to achieve food security.

    “The N10b approval is a way of encouraging us to work hard to feed the nation. The dream of being self-sufficient in food production is a task this ministry must accomplish. No excuses,” he stated.

    Adesina tasked staff of the ministry to work and exceed Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the year.

    However, the minister instructed directors in the ministry and value-chain leaders to deliver account of their stewardships in the last one year.

     

  • Minister wants Jonathan to sign Bio-safety bill

    Minister wants Jonathan to sign Bio-safety bill

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said he is hopeful that President Goodluck Jonathan will sign the Bio-safety bill into law.

    Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said this at the launch of a book titled: “Insights: Africa’s Future, Can Biosciences Contribute?’’, a compilation of essays by Prof. Brian Heap of the Cambridge University, United Kingdom.

    Adesina, who was represented by the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Dr. Baba Abubakar, noted that the ministry was working vigorously on the issue of biotechnology.

    He observed that one of the major interventions the ministry had made, through the ARCN, was to introduce biotechnology programmes in all research institutes in the country.

    The minister added that the research institutes had all been working together to ensure that the bill was signed into law.

    “What we are faced with is the negative propaganda about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and we know that a lot can be gained through biotechnology.

    “And biotechnology is about the science of DNA; both nature and laboratory do a lot of DNA and the issue of GMOs is a matter of application,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the minister as saying at the book launch.

    He assured the authors that the ministry would do everything to support the book.

    Adesina urged the media to do more advocacy about biotechnology, adding that the Federal Government would always ensure that what the populace consumed was safe.

    In his remarks, a former minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, observed that the contents of the book were simplified, as the authors understood the subject matter.

    He commended the authors for dedicating an aspect of the book to cowpea.

    Isoun, however, said that there was still a lot to be done to ensure that cowpea was produced and made available to Nigerians.