Antrax outbreak: FMARD raises alarm on ponmo consumption in Nigeria - NaijaAgroNet

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The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has raised alarm over the consumption of cow skin, also known as ponmo, and bush meat, over suspected Anthrax disease out break, reports NaijaAgronet.

A press statement available to NaijaAgronet on Monday, June 12, personally endorsed by the Permanent Secretary, FMARD, Ernest Umakhihe, the alarm has become imperative due to the outbreak of the anthrax disease in neighbouring countries in the West African subregion.

Nigerian Rice: Sustainable consumption versus production

NaijaAgroNet:

As 22nd Conference of Parties (COP) comes to a close, REMMY NWEKE examines in this report the sustainability of Nigerian rice production as against its consumption and government efforts to balance it up so far.

Rice Import:

As we have entered ‘ember’ months since September, there is already anticipation of increase in rice consumption in Nigeria, especially towards the end of year which is full of festive activities. This consumption seems to be in variation to sustainability, mostly in local production and consumption versus import of foreign rice brands.

As at the last count, NaijaAgroNet gathered that some 571,000 metric tonnes of parboiled rice from Thailand have arrived Benin Republic, a neighbouring country sharing common border with Nigeria, which has left the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh saddened. His concern was that within a short period, these tonnes of rice will soon be transported to Nigeria. This is coming as another report has alleged that China produced fake rice, which is mixed with plastic for exportation to African countries and of course, Nigeria being most populous among them cannot be spared.

Chinese plastic rice on the prowl:

NaijaAgroNet also reports that China which has a history of making fake food products, now takes to fake rice phenomenon which has been there for a while, according to a reputable English-language newspaper in Korea, The Korea Times. As at January 2011, The paper reported that “This ‘plastic rice’ is made by forming potatoes and sweet potatoes into rice-like shape, then adding industrial synthetic resins,” said a food expert. “Since the rice is different from normal rice, it is hard like stone even when cooked. Moreover, the synthetic resin in it is very harmful to the human body.”

One Chinese restaurant association official had warned that eating three bowls of ‘plastic rice’ is the same as eating one bag of rice. He added that since the rice is very dangerous there would be strict investigation on the rice factory. Till date, no known factory has been closed in China due to this fake rice in plastic.

Goal 12 of 2030 Agenda:

Although President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Paris Agreement on September 22, 2016 at the sideline of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which in effect, supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), precisely the number 12 of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations; the global leaders under UN committed to making fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume goods and services, in order to ensure more healthy human consumption and production patterns are sustainable.

For the purpose of insight, a travel analyst at Jumia Nigeria, Nkem Ndem, had noted that there are five ways Nigerians eat rice, including preparing and consuming it as Tuwo Shinkafa, Masa or Sinasir, Jollof Rice, Kunun Gyada as well as rice and stew cum sauce.

She described rice as one of the most common food in Nigeria with every single ethnic group having a local dish either made from or eaten with rice, attributing this factor to rice being commonly inexpensive thus, an average man’s meal and above all, easy to make. Ndem was emphatic on white rice which she depicted as classic, while recipes and sauce available to locals could be used or eaten with “brown rice or wild rice.”

By the way, there is what is now known as Awba-Ofemili rice and Anaku rice both in Anambra State, while Abakaliki rice comes from Ebonyi, just as there is Ofada rice from the south west to name a few.

Sustainable consumption:

Sustainable consumption, according to Dr. Rebecca Gillaspy of Health Science department at University of Phoenix, entails the use of products and services that have a minimal impact on the environment so future generations could meet their needs. She stressed that when practised to the letter, resources are used wisely and waste products and pollution minimized. The main way this is achieved, she said, is by doing more and better with less. Asserting, “we can find ways to meet our needs and desires without depleting our planet's finite natural resources.”

She also said, this may include carpooling, using renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, developing alternative fuel sources, such as biofuels, for our transportation needs and using environmentally friendly clean products. She maintained that practising sustainable consumption could ensure that the environment has resources available long into the future.

Conversely, she noted that in most industrialized and developed nations, consumption patterns are not sustainable, because, their products and services rely on too many natural resources and creation of too many harmful emissions when consumed. For example, most developed countries rely on non-renewable fossil fuels for their transportation needs. Underlining the fact that as more drivers hit the roads and more fuel is consumed, fossil fuel reserves are depleted, and because fossil fuels emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned, more consumption means more pollution.

Is Tractor a sustainable rice production implement?

Locally, this could be applicable to the use of Tractors for rice production, which equally consumes fuel with some running on petrol and others on termed ‘gas.’ The most common use of the term "tractors" is known as vehicles used on farms for pulling or pushing agricultural machinery or trailers, for plowing, tilling, disking, harrowing, planting, and similar tasks. Also, there is a variety of farm tractors developed for specific uses to complement the efforts of John Fowler, who pioneered the application of steam power to agriculture in the 1850s. Nowadays, tractors are powered by gasoline.

Though gasoline is a North America term, and is defined as a transparent, petroleum-derived liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in internal combustion engines; consisting mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, and enhanced with a variety of additives.

50,000 tractors for Nigeria farmers in 2016:

The owner of Agric Supper Market, Dr Bawa Garba, disclosed last December after meeting with Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Abuja, that Nigerian farmers required over 50,000 tractors to meet production demands. He said that because of current economic situation, his firm offered 10,000 tractors, worth some N70 billion. So they are working with RIFAN to meet the need for some 9,000 tractors and implements, which mean the 10,000 tractor will go to one association, but they have given them 4,250 tractors due to their membership which is about 12 million people.

Garba revealed that the meeting arrived at his company asking for only 10 per cent of the cost of the tractor as a down payment, after which they take delivery and stay two months before servicing of the payment by installment spread over 32 months.

Local efforts to feed Africa:

NaijaAgroNet recently reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in partnership with Anambra State government is exploring the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to make the state become Africa’s food basket on rice production. Director, Development Finance Department at CBN, who represented the bank’s Awka controller, Mr. C.M. Sokari, assured the state and participants at ABP session in Awka, Anambra State capital that several interventions have been floated by the government.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that CBN in collaboration with the Federal Government (FG) is diversifying the nation’s economy from crude oil, hence the launch of the programme, he said, would reposition agriculture in the country.

“To fund the programme, the CBN had set aside N40 billion, from the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund for farmers at a single-digit rate of nine per cent,” he said; adding Nigeria, is a known major rice producer with over 20 key rice producing states in the country most of which cultivate during both wet and dry seasons. Hence, rice is one crop in which the country has comparative advantage to easily become self-sufficient, given the huge potentials that exist. He enjoined Nigerians to embrace this programme, as this will ensure that in the next few years Nigeria will no longer be one of the world’s highest importers of rice, but a net exporter of the commodity.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Export, Mr Afam Mbanefo, described Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State as an agro-friendly executive, who had supported all the innovations being put in place by his ministry. He disclosed further that the position of the government was to make sure there was a safe playing ground for the farmers in the state to participate in the programme, to retain the state brand and heritage, which is the Anambra State rice, to engage the youths and empower the farmers, even as he assured CBN of cooperation of the farmers and urged the apex bank to extend the ABP to other agriculture sectors.

Experts posit that while substantial environmental impacts from food occur in the production phase, namely agriculture and food processing; households influence these impacts through their dietary choices and habits, which consequently affect the environment through food-related energy consumption and waste generation. NaijaAgroNet gathered that 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year while almost 1 billion people go undernourished and another 1 billion hungry.

Nigerian Customs and battle for rice ban:

As the Nigerian Customs continue the battle to sustain the ban on rice importation, particularly through land borders, and canvassing total ban of imported rice into the country by 2017, it’s noteworthy that as at August 2016, Nigeria's rice imports reportedly dropped by 300,000 Metric Tonnes, according to the research by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), precisely rice imports from US. Just as NaijaAgroNet reports that in three years Nigeria spent $2.4bn on rice importation alone according to the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who insisted that dwindling foreign reserve cannot afford continued rice import.

Conclusion:

As the countdown continues to 2030, for our societies to produce and consume goods and services without literally harming others, the government of Nigeria along 192 member-states in the United Nations is enjoined to join forces with international organizations, business sector, non-state actors and individuals to contribute to changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns.

These, NaijaAgroNet reports, include through mobilization from all sources of financial and technical assistance to strengthen developing countries’ scientific, technological and innovative capacities to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

With the political leaders encouraging the implementation of the 10-year framework of programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, beginning with all countries taking action, with developed countries leading, as well as taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries, farmers need to take agriculture very seriously and to involve their children and youths in the venture because of the immense benefits, moreso with technology being part of the evolution, thereby making modern agriculture a money making sector.

And before the Chinese plastic rice overruns Nigeria in the name of foreign rice, the security agencies like Customs, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC must wake up to their avowed responsibilities and save their nations from fake rice.

Although the National Assembly had insisted hitherto on FG keeping to its ban on rice import, the over-sight function of relevant agencies at both borders and ports must be strengthened for common good, if Nigeria must keep to the goal 12 dream by 2030, in line with the tune of President Buhari’s message to world leaders at just concluded 22nd Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) tagged, COP-22 in Marrakech, Morocco.

He highlighted among others, key issues of Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and policy actions aimed at tackling climate change through environmental sustainable efforts.

Stakeholders look forward to seeing the words of Mr. President being matched with relevant action, only then can one say kudos to 2030 agenda.

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Global per capita fish consumption rises above 20 kilogrammes a year

NaijaAgroNet:

The new State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report urged for more work to rein in over-fishing, just as global per capita fish consumption has risen above 20 kilogrammes a year, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Global per capita fish consumption, NaijaAgroNet gathered rose above 20 kilogrammes per year for the first time, thanks to stronger aquaculture supply and firm demand, record hauls for some key species and reduced wastage, according to a new FAO report published today.

“Yet despite notable progress in some areas, the state of the world's marine resources has not improved, the latest edition of the UN agency's The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) says that almost a third of commercial fish stocks are now fished at biologically unsustainable levels, triple the level of 1974,” a press statement from Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) highlighted.

NaijaAgroNet also said that global total capture fishery production in 2014 was 93.4 million tonnes, including output from inland waters, up slightly over the previous two years. Just as Alaska pollock was the top species, replacing Anchoveta for the first time since 1998 and offering evidence that effective resource management practices have worked well.

“Record catches for four highly valuable groups - tunas, lobsters, shrimps and cephalopods - were reported in 2014,” FAO said.

SOFIA also said that there were around 4.6 million fishing vessels in the world in 2014, 90 per cent of which are in Asia and Africa, and only 64,000 of which were 24 meters or longer.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said that globally, fish provided 6.7 per cent of all protein consumed by humans, as well as offering a rich source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, calcium, zinc and iron. Some 57 million people were engaged in the primary fish production sectors, a third of them in aquaculture.

Fishery products, FAO said, accounted for one percent of all global merchandise trade in value terms, representing more than nine percent of total agricultural exports. Worldwide exports amounted to $148 billion in 2014, up from $8 billion in 1976. Developing countries were the source of $80 billion of fishery exports, providing higher net trade revenues than meat, tobacco, rice and sugar combined.

"Life below water, which the Sustainable Development Agenda commits us to conserve, is a major ally in our effort to meet a host of challenges, from food security to climate change.  This report shows that capture fisheries can be managed sustainably, while also pointing to the enormous and growing potential of aquaculture to boost human nutrition and support livelihoods with productive jobs," FAO boss said.

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Low sperm count, goat meats to rescue

NaijaAgroNet: 

A Nigerian professor of Applied Zoology, Stephen Oluwagbemiga, has revealed that low sperm count could be boosted by consumption of goat meats, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the annual lecture of the National Association of Zoology Students (NAZS), University of Ilorin in Kwara State, last Friday, Prof. Oluwagbemiga said that people with low sperm count should consume more goat meats and foods that contain different nutrients to boost their fertility.

Oluwagbemiga who is a lecturer at the Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, and dwelt on “Relevance of Zoology in Contemporary Nigeria” at the lecture, also warned Nigerians against feeding too much on junk foods, pointing out that the advice on low sperm count booster, became necessary because of the increase in the number of infertility in the country and people with deficiency in calcium.

He stressed that insufficient calcium in the body could adversely affect how peoples’ hearts and other parts of the body function, highlighting the need for people to increase their calcium in-take by eating crayfish, snails and biscuit bones.

Oluwagbemiga further said zoologists had been proffering solutions to some of the nation’s health challenges, including guinea worm infection, sleeping sickness and mosquito bites.

Equally speaking, the Kwara State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe, commended the students for organising the lecture and urged them to face their studies, and reading widely.

Isaac Oyimah with additional report from TheEagleOnline/GEE

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Lagos allays fear over meat consumption

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Lagos state government has debunked reports that meats from Oko-Oba abattoir are risky and unsafe for consumption due to unhygienic environment.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal a press release made available to NaijaAgro Net refuted the allegation that 4,000 cattle 10,000 sheep and goat, 500 pigs and 10 camels slaughtered daily across the state could lead to outbreak of diseases and epidemic in the state .

Lawal described the allegation as unfounded and capable of misinforming the general public as there are veterinary officers who are qualified Doctors and animal Health workers at the various slaughter slabs across the state who ensure  that the animals slaughtered are of good health and safe for consumption.

 He stated that the animal hospital at Oko-Oba is well equipped with necessary equipment and also serves a referral centre.

While reiterating government effort at ensuring that only the certified wholesome meat is allowed to be circulated, he enjoined residents to patronise only the approved slaughter slabs in the state.

NaijaAgroNet noted from Lawal that the ministry is prepared to clamp down on illegal abattoir  to avert incidence of diseased infested animals.

 NaijaAgroNet

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