BOA boosts Sokoto cassava farmers with N1.44bn

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Sokoto State Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Arzika Tureta has disclosed the disbursement of N1.44 billion loan by the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to cassava farmers in the state.

Tureta gave this hint to NaijaAgroNet stating that the beneficiaries of the loan comprised of 7,000 farmers registered under the umbrella of the Cassava Growers Association of Nigeria (CGAN) drawn from the 23 local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner also said that the state government had already paid N178.5 million as its equity contribution for the loans scheme.

 "Out of the amount, N35 million was paid for the registration of the cassava farmers, who will benefit from the loan," Tureta said.

He explained that the ministry had set up a committee to ensure that the beneficiaries were genuine farmers from the state, stressing that the loan would boost food security, curb youth’s restiveness, reduce poverty, as well as unemployment, among others.

Tureta, therefore, urged the beneficiaries to use the money for the purpose it was meant for in order to sustain the objectives of the scheme. 

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CABI says 40% food lost to diseases annually, establishes plant clinics

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

United Kindgom-based Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) has said that despite the advances made in science and technology, crop disease continues to plague farmers everywhere as 40 per cent of the food grown worldwide is lost to pests and diseases before it could be consumed. 

This postulation was made by CABI while trying to change the trend through a crop protection programme called Plantwise, maintaining, there are about 90 of these clinics in Uganda, while this year donors spent $290,000 about N46, 907,501.64 training plant doctors and expanding the system in the country.

                                                  

NaijaAgroNet learnt from CABI that it has trained nearly a thousand plant doctors in 24 countries, including one near Kampala, Uganda since 2010  and set up Plantwise clinics in 12 African countries - nine in East Africa and  three in West Africa.

One of the trained plant Doctors, according to a press statement from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Daniel Lyazi on arrival in Mukono, a village about 15 kilometers from Kampala to set up a clinic discovered that there is no remedy for the diseased plant samples that people bring to the clinic while the farmers have been using the wrong insecticide.

“I’m recommending the use of another insecticide called Fenkill, and in another planting season they should plant with onions. Onions can repel the caterpillar and so they can get income,” he said.
 

The head of a local farmers’ group, Erifazi Mayanja, said that they are really benefiting from the twice-a-month clinic, which started last year as Lyazi’s recommendations may save the next season’s crop by inter-planting onions between the rows of cabbages as an additional protection measure.

The Coordinator the Plantwise program in Uganda and Zambia, Joseph Mulema opined that plant clinics are far more effective model for getting advice to farmers than the traditional one where agricultural extension workers, in theory, visit farms. 

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World agriculture ministers to brainstorm on international food prices

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

 Agriculture Ministers from around the world would Monday, 7 October assemble at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome for the second ministerial meeting to brainstorm on international food prices.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from a news briefing hosted by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silvawith that some 40 ministers and deputy ministers have confirmed their participation in the forum that is meant to pool knowledge on how to enhance the effectiveness of measures to address food security problems caused by international food price volatility.

It will recalled that the first meeting on food price volatility was held in October 2012 in response to the third spike in international grain prices in five year, although prices of cereals and oilseeds on international markets have fallen from the peaks reached in July 2012, they remain high and there are concerns that markets continue to be vulnerable to supply shocks.

“The event will be held on the first day of the 40th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), even though  the ministerial meeting is not part of CFS, it will allow CFS delegates to follow the proceedings,” he said.

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Mahama advocates roots, tubers solution to end food insecurity

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama has advocated the use of roots and tubers to alleviate poverty and end food insecurity in the rural Africa.

Mahama who was represented by Ghana Deputy Minister, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology Innovation, Mohammed Alfa,  gave the charge at the 12^th symposium organized by the International Society for Tropical Root Crops-Africa Branch (ISTRC-AB) in Accra, Ghana and stressed that root and tuber crops such as sweet potato, cassava, potato(Irish) Andean roots and tubers, yams and aroids provide great opportunities for long term poverty alleviation and food security, more than any staple food produced in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions.

NaijaAgroNet learnt from the President that the growth rate of the population in Sub-Sahara Africa which was put at 2.4 per cent as compared to 1.3 per cent in non African countries had brought pressure on farmers to produce food at affordable prices.

He explained that even though root crops were vital for both food security and income generation, especially, for poor rural farmers and women, and often grown on marginal lands, production was mainly for home consumption and the local market.

NaijaAgroNet noted the submission of President Mahama when he said that efforts by the private sector to commercialise these crops had been minimal and ineffective and added that “the challenge had been how to commercialise and improve the competiveness of root and tuber crop products in the markets, whilst safeguarding the interest of women and small-holder farmers who derived significant incomes through the production and processing of thes,e crops.

The ISTRC-AB President, Dr Nzola Mahungu, who is also the Country Representative for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in DR Congo said, “Root and tuber crops play an important role in ensuring food security in Africa, and we must tap the opportunities of these crops.” 

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pix:Ghana President, John Dramani Mahama

CTA boss commends CAADP, seeks alliance for smallholder farmers

Remmy Nweke/NaijaAgroNet:

The Director, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Mr Michael Hailu, has commended the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), just as he seeks collaboration to uplift the small holder farmers.

Hailu in his remarks as gathered by NaijaAgroNet at the Brussels Development Briefing in Belgium, which focused on 10 years of CAADP, reiterated the fact that by adopting CAADP 10 years ago, African Heads of State had put agriculture at the centre of the development agenda.

The CTA boss also emphasised that CTA and NEPAD's collaboration in a number of areas that include support for smallholder farmers, will lead to positive results in growing agriculture as a key driver for broad-based social and economic growth.

In addition, Mr Steve Wiggins from the Overseas Development Institute maintained that food production in Africa is not as bad as it is made out to be. Mr Wiggins highlighted the example of agricultural growth in West Africa, at an average of 4 per cent a year in the last thirty years as surpassing a number of regions in the world, including some parts of Asia and South America.

Mr Ousmane Badiane, Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute, concluded his presentation by maintaining that, "Agricultural growth is not just growth in the sector alone, but also results in economic growth."  Some of the other conclusions of the Briefing in Brussels included the need to create an enabling environment for investment and innovation; and investing in rural public goods, amongst others.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the 33rd Brussels Briefing was hosted by CTA, the European Commission, the African, Carribean and Pacific Group of States Secretariat and Concord in partnership with NEPAD, consisted of policy deliberations that also brought out proven successes and best practices in African agriculture.

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FAO says world hunger down, but not enough to reach goals

 

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

 The United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that the number of hungry people in the world is slightly down but not enough to meet development goals.

This is the summation of a new United Nations report sighted by NaijaAgroNet, which explained that one in eight people worldwide or 842 million, suffers from chronic hunger which marks a decrease from last year’s estimate of 868 million and down from 17 per cent from the early 1990’s.

The report noted that what is on the ground is not low enough to reach the goal world leaders set of reducing the proportion of hungry people in developing nations by half by 2015.

“This goal is close and has been reached in many countries. The target for all developing regions is 12 percent undernourishment by 2015. At the current pace, a figure of 13 percent will be achieved instead. The final percentage point will be the toughest,” said FAO statistician and study author, Piero Conforti.

Conforti said that in sub-Saharan Africa or in Western Asia  are more than one country that is really not showing much progress and stressed that it is difficult to tackle those situations where food insecurity is very high.

Conforti pointed out that investments in agriculture and in small-scale agriculture in particular, can make the biggest impact on hunger and poverty reduction.

The FAO report says hunger is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has been modest. Improvement has been slow in Southern Asia and Northern Africa, and non-existent in Western Asia. Latin America and Eastern and South eastern Asia have seen the most progress

"In the countries where you see food security being really mainstreamed among economic policies and where you see real commitment from government, that is where you see results," the FAO statistician and study author added.

Conforti said the recent economic downturn and food price spikes in recent years had a smaller than expected impact on global hunger, as farmers responded to higher prices by increasing production.

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Pix: Malnourished persons

Oyo, Canadian firm signs N209.8bn MOU on mechanised agric

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Oyo State government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth $1.3 billion about N209.8 billion with a Canadian agricultural company for the development of the state agricultural sector towards the production of tomatoes, vegetables, fruits, chicken as well as wind solar system.

At the signing ceremony in the state, the excited Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi explained that his trips abroad had paid off as the MOU with the Canadian company will see that the project commence in the next three months and to attain  full scale production in the next two years.

NaijaAgroNet learnt from Governor Ajimobi that the investment which would be second to none in the annals of agriculture in Africa is meant to enhance food security and also to provide job opportunity for the teeming unemployed youth in the state and beyond.

He commended the firm, SGNTT, for its commitment to the development of agriculture and for its readiness to invest in the state’s agricultural sector and noted that” The MoU is a milestone. It is a legacy that will stand the test of time. It will be second to none in terms of the opportunities available in agriculture.”

The leader of the team, Edward Ndububa  disclosed  that based on the understanding with the state government, the firm is committed to partner with it in the area of large scale mechanised agriculture,  while the project would be located in Itesiwaju and Afijio local government areas of the state

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Pix: Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi

FG cassava industrialization policy boosts production-Minister

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Nigeria has made an in-road into the mass production of cassava for both export and domestic consumption due to the Federal Government cassava industrialization policy on agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina made this revelation to NaijaAgroNet, stressing that the country’s cassava has risen from the hitherto close to zero per cent of global trade in cassava-based products to become a money-spinner for Nigeria.

Adesina said that farmers in Nigeria have benefited from the cassava industrialization policy that saw over 24 million stem cuttings of cassava being distributed free of charge in 2012, which has now turned the country to be the largest processor of cassava in the world.

According to him, the ministry also embarked on the cassava flour substitution policy to replace some of the wheat used in making wheat in bread and confectionaries.

“Never before had cassava bread been commercialized beyond demonstrations by research institute, today several of the major corporate bakers have shifted to the incorporation of 20 per cent high quality cassava flour into production of composite flour with wheat to produce bread,” he said.

The minister noted that the cassava bread, for instance, has hit the super markets of Shop Rite, Spar Park N Shop across the country, while UTC and Butterfield continue to make strides in commercialization of cassava bread.

“To accelerate the production of high quality cassava flour, government is supporting the private sector to access cheap financing to import and establish 18 large-scale processing plants with a capacity of 72,000MT per annum to be sited in Abraka, Delta State.

“Nigeria has secured contracts to supply 3.2 million metric tonnes cassava chips to China and arrangements are underway for the Africa Export- Import Bank to provide a loan facility of $40million to cassava chip exporters. Nigeria is expected to earn over $800 million about N129.2billion from meeting the supply contracts to China,” the minister said.

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CAADP@10: 150 delegates took part in Brussels Development briefing

Remmy Nweke/NaijaAgroNet :

Over 150 delegates took part at the recently ended Brussels Development Briefing in Belgium, to evaluate the 10 years of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), NaijaAgroNet can authoritatively report.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the knowledge sharing centred on the context of a reflection on the achievements and lessons from 10 years of CAADP implementation with the objective to highlight lessons including issues and key drivers for transformation of African agriculture.

The NEPAD Head of CAADP, Mr. Martin Bwalya, was quoted as saying that "Agriculture is back on the development agenda and the way to keep it there is by demonstrating results."

Outlining some of the positive strides in transforming African agriculture during the last   10 years, Mr. Bwalya said these include the evident improved planning at national level; aligning public financing; coherent  common vision  and agenda on  agriculture as well as strengthening of the policy  design processes and growing attention to institutional and human  capital development.

He noted the compelling need for a transformational shift towards an “agriculture” which first-and-fore-most is motivated and driven by the urged to expand agricultural value in the creation of jobs and wealth into the national economy. Local leadership informed and engaged public, sound regional trade and market strategies are imperative components in the winning formula for agriculture transformation.

Further, he emphasised that 10 years on, 43 African countries are now focusing on investment for growth in agriculture through the CAADP process. 

"The next coming years will therefore see the positioning of 'wealth creation' as the primary driver for transformation in Africa," Bwalya expressed optimism.

Also speaking in the same panel, Mr Kalilou Sylla, Executive Secretary of the Network of Farmers  and Agriculture Producers Organisations of West Africa, insisted that 10 years is not enough time to quantify the changes brought on since the Maputo endorsement of CAADP, but CAADP nonetheless provides a clear mechanism for strategic planning in agriculture.

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USDA-ARS partners PathoGenetix on identifying food borne outbreaks

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and PathoGenetix have signed an agreement to evaluate the company’s Genome Sequence Scanning (GSS) technology for use in identifying strains of Shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STECs) and Salmonella enteric which are two types of pathogens frequently implicated in food borne outbreaks.

The Chief Executive Officer, PathoGenetix, Ann Merrifield stated this in a release sighted by NaijaAgroNet and noted that the ability to quickly and accurately identify these pathogens, particularly in their most virulent forms, can have significant public health and financial impact for consumers, farmers, ranchers,  agricultural and food industries.

 “As we work to deliver a fully automated resolution system for rapid and effective pathogen strain typing next year, we are pleased to partner with USDA-ARS to demonstrate the speed and effectiveness of the GSS technology, particularly in differentiating the most virulent pathogens that pose the greatest challenges to food safety and public health investigations,” Ann Merrifield said.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that under the agreement, USDA-ARS and PathoGenetix researchers will analyze the strains, both as isolates and in mixed cultures, using PathoGenetix’s Genome Sequence Scanning™ (GSS™) technology, currently in development for commercial use as the Resolution Microbial Genotyping System, while the  results of the joint analysis would  assist USDA-ARS in evaluation of the Resolution System as a platform for rapidly identifying pathogenic Salmonella and E. coli in food samples.

The release also confirmed that Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella enterica are an important U.S. public health concern, causing an estimated 1.2 million cases of food borne illness each year while six additional STEC serogroups are now considered adulterants in certain beef products.

PathoGenetix’s GSS technology it further said identifies microbial DNA from complex mixtures or from isolates, and automates the process from sample preparation through data analysis to provide actionable information in five hours.

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