Dialogue, knowledge exchange scopes to zero hunger - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Food security experts have identified forging ahead strategies and partnerships with different organizations will ensure that food systems are visible, and recognized, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Leading this call at the weekend is Christiana Louwa Saiti from El Molo People in Kenya, while speaking at the wake of High-Level Expert Seminar on Indigenous Food Systems held to explore how to build on traditional knowledge to achieve Zero Hunger in Italy.

"What it is important about this seminar is not only indigenous peoples themselves coming together, but that we are forging ahead strategies and partnerships with different organizations to ensure that our food systems are visible, recognized and respected," said Christiana.

Indigenous food systems are dynamic and their very persistence highlights their value as a source of insights for broader global challenges, said Helena Semedo, FAO's Deputy Director General.

She urged seminar participants to think of "how can we embrace key features of indigenous food systems that depend on both cultivated crops and wild plants, synergies with the natural environment and biodiversity, close adaptation to local conditions, a high level of diversification, a light carbon footprint, fewer ‘negative externalities' and reduced use of external inputs while being closely tied to socio-cultural and spiritual activities?"

Along with opening and closing ceremonies led by Abuela Amalia, a traditional healer of the Nahuatl People in Mexico, and Taita Morales, the seminar addressed topics ranging from how indigenous food systems can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Zero Hunger Challenge. Sessions were also dedicated to case studies related to communities in upland Vietnam, northern Finland, the Solomon Islands and Cameroon's forests.

"I learnt all that I know about handcrafts and the use of medicinal plants from my grandparents. Today the mission of the youth is to take care and save the natural resources and the sacred elements of their communities and cultures", said Abuela Amalia, calling attention to the challenges, noting that migration and the loss of natural resources pose challenges for the transmission of traditional knowledge to indigenous youth.

Diversified practices linking pastoralism, nomadic gathering and agroforestry from Guatemala, India, Kyrgyzstan and Mali were also presented.

"I think the biggest challenge now is to take what we have learnt and discussed here to the local levels, and be able to engage with communities in preserving and valuing our indigenous food systems," Hayu Patria from the Dayak people in Indonesia.

Along with spurring greater and broader commitment to strengthen the understanding, promotion and preservation of indigenous food systems, the goal of the seminar is to upscale the current indigenous peoples task force into a FAO Technical Network with bolstered links to research institutions, universities, indigenous organizations and other United Nations agencies so as to coordinate activities, and to foster an informal action network to serve as a platform for countries to highlight and support the role that indigenous peoples and their food systems can play in ensuring food security and nutrition.

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Pix: Christiana Louwa Saiti from El Molo People in Kenya

IFAD donates to Anambra farmers after flood disaster - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Some farmers affected by the recent flood disaster in Anambra State have been compensated with the relief materials worth N50 million by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), reports NaijaAgroNet.

The IFAD-assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) has donated relief materials and farm inputs worth over N50 million to farmers affected by the recent flood disaster in Anambra State.

Some of the items presented to the farmers at Umueri General Hospital which serves as a holding centre in the state included bags of rice and garri, cartons of noodles, vegetable oil and soaps.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanisation, Processing and Export, Mr Afam Mbanefo said that the gesture was to help ameliorate their sufferings.

“The items are to ensure that you have food to go back home with and while the inputs are to ensure that you have something to go back to farm with,” he explained.

The commissioner further disclosed that the state government already had a rice nursery farm in Umueri for dry season farming which commences immediately the flood recedes.

Mbanefo said that the State government was partnering with other agricultural intervention programmes, agencies and stakeholders to further give succour to farmers in the state.

The State Programme Coordinator of IFAD-VCDP, Mr Nnamdi Agwuncha said 200 rice farmers and 50 cassava farmers will be supported with inputs to enable them to get back early to farms to continue business.

“Every rice or cassava farmer will be supported with farm inputs for one hectare. “Rice seeds, cassava stems and fertiliser inputs would be provided for a total of 250 hectares of rice and cassava farms.

“The inputs will be provided as soon as the farmers are ready to go back to farm,” Aguncha assured while stressing the need for them to ensure their farms to mitigate loss during disasters.

In his remarks, the traditional ruler of Umueri, Igwe Ben Emeka appealed to the Federal Government to establish damns that would collect the flood water when they overflow their banks.

Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs Theresa Obi, the chairman, Nnaemeka Cooperative Society, Umuoba-Anam commended the IFAD-VCDP and the state government for coming to their aid.

“If you come to our farms, you will pity us; but I thank God that they have fulfilled their promise.

“This gesture has rekindled our hope,” Obi said while appealing to other affluent individuals to come to their aid.

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‘Strengthen indigenous food systems key to achieving zero-hunger world’ - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Indigenous Food systems and indigenous traditional knowledge have survived hundreds and sometimes thousands of years, therefore they may have some of the answers we are looking for, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to him, FAO considers indigenous and tribal peoples as fundamental actors in the fight against poverty, hunger and all other forms of malnutrition, as well as in the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices.

Graziano da Silva also said in a keynote speech wrapping up High-Level Expert Seminar on Indigenous Food Systems held to explore how to build on traditional knowledge to achieve Zero Hunger. Failing to grasp and support indigenous food systems risks losing ancestral knowledge and centuries of know-how.

"The loss of biodiversity, is also the loss of our identity of our foods and medicines, said Taita Ignacio Morales, a traditional healer from the Muiska-Piuret people of Colombia.

Seventy panelists coming from indigenous communities and organizations; universities; research centers and more than 180 attendees and 49 countries, exchanged their expertise and knowledge on indigenous food systems. By combining presentations on traditional knowledge and expertise from scientific knowledge, the seminar allowed to increase the understanding and contributions that indigenous food systems have been making to the world.

Participants reviewed some of the analytical and field studies done over the past year by a task force set up by FAO and Bioversity International, the Center for International Forestry Research, France's Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) and the Indigenous Partnership for Food Security and Sovereignty, as well as several local indigenous organizations, on how indigenous communities around the world generate food while managing the territory and the environment in a sustainable way.

"In the path to achieve the Zero Hunger Goal we need more efficient food production methods. We need to cease environmentally unsound practices. We need to innovate on and open to all manner of food systems" highlighted Patrick Rata, New Zealand Ambassador.

Co-organized by FAO, UNESCO, UNPFII, FILAC and DOCIP, the expert seminar was an opportunity to exchange knowledge, understandings and concepts, which will be articulated in a future publication. The expert seminar and the publication are key contributions to the global debate on sustainability and climate resilience in the context of the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition.

Indigenous peoples number more than 370 million people speaking more than 4,000 languages in 90 countries and occupying around 22 percent of the earth's surface while acting as custodians of 80 percent of the planet's biodiversity. Yet while representing around 5 percent of the world's population, they make up 15 percent of the world's poor.

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Pix: FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva

Waste not, want not: Improving diets by reducing food loss and waste

NaijaAgroNet:

A new policy brief has called for action to reduce the loss and waste of high-nutrient foods, reports NaijaAgroNet.

With one in five deaths associated with poor-quality diets, a policy brief launched today urges policymakers to prioritize the reduction of food loss and waste as a way of improving people's access to nutritious and healthy food.

The brief, Preventing nutrient loss and waste across the food system: Policy actions for high-quality diets, points out that poor-quality diets are now a greater public health threat than malaria, tuberculosis or measles. Meanwhile, approximately one third of all the food produced for human consumption never reaches the consumer's plate or bowl.

The brief was prepared by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

It notes how foods such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, dairy products, meats and seafood are rich in nutrients, but are also highly perishable and therefore susceptible to losses throughout the food system. The numbers are staggering: each year more than half of all the fruits and vegetables produced globally are lost or wasted. A vital source of protein, around 25 percent of all the meat produced - equivalent to 75 million cows - is not consumed.

Panel member and FAO Director-General of FAO, José Graziano da Silva, said: "To tackle all forms of malnutrition and promote healthy diets, we need to put in place food systems that increase the availability, affordability and consumption of fresh, nutrient-rich food for everyone. Taking specific actions to reduce the losses and waste of fresh and nutritious food is a fundamental part of this effort."

Action across the entire food system

The brief proposes a series of policy actions across the entire food system, including: educating stakeholders; focusing on perishable foods; improving public and private infrastructure; encouraging innovation; and closing the data and knowledge gaps on food losses and waste.

Panel member and President of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Prof. Srinath K. Reddy, welcomed the brief, saying: "The Global Panel's policy actions show how reducing food loss and waste could play a key role in improving the poor and inadequate diets that affect 3 billion people globally, and which are often responsible for persistent undernutrition, and also the rise of overweight and obesity and the associated increase in non-communicable diseases".

FAO data indicates that in low-income countries food is mostly lost during harvesting, storage, processing and transportation, while in high-income countries the problem is one of waste at retail and consumer levels.

Together, they have a direct impact on the number of calories and nutrients that are actually available for consumption. The loss and waste of micronutrients is of particular concern given the direct impact on wellbeing, learning capacity and productivity.

Globally, agriculture produces 22 percent more vitamin A than we require. However, after loss and waste, the amount available for human consumption is 11 percent less than required. Reducing the loss and waste of nutritious foods could therefore yield substantial health benefits.

It would also deliver economic returns, as the value of food lost or wasted annually at the global level is estimated at $ 1 trillion. Eating more of the food already produced would also avoid the waste of the water, land and energy that went into its production.

Isaac Oyimah

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Nigerians urged to prioritise first 1000 days of child life - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Nigerians have been urged to prioritize the first 1000 days of life of a child, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The participants made this call at the three-day Media Training at Consort Luxury Suites, Abuja, on the theme, “The Journalists’ Role in Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in Allocation and Use of Health and Nutrition Funds in Nigeria.”

The event organized by the Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) under the Partnership for Improving Nigeria Nutrition Systems (PINNS) project, saw to building of capacity of media practitioners to develop stories and programmes focusing on transparency and accountability in allocation and use of health cum nutrition funds in focal states and the country at large.

The training was also organized to engender passion and commitment to reporting health and nutrition issues through site visited to Kwali Primary Health Care (PHC) Centre for firsthand experience of the challenges in the sector among other important issues.

Rising from the workshop, participants in a communique made available to NaijaAgroNet noted the importance of Nigerians prioritizing the first 1000 (one thousand) days of life of a child, saying it’s very crucial to the survival and ability of such child to live beyond five years.

For this, participants urged most Nigerian mothers at the Public Health Care (PHC) centres, have been found not practicing Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF), at least in the first 1000 days of a child.

They also urged Nigerian media to sensitize women more on the need to exclusively breastfeed their children in the first six months of life, without addition of water.

“Media should also sensitize women to continue to breastfeed their children for two years in addition to adequate complementary feeding,” the communique stated, just as they called on husband to get involved on how their children are handled especially in matters regarding Exclusive Breast Feeding for the first 1000 days of infants.

NaijaAgroNet  recalls that breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants and lowers baby's risk of having asthma or allergies, just as experts have often said that babies breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea.

Also, they lamented that government across the state, should make adequate budgetary allocation, approval, timely release and cash backing in support of nutrition interventions.

“Where budgets are allocated and released, they focus more on the curative measures than preventive measures,” part of the communique read.

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Communiqué: 2,000 children, 145 women die daily due to malnutrition - NaijaAgroNet

Communiqué issued at the end of a 3-day Media Training/Field visit at Consort Luxury Suites, Abuja from October 29th to November 1st, 2018.

Theme: The Journalists’ Role in Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in Allocation and Use of Health/Nutrition Funds in Nigeria. 

The Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) under the Partnership for Improving Nigeria Nutrition Systems (PINNS) project, organized the training to build capacity of media practitioners to develop stories and programmes focusing on transparency and accountability in allocation and use of health/nutrition funds in focal states and the country at large. The training was also organized to engender passion and commitment to reporting health and nutrition issues through site visit to Kwali Primary Health Care (PHC) Centre for firsthand experience of the challenges in the sector among other important issues.

It was observed that:

1. Malnutrition is a multi-sectorial issue of serious concern that requires a collective response.

2. Nigeria loses over 2000 children under five years of age on daily basis due to malnutrition.

3. Over 145 women of child bearing age die daily due to malnutrition.

4. The first 1000 days of life from the time of conception to a child’s second birth day is not prioritized.

5. Governments have not been making adequate budgetary allocation, approval, timely release and cash backing.

6. Where budgets are allocated and released, they focus more on the curative measures than preventive measures.

7. A malnourished child when immunized does not absorb/utilize the immunization.

8. There is low reportage of nutrition related issues in Nigeria.

9. 53% of deaths from child killer diseases is directly related to malnutrition.

10. Most mothers at the PHC are not practicing Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF).

11. There is lack of male/husband involvement and support towards EBF.

Recommendations:

1. Participants agreed that stakeholders (Government, Media, CSOs, care givers, Donor agencies etc) need to place emphasis on preventive than curative measures.

2. Government and policy makers should be held accountable for their commitments.

3. Journalists should be consistent in their reportage on nutrition.

4. Media practitioners should hold government accountable by getting enough information aimed at addressing nutrition issues.

5. Media should put nutrition at the front burner and influence policy decisions through their reportage for improved nutrition interventions.

6. Participants should advocate for policies to mainstream nutrition into agriculture.

7. Media should sensitize women on the need to exclusively breastfeed their children in the first six (6) months of life, without addition of water.

8. Media should also sensitize women to continue to breastfeed their children for two years in addition to adequate complementary feeding.

9. Media practitioners are encouraged to explore key components of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so as to bring to the fore requisite solutions to the plights of women, children and other vulnerable groups.

10. Government should scale up and sustain existing interventions on nutrition.

11. Media should intensify campaign towards behavioral change, especially for men to support EBF.


Signed:

Mr. Salihu Mohammed Alkali (chairman, drafting committee)

Priscilla Dennis (Mrs) (secretary, drafting committee)

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WAOM berates Morocco over Africans travel restrictions - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The West African Observatory on Migrations (WAOM), has berated Morocco for joining the European Union (EU) against African migration, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Morocco, NaijaAgroNet gathered is a North African country bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

As said by WAOM, the travel restrictions for Malians, Guineans and Congolese wishing to travel to Morocco, is disheartening.

A press statement from International conference on environmental migration in West Africa made available to NaijaAgroNet, said "Far from appearing as an experiment as presented by the Morocco kingdom, this measure is a real step backward as it removes from the citizens of these countries the possibility that they had until then to travel without a visa to Morocco. A few weeks before the international conference to adopt the Global Compact on Migration in Marrakesh, the Moroccan decision shocks deeply because it goes against the will reaffirmed by the African Union to move towards the free movement of Africans on their continent.

"The dream of an African Schengen area, where citizens can travel without any visa or travel authorization requirement, seems to be called into question by the Kingdom of Morocco, which is nevertheless presented as the ” Leader ” for migration by the African Union. After returning to Africa Union, in January 2017, Morocco was given the responsibility by its African peers to propose the broad outlines of a migration policy for the African Union. In the wake of its reconquest of the continent, the Moroccan kingdom had then manifested its candidacy to join the Economic Community of States of West Africa (ECOWAS), which advocates a free movement for the citizens of its community. The glimmers of hope thus sent by Morocco seem to be buried in the face of pressure from the European Union, which is constantly reinforcing the role of the countries of North Africa and the Sahel as gendarmes of its policy against the immigration of Africans.

"This Moroccan decision, contrary to African interests, can only be understood in its perspective of pleasing the European institutions. Indeed, the European Union has just opened a series of negotiations with some African countries to demand that they repatriate their “undocumented” citizens residing in Europe on pain of having their Schengen visa restricted for their nationals wishing to travel legally to European countries. 

Morocco seems miraculously not threatened by this blackmail from the European Union despite recent events that saw Moroccan citizens trying to illegally gain Europe. It seems more than ever necessary for African civil society, as a whole, to raise its voice against the dictates of the European Union, which under the guise of development aid, weaken African integration and prevent Africans from traveling without visa in the same way as the citizens of the European Union. The West African Observatory on Migrations is appealing to all citizens of African countries to advocate on their States not to accept measures that undermine our mobility rights on our African soil and destroy our will to live a real fraternity life as sons and daughters of the same continent.

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Sapele Power petitions IG Idris over police harassment - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The operator of the 1,020MW Sapele Power Plant, the Sapele Power Plc (SPP), has petitioned the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, over the use of Police to settle business scores by Seistech, reports NaijaAgroNet.

In a petition to the police high command on the details of the contract with Seistech, the management of Sapele Power noted that during the power privatisation exercise, SPP, along with its assets which include two storage tanks and a jetty located within the power plant, was acquired by Eurafric Power Limited.

The petition also noted that sometime in 2016, Seistech Energy Limited, an oil and gas company, approached SPP for the lease of one of its storage tanks in the plant for storage of crude oil produced by Mid-Western Oil & Gas Company Limited. A Storage Lease Agreement dated September 6, 2016 was negotiated and executed.

Sapele Power says Seistech had now failed to meet the terms of the agreement and has resorted to intimidation, attempt to forcibly takeover its facilities and threat to life, among others.

Just as the company also alleged complicity of the Police in the matter for which it has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, asking that he puts a stop “to the use of the police to perpetuate illegality.”

“Few months into the transaction, Seistech became bankrupt, and unable to meet its financial obligations under the contract, Seistech then introduced Mid-Western to assume its financial responsibility and Mid-Western effected tank rental payments on behalf of Seistech. Subsequently, Seistech had a fall-out with Mid-Western and payment for the tank rental was suspended.

“Rather than look for creative means of liquidating its indebtedness, Seistech chose to cunningly cook up lies and misinform our business partners, regulatory authorities and unsuspecting third parties that the rented tank did not belong to SPP, rather, belonged to Seistech.

“As a result of this development, we terminated the tank rental contract with Seistech and asked them to pay up outstanding rental debt, evacuate the products from the storage tank in question and vacate our premises immediately.

“Instead of complying, Seistech surreptitiously and continuously sought ways to defraud us by evacuating product in storage without settling its indebtedness (presently in excess of N600,000,000 (Six Hundred Million Naira). So far, its threats and activities have impeded our activities and smooth operations of the power plant”.

Sapele Power Plc maintained that to undermine security and control of the its power plant, within which the storage tank is located, Seistech, with the connivance of the Police, deployed mobile policemen from Mopol 33 into the plant, leading to a faceoff with SPP’s mobile policemen from Mopol 44 with threat of gunfire exchange.

Ozo Nweke Ozo/ED, Ops

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African women shine @Anzisha Prize Awards'18 - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Mastercard Foundation and African Leadership Academy are thrilled that 22-year-old healthcare entrepreneur Melissa Bime has won the US$25,000 Grand Prize at the 8th annual Anzisha Prize awards gala. She is the founder of INFIUSS, an online blood bank and digital supply chain platform that ensures patients in 23 hospitals in Cameroon have life-saving blood when and where they need it. She is only the second woman to win the grand prize since Best Ayiorworth took it home in 2013.

“Today, I stand here to represent every young girl out there that just has her dreams,” said Melissa Bime during her acceptance speech. “I stand here to represent this amazing group of entrepreneurs that I am a part of. With these people, the future of Africa is very bright. We are going to change this continent.”

Melissa was selected from among 20 finalists during a ceremony on 23 October that was live streamed to over 3,000 viewers and created a social media buzz across the continent.

The first runner up, 18-year-old Alhaji Siraj Bah will receive US$15,000 in prize money. He is the founder of Rugsal Trading in Sierra Leone, a company that produces handcrafted paper bags as well as briquettes for cooking fuel. Alhaji hopes that the funds will boost the impact his business is already having and will enable him to hire more youth from his community. “I had only US$20 dollars when I started and I have created an impact already,” said Bah. With US$15,000, I am going to impact 7.5 million Sierra Leonians’ lives in less than five years. It will happen.”

Joan Nalubega, 21, was the second-runner up. She is the co-founder of Uganics, which produces mosquito-repellent soap to combat malaria inUganda. With the US$12,500, she will conduct a certification study for the company’s products and prepare Uganics for export to neighboring countries which will help to widen her impact in the fight against malaria.

The keynote speaker, renowned entrepreneur Sim Shagaya spoke plainly about the challenges faced by the continent but was confident that young entrepreneurs are best placed to solve them. He concluded his inspiring remarks with a simple message to the finalists, “you must lead!”

“We are proud of all 20 finalists and are excited to see two young and dynamic women taking home top prizes,” said Koffi Assouan, Program Manager, Mastercard Foundation. “Their contributions will continue to impact their countries and they are role models for other young women across the continent. They are demonstrating how to turn obstacles into opportunities that create value and jobs for others.”

The Anzisha Prize, the premier award for Africa’s youngest entrepreneurs, is a partnership between African Leadership Academy and the Mastercard Foundation. The 20 finalists spent 10 days in a business accelerator camp strengthening their business fundamentals before presenting their ventures to a panel of judges that included Ntuthuko Shezi, Bita Diamomande, Saran Kaba Jones, and Polo Leteka. They join a pool of more than 85 Anzisha Fellows and a network of support that includes access to mentors, experts, and networking. Each returns home with a US$2,500.

“This year was exciting in that we announced our new efforts to support the parents of very young entrepreneurs in Africa,” said Josh Adler, Vice President of Growth and Entrepreneurship at African Leadership Academy. “Our new book – Raising the Boss – uncovers the critical role they play and how we must invest in them if we are to see more young people confidently choosing an entrepreneurship career path post school.”

Applications for the next cycle of the Anzisha Prize will open on 15 February in 2019. Nominations for promising youth entrepreneurs are welcome all year round.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Nestlé releases 2018 financial results for Q3, offers N20 dividend - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Nestlé Nigeria Plc has proclaimed its financial results for 9 months period ending 30 September 2018, with recorded revenue of N 203.1 billion which translates into 9.7 per cent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to the third quarter results sighted by NaijaAgroNet, stressing that for the period January to September 2018, the company recorded revenue of N 203.1 billion with a growth of 9.7 per cent over same period in the previous year.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that Nestle Nigeria made Profit After Tax (PAT) of N 33.1 billion.

The unaudited financial statements of the company, NaijaAgroNet also gathered, saw Nestlé Nigeria Plc posting a revenue of N 67.8 billion in Q3 2018, up from N 63.3 billion in Q3 2017.

Further, NaijaAgroNet reports that the company board in its meeting held on October 29th 2018 approved an interim dividend of N20 per share.

Below is the full detail of the January - September 2018 financial result.

N’000		N’000
Revenue	203,134,728		185,242,450
Cost of Sales	-116,984,764		-109,361,943
Gross Profit	86,149,964		75,880,507
Marketing and Distribution expenses	-29,739,809		-25,260,332
Administrative expenses	-7,050,143		-7,534,933
Results from operating activities	49,360,012		43,085,242
Finance income	1,389,846		6,281,172
Finance costs	-2,661,306		-14,887,393
Net finance costs	-1,271,460		-8,606,221
Profit before income tax	48,088,552		34,479,021
Income tax expense	-14,970,265		-11,499,031
Profit for the period	33,118,287		22,979,990

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