Agriculture with Jimoh

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono, said that mechanized farming would boost agricultural production and create more jobs for Nigerian Youths. Nanono made this disclosure during a town hall meeting with the All Farmers Associations of Nigeria (AFAN) and other relevant stakeholders in Kano weekend. Alhaji Sabo Nanono noted that the introduction of mechanized farming was necessary in order to shift from the traditional system of farming and embrace modern technology, enhance self-reliance and boost food production in the country He appealed that Nigerians should support the Present Administration In its Commitment to Position the Agricultural Sector to attain economic growth and food security. “We need to give the Government the necessary support and cooperation to enable it to achieve success in terms of food security, job creation and increased Internally Generated Revenue “. The Minister challenged the farmers to rise up t...

Agri-tech can turn African Savannah into global food basket – African Development Bank Des Moines, Iowa, 24 October 2018 – The African Development Bank is championing a new regional and global effort to transform the African Savannah from a “Sleeping Giant” to the cradle of the continent’s green revolution. “This sleeping giant needs to wake up,” the Bank’s Vice-President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Jennifer Blanke, told an audience at a 2018 World Food Prize side event in Des Moines, Iowa last week. Blanke described Africa’s nearly 400 million hectares of Savannah zones as “the world’s largest agricultural frontier,” and if a small fraction of that cultivatable land – some 16 million hectares - is transformed, it could well set Africa up to decrease dependence on food imports, feed itself and contribute to feeding the world. Africa is host to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, but currently spends an estimated US$35 billion per year ...

North East: IITA and AfDB to help Taraba transform cassava in the framework of TAAT …Trains 60 extension agents The international Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says it plans to work closely with the Taraba State Government to transform cassava in the framework of the African Development Bank-funded Technologies for African Agriculture Transformation (TAAT) program. The decision is part of a two-day visit to Taraba state, which ended today and witnessed the inauguration of the Cassava Compact—a component of the TAAT,  training of extension agents, and sites selection and validation for the establishment of cassava demonstration plots. Dr Nteranya Sanginga, IITA Director General, said the inauguration of the Cassava Compact of the TAAT in Taraba would open the door for the scaling of new innovations to cassava growers to the state and north east region of Nigeria. Dr Sanginga, who was represented by Godwin Atser, IITA Communication & Knowledge Exchange ...

“Stunted children today will lead to stunted economies tomorrow” – Adesina African Union endorses African Leaders for Nutrition Initiative By Jimoh Babatunde The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has said that stunted children today will lead to stunted economies tomorrow, adding that the impact of stunting is irreversible but preventable. He spoke yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as African leaders made a landmark commitment to remove nutrition-related barriers that prevent children and societies from realising their full potential. The leaders made the commitments at the launch of African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) − an initiative championed by the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission – in Addis Ababa, where they agreed to jointly overcome malnutrition and elevate nutrition as the driver for economic growth and sustainable development. Adesina said poor nutrition is responsible for stunting children’s ...

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), AfDB and other stakeholders on Monday in Ibadan inaugurated a programme, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), to revitalise agriculture in Africa. Speaking during the inauguration, Dr Jonas Chianu, AFDB Agricultural Economist and TAAT Programme Manager, said that the multi-year multi-partner TAAT programme was funded by the African Development Bank (AFDB). He said it was conceptualised based on ‘Africa Feeding African’ core priority of AFDB and aligned with the bank’s 10-year strategy (2013 to 2022) for inclusive and green growth in the continent. Chianu said that the programme was aimed at revitalising Africa’s agriculture and was conceived at a high-level conference on African agricultural transformation attended by experts in agriculture, the academia, and other stakeholders in Dakar in 2015. “TAAT heralds a new dawn in African agricultural transformation because of its key bene...

Fish farmers in Delta have received N1.2 billion loans under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). Mr Ambrose Nwabuzor, Loan Officer, Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Asaba, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency if Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba on Sunday. Nwabuzor said that the BOA secured the release of N1.2 billion to the fish farmers under the private window of the ABP. He said that the beneficiaries provided enough securities to guarantee the drawdown of the loan from the CBN. “Under the private window, we have secured the release of N1.2 billion to eight anchors that came together to form a fish farm. “Each of the anchors gave us an irrevocable post-dated cheque (security) and they profiled their farmers,” he said. He also said that the BOA was working to secure the release of another tranche of loan for the anchor off-taker in fisheries. The BOA loan officer said that the off-taker had also provided securi...

CALABAR- COSS Riv3er Basin Development Authority is cultivating rice with organic fertilizer on parcels of land acquired in both in both Cross River and Akwa Ibom States to boost food production and healthy feeding habit in the country The Managing Director of the Authority, Engineer Bassey Nkposong who stated this in Calabar at the weekend while addressing staff and stakeholders of the authority stated that the Akim Akim, Etomkpe Yellow Duke, Ijegwu communities in Cross River have donated land to the authority while one hundred hectres of land has been acquired in Essien Udim, Onna Local Government Area for integrated agricultural expansion programme for rice and other crops with the use of organic fertilizer. He said research has been conducted and found that organic fertilizer is free of chemicals and friendly to the environment which makes it suitable for healthy crop growth and soil preservation and long term usage. Engineer Okposong said four dams spread across Cross...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced its plan to support Nigeria to access Crop Insurance to mitigate the impact of climate change in the country. The President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina announced this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja. Adesina said that the bank would implement the support under its Second Climate Action Plan for 2016 to 2020. ``When it  comes to Climate Financing, what we will do is to support Nigeria, especially to have access to Crop insurance. ``A lot of pastoralist actually needs to have insurance as well because lack of access to water can become a big problem because of drought.  ``Also, I have being a big supporter of the need for the global climate financing mechanism to support countries to pay the premium to insure them against catastrophic risk. ``For example, there is a Facility, which is called Africa Risk Capacity and this is the Africa Union Facility that allows co...

Brass Fertilizer Plant in Bayelsa to generate 20,000 jobs ...Dickson grants 2 years waiver, ‎other incentives‎ YENAGOA THE Executive Vice Chairman of the Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company Ltd, Chief Ben Okoye says, the $3.6 billion fertilizer plant project is expected to generate 15,000 jobs during the construction phase of the project and 5,000 permanent employment opportunities, when completed. Chief Okoye announced this, yesterday while receiving the Certificate of Occupancy, (C of O) for the land allocated for the construction of the plant at the Brass Island, in Brass Local Government Area of the state from Governor Seriake Dickson in Government House, Yenagoa. A Government House statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa Governor, Francis Agbo, noted that the Executive Vice Chairman, who highlighted the components of the fertilizer plant, explained that, it would accommodate a Methanol, Urea Ammonia, Gas Processing Plants as well as...

My father did not want me in agriculture because he was a poor farmer--- AfDB President, Adesina When he was ushered into the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, last week, for the conferment of the 2017 World Food Prize award , Dr. Akinwumi Adesina received a standing ovation from international leaders, policy makers, farmers, executives from agribusiness , non-governmental organisations, and scientific. The award was an endorsement of his roles over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria. Dr. Adesina, , now the President of the African Development Bank, has been at the forefront of galvanizing political will to transform African agriculture through initiatives to expand agricultural production, thwart corruption in the Nigerian fertilizer industry and exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent. T...

ABUJA- THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at the weekend disclosed that Nigerian Agricultural trade has hit N261. 92 billion in second quarter of 2017, which represents 4.60 per cent. Ogbeh made the disclosure at the launch of Nigeria Agribusiness Resource Centre, NARC, in Abuja, for agricultural investment and sponsored by Africa Lead. The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Buka Hassan, said agricultural export from the country was 0.9 per cent out of the total exports in second quarter of 2017. According to him destinations of exports in the second quarter include Asia- 66.38 per cent, Europe -24.98 per cent, Americas- 4.37 per cent, Africa -3.88 per cent and the Oceania- 0.39 per cent. Agricultural commodities exported were cashew nuts, which worth N13.5 billion representing 45.4 per cent of the total agriculture exports and 1.37 per cent of total exports. "Cashew nut export to Vietnam wa...

  All is set for the evacuation of tonnes of maize to the market as participants in the Edo State government’s farm settlement scheme in Sobe, Owan West Local Government Area, have commenced harvest. The Public-Private Partnership initiative with Saro Agro Sciences Ltd., a leading company in agribusiness, was conceived by Governor Godwin Obaseki to create jobs for thousands of youths across the state. According to Obaseki, the maize farm is part of his administration’s accelerated agriculture initiative to boost job creation in the state, as between 50,000 to 80,000 agricultural jobs would be created before the end of the year in five local government areas. Speaking at the inauguration of the farm in April this year, Obaseki said maize cultivation could directly empower several youths in agribusiness. He explained that the first phase of the initiative targets job creation for 1,000 farmers through the cultivation of 5,000 hectares of maize farms across...

Scientists are now using Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) technology to speed up the propagation of clean cassava planting materials. Mr Godwin Atser, the Communication Expert of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), made this known via a news statement on Tuesday in Abuja. He said that the use of SAH technology for cassava multiplication was the brainchild of the “Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Seed System for Cassava (BASICS)’’ project. He said that the SAH technology involved the use of modified soil, holding plant roots in planting pots with little water. “Usually the trays are filled with a little amount of water and the soil transports the moisture up to the plant roots; yet the top of the soil remains relatively dry. “The roots are encouraged to grow down, and the dry soil on top discourages damp-off and other diseases caused by excess moisture,’’ he said. Dr Peter Kulakow, a cassava breeder with IITA, s...

The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had recorded tremendous achievements in agriculture. He disclosed in Abuja that the feats of the party in agriculture were, however, not adequately reported. He berated some media houses for always making headlines with negative stories while ignoring such success stories. The President of the Senate noted that in the area of rice farming and processing, Nigeria under the APC government, had risen to a point where it would soon be completely self sufficient. “You can see what the APC government is doing in agriculture but this is something we don’t talk about, the success that the APC government has made is tremendous. “Am sure in a few years time we will be self sufficient in rice and that is a major achievement for a country that is always importing rice to now get to the stage where we no longer have to import rice. “But how often do y...