Egg Powder, Instant Pounded Yam Flour From IBBU

A hungry man is an angry man, says a popular adage and one can only
imagine what an angry man is capable of doing. There is absolute
need for the world to be food secure. To this end, scientists at Lapai,
Niger State-based Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, IBBU’s
Centre for Applied Sciences & Technology Research: Food Science &
Technology Programme, came up with innovations aimed at preserving
and adding value to agricultural produce. They spoke with Vanguard
Learning at the 6th National Universities Research and Development
Fair held at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka in March. Although
Nigeria produces a lot of food during the farming season, over 50% of
the produce is lost due to lack of proper storage facilities.
Excerpts:

Ministry of Agriculture Says Youths In Agric Will Benefit From FG’s 2016 Empowerment

The Lagos State office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has said that youths in agriculture would benefit from the 2016 empowerment starting soon. Mrs Abiodun James, an official of FMARD, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos. James made the observation on the sidelines of the election of executives of the Association of Youth for Unity in Agriculture (AYUA). She said that some of the members of the association had benefited from the FMARD’s empowerment and promised that with an updated data, other members would be contacted in the future. Mrs. James assured that whenever the Federal Government has anything for the farmers, they will contact them because we have their data. She said some of them have benefited from the ministry over the years, especially under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). “There was a time they were given fertilisers, feeds, seeds, people in aquaculture were given juveniles and feeds and those in the poultry business sector were given feeds also” she added. AYUA’s President-Elect, Mr Temitope Odetola, who spoke on behalf of the elected officers, said that they would do their best to serve as examples to woo other youths into agriculture. Odetola appreciated the state and federal ministries of agriculture for their support and appealed to them to do more as agriculture was becoming the main stay of the country’s economy.

Nigeria has capacity to Produce Enough Rice For West Africa

Mr Abraham Odoom, Policy Advisor, Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) says Nigeria has the capacity to produce enough rice for consumption in the West African Sub-region.

Odoom stated this at the formal inauguration of the Nigerian Rice Policy Advocacy Platform in Kano, Kano State on Thursday.

He said based on empirical evidence on ground, two states in Nigeria could produce the required rice to feed the West African Sub-region without necessarily importing the commodity. He said Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings has been taking heavy toll due to importation of rice.

Odoom described Nigeria as a blessed nation with abundant arable land and water for massive production of rice.

He said with the appalling slump in oil prices, it would be absolutely necessary for the country to promote the importation of rice.

“The issue of unemployment can be effectively tackled if the much needed leverage is secured by indigenous farmers willing to prove their worth on rice production,” Odoom said.

He said CARI was ready to conduct its activity on rice production and rice value chain, based on research as a way of creating adequate awareness among farmers.

Odoom said that with the required indices taken into cognizance, the future of rice production in the state is bright.

Earlier in his remarks, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Nasir Gawuna, said the state government would continue to give special attention to agriculture to boost food production.

Gawuna was represented at the occasion by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Hajiya Binta Rabiu.

The commissioner said the state government had recently given Rice Farmers Association in the state N1billion soft loan to enhance rice production.