Agric & Biotech

The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has concluded a two-day induction training course on Biosafety Administration which reportedly aimed at increasing the functionality of the Nigerian biosafety system. Director General/CEO of the Agency, Dr. Rufus Ebegba, stated in his opening remarks that the induction would help the staff learn how to effectively execute the regulatory powers of the Agency. Dr. ...

As part of efforts to improve capacity of its staff to regulate the application of modern biotechnology in the country, the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 began a three-day risk assessment and risk management training for scientific officers of the Agency. NBMA Director General/CEO, Dr Rufus Ebegba, while opening the training in Abuja, said that ...

In move towards attaining self-sufficiency in sugar production through the government’s backward integration policy, the Dangote Group, on Wednesday, August 23, 2017 in Minna, Niger State, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government for the establishment of a $450 million state-of–art and fully integrated sugar complex. On completion, the project will, according to the President of the ...

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a pan-African civil society platform championing food sovereignty in Africa, on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 called for an immediate ban on the importation into South Africa of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) maize destined for human consumption. The AFSA has rejected and condemned US corporation Monsanto’s plan “to exploit millions of Africans as ...

As human population continues to inch towards infinity, the energy needs of households for domestic heating have more than doubled over the last few years. Fossil fuel derivatives and wood sourced mainly from the forests are options widely available to Nigerian households to service their energy budget. However, the current economic realities and occasional scarcity of fossil fuel derivatives, such ...

Participants at a two-day Nutrition Workshop for Local Government Actors organised by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Synergos for the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA) programme in Benue State have advocated for an all-inclusive agriculture practice that will support nutrition. Speaking on the first day of the workshop on Friday, August 18, 2017 at the Conference Hall of Trust ...

The Government of Nigeria says five fertiliser blending plants will be revived by the end of August to complement the existing 11 under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI). According to Mr Thomas Etuh, President, Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) who said this in Lagos on Wednesday during a facility tour of ENL terminal and Tak Logistics warehouses at ...

As part of efforts to ensure a smooth National Biosafety Conference, the Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, on Tuesday, August 15, 2017 in Abuja inaugurated the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the conference, which is the third in the series. The DG/CEO charged the Committee to be up and doing in order to properly show ...

For 26-year-old Ms. Nneka Eze, empowerment comes from within. “My dream ever since I was a student was to own a big farm, my own farm, called ‘Nekky’s Farm,’ which will even export outside the country,” said Eze. “My country, Nigeria, will be a place where we produce food in abundance. This is my passion. It is a goal I ...

Highlighting how subsidies can lead to degradation, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Erik Solheim, says that besides lowering the cost of consumption of certain products and leading to overconsumption, subsidies draw more investment to industries than the market would otherwise support Something is destroying our forests. In tropical regions alone, we lose an area of forest the ...