One thousand farmers including the youths in Edo State will benefit from cassava programme by the state government, an official has said.
Cassava farming
Alhaji Abdullahi Oshiobugie, Edo North Coordinator, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin City, the state capital, on Sunday, January 7, 2018.
He said that the programme was in partnership with the Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Landing (NIRSAL).
He further said that in order to facilitate the commencement of the programme, the state government had paid its counterpart funds of N140 million for land preparation.
Oshiobugie also disclosed that 1,000 hectares of cassava would be cultivated by the farmers to enhance Edo’s agricultural production.
He said that the 500 hectares would be cultivated under the programme in Edo North Senatorial District of the state.
He said that the Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Aliru Momoh in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo, has also provided 500 hectares of land needed for the programme in the district.
While commending the initiator of the programme, Oshiobugie said, “We are happy now, especially when you consider that the land will be prepared for the farmers.
“Again, the beauty of the programme entails that the farmers need not bother themselves about the market for the produce as there are already available buyers under the project.
“For us in Edo North we are ready for the project as the land provided by our monarch has been surveyed and awaiting preparation by the initiators.
“We have already 150 farmers and 200 youths that will be participating in the programme in the district.
“I am sure the same can be said of Edo Central and Edo South Senatorial Districts that will also host the project,” he said.
At least 17 people have died this week in the US due to severe weather, officials have said. Six deaths were reported in Wisconsin, four in Texas, three in North Carolina, and one each in Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota and Virginia.
Florida, the Sunshine State, is among many crippled by snow and ice
More than 7,800 people along the East Coast were without power, according to reports from five states. The power outages is a major concern, especially for those in dangerously low temperatures.
The major storm that gripped the East Coast is moving away, but the Northeast is not out of the woods, it was gathered.
A one-two punch of powerful winds and bitter cold are expected on Friday, January 5, 2018 into the weekend in the East and Midwest, with temperatures plunging as low as single digit during the day, and below zero at night.
With wind chill, temperatures could be as low as -15 in New York and -25 in Boston on the weekend, according to CNN Weather.
The bomb cyclone heaped plenty of misery across the region, deluging streets in Massachusetts with icy water, dumping more than a foot of snow across eight states and knocking out power for tens of thousands.
On Thursday, the tide at Boston Harbor matched its record at 15.1 feet – previously set during the blizzard of 1978. Waves from the sea washed into Boston streets. In coastal Massachusetts, stunned residents had to flee their homes as frigid waters poured into their street and engulfed their cars in ice.
Relatively warm Florida was not spared. South Florida last saw snow 41 years ago, while other parts of the state last experienced snow 30 years ago.
Indeed, the Sunshine State is among many crippled by snow and ice along the US east coast following one of the strongest winter storms in modern history.
Freezing temperatures have caused Orlando theme parks including Disney, SeaWorld and Universal Studios to shut its aquatic attractions.
On Thursday, snow fell in Tallahassee for the first time in 28 years, according to forecasters.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted dust haze weather conditions with visibility range of three to five kilometres over the central states of the country on Saturday, January 6, 2018.
Dust haze weather
NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Friday, also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 25 to 35 and seven to 20 degrees Celsius respectively.
The agency predicted that the Southern states would experience hazy conditions over the inland cities and early morning mist/fog patches over Uyo, Ikom, Calabar, Yenegoa and Port-Harcourt with partly cloudy skies over the south-west coast.
It also predicted slim chances of localised rain showers over Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Yenegoa and Eket in the afternoon and evening hours with day and night temperatures in the range of 32 to 35 and 14 to 22 degrees Celsius respectively.
According to NiMet, Northern states will experience dust haze conditions with visibility range of one to three kilometres with day and night temperatures in the range of 27 to 30 and 11 to 18 degrees Celsius respectively.
“Observation shows that there are still dust particles in suspension over the country and the northern states are expected to be in dust haze condition with visibility range of about one to three kilometres.
“The central cities are anticipated to be in dust haze with visibility range of three to five kilometers.
“Hazy condition are envisaged over the inland cities with slim prospect for localised rain showers over some places in the coastal cities within the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicted.
The number of people killed in flooding triggered by heavy rains has risen to 44 in the Congolese capital Kinshasa.
Flooding in Kinshasa December 2015. Photo credit: BBC
“This figure remains provisional as rescue operations are ongoing,’’ Dominique Weloli, the Provincial Health Minister told newsmen on Friday, January 5, 2018.
Weloli had placed the death toll at 35 on Thursday.
“The victims were killed by collapsing walls, landslides or drowning,’’ the minister said.
Heavy rains hit Kinshasa on Thursday, starting in the early morning and continuing for hours.
Weloli said that the floods had destroyed several houses.
Electricity supplies to 10 of Kinshasa’s 24 districts had been knocked out after the Kalamu River burst its banks and flooded a high-votage electricity substation.
“The city’s poor sewage system is partly to blame for the collapsing infrastructure,’’ Weloli said.
Authorities in Zambia should quickly put in place adequate measures to contain a cholera outbreak as prolonged outbreak might have negative implications on the country’s economic prospects, analysts said on Friday, January 5, 2018.
Cholera broke out in October 2017 in Lusaka, the country’s capital
Cholera, which broke out in October 2017 in Lusaka, the country’s capital, has now been reported in other parts of the country.
According to figures from the Ministry of Health, cumulative cholera cases have now reached 2,148 countrywide, with the country’s capital accounting for 2,091 of the cases and 51 deaths.
The government has responded swiftly by closing markets, banning street vending and suspending transportation of farm produce to the capital while some fast food outlets have also been affected.
Among the closed markets is Soweto Market, a leading farm-produce distribution centre situated south of Lusaka’s central business district.
Many traders involved in small businesses in the city have been affected as they are not allowed to trade in markets and along the streets of the central business district.
On Thursday, authorities closed several food outlets in Lusaka after investigations revealed that their food had traces of vibrio cholera.
While commending the government for the measures put in place, Yusuf Dodia, chairperson of the Private Sector Development Association, said the economic prospects might be affected if businesses remain closed over a long period of time.
“Of course this is not good for business because there is no trading and if this continues, obviously it has implications,’’ he told Xinhua.
He added that already some neighbouring countries have expressed concern on the cholera outbreak and have put stringent screening measures on Zambian traders involved in cross-border trade which was also not good for the country.
Chibamba Kanyama, a local economist, said the cholera outbreak should be treated as a real crisis that might result in an economic catastrophe.
“Very soon, the limiting of public gatherings will be extended to supermarkets. Should this happen, the impact on VAT collections by Zambia Revenue Authority will be lowest this month of January,’’ he said in a posting on his Facebook page.
According to him, the economic implications of the outbreak could not be underrated as the government has been forced to divert financial resources from other planned projects to contain the outbreak.
“This is certainly not a small matter that has in the past been about statistics of how many new cases and deaths.
“It is affecting the country, including the once safe and unaffected upmarket communities. It is a matter that requires urgent, effective, collective and vigorous national response,’’ he added.
For the Zambia National Farmers Union, an umbrella body of farmers, the closure of Soweto Market has impacted negatively on farmers whose livelihoods depend on daily sales of fresh produce.
Jervis Zimba, the association’s president, said farmers have lost out in monetary gains as tons of their fresh produce has gone bad due to lack of sales following the closure of the popular market.
“We are asking the government to set up a wholesale market space exclusively to farmers that would enable them to sell their fresh produce from 06.00 a.m. to 2 p.m. to avoid further losses,’’ he said in a statement.
While commending the government for the measures taken to contain the cholera outbreak, the farmers’ body feels that the government should look into the plight of the farmers as their incomes have dwindled.
Some traders who depended on selling along the streets have also expressed concern over the banning of trading in markets and along the streets.
“The government must quickly tackle this cholera problem because we are going to die of hunger. Our families are affected because we are not selling,’’ Amos Zimba who trades in second-hand clothes said.
Senator Magnus Abe on Thursday, January 4, 2018 commended the Ogoni people in Rivers State for embracing the clean-up of their neighbourhood by the Federal Government.
Senator Magnus Abe
Abe, lawmaker representing Rivers South-East Senatorial Zone in the Senate, gave the commendation in a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Parry Benson, in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He expressed gratitude to the people of Ogoni for their steadfastness and commitment in the struggle for a fair and just country during the 2018 Ogoni Day.
“I want to congratulate the Ogoni people for their steadfastness, resilience, courage and commitment in the struggle for a fair and just country where all citizens can live meaningful lives,” he said.
Abe also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for its commitment towards the environmental cleaning exercise.
“I congratulate President Buhari for the commitment that led to the cleanup of Ogoniland and the progress made so far. It is a realisation of one of the cardinal objectives of the Ogoni struggle.
“As we go forward, let us use this day of celebration to remember those who lost their lives because of the struggle.
“Let us also use it as a day of hope; we should think well and celebrate what we have achieved; we should then prepare for better victories ahead.
“I am happy that today, our people and people from all other parts of the country came together to celebrate,’’ he said.
A town planning consultant, Mr Makinde Ogunleye, has called for a comprehensive auditing of all new and old buildings in Lagos State to curb the menace of incessant building collapse.
Luka Achi, President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP)
Ogunleye, a former Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Lagos State Chapter, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, January 5, 2018 in Lagos.
He urged the state government to urgently embark on the building audit to enable it to take appropriate steps to avert the collapse of distressed buildings.
According to him, majority of collapsed buildings in the state were dilapidated.
“Audit of building is all about conducting an integrity test on a building, to ascertain the stability of the structure.
“It will reveals the structural capacity of a building, giving the signs of dilapidation,” he said.
Ogunleye said that audit of all buildings in the state would not take more than three months to be completed, if the government could be proactive about it.
“After the audit, an immediate removal of all identified non-remedial distressed buildings, as well as structures blocking access and drainage alignment, must follow,” he said.
Ogunleye also advised the state government and residents of the state to develop maintenance culture of the buildings, saying that poor maintenance could lead to early collapse of buildings.
“If Lagosians can ensure proper maintenance and servicing of their buildings, the issue of building collapse will be curtailed,” he said.
General Manager, Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr Segun Adeniji, says the waste management challenges facing the Lagos metropolis will soon be over when the state government’s reforms take effect.
Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State
Adeniji gave the assurance on Friday, January 5, 2018 in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that the new waste management reforms were aimed at ensuring a cleaner environment in the state.
“Our waste management sector is currently undergoing a major reform. In March last year, a new bill was signed into law on the waste management sector, producing a single legislation that covers the entire environment sector in the state.
“That same law has made LAWMA a regulatory body, as against the time when LAWMA was only carrying out 90 per cent operations and 10 per cent regulations.
“From this year henceforth, all operations will be carried out by a competent body called Visionscape International, and the agency will handle all waste and refuse issues,” he said.
Adeniji said that 35 per cent of the equipment required for the onset of waste evacuation in the Lagos metropolis had arrived.
According to him, the company will commence the clearing of waste in a fortnight with the available equipment.
“We will soon start living under the conditions of a new programme called the `Cleaner Lagos Initiative’ (CLI) in the next few weeks when the equipment rolls out.
“The little challenges we are facing now are due to the withdrawal of services by the Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators, who had issues with the state government because of the new reform about to take place, which made them stop collecting the waste.
“The residents, too, were not cooperating by paying their dues for refuse collection services but I assure the residents that pockets of refuse seen here and there will be a thing of the past once the CLI becomes operational very soon.
“There will be a little pain for us to get a greater joy,” he added.
Adeniji said that dumpsites were being prepared for the new reform programme, while reconstruction works were underway at the Epe dumpsite.
“In the next few months, two dumpsites will be constructed in Ikorodu and Badagry for effective waste disposal services,” he said.
He called on Lagos residents to exercise more patience, as intervention trucks had started going round to evacuate the waste which was generated during the recent festive period.
The Managing Director of Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Mr Muminu Badmus, on Friday, January 5, 2018 urged Lagosians to imbibe the culture of water conservation.
Access to potable water remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Photo credit: vanguardngr.com
Badmus gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that the global water scarcity threat necessitates wise usage of water by consumers.
According to him, any consumer that uses water wisely will appreciate the metering system the corporation has adopted to protect the interest of residents.
”The metering system has made water consumers to be aware of how much the corporation charges per cubic meter, which is equivalent to 1000 litres.
”For clarity, low density areas pay N200, high density areas, N250 and commercial users N350 per cubic meters respectively.
”This is the cheapest rate you can find in any country,” he said.
Badmus said that the Corporation has metered about 32,000 properties in the first phase of the exercise.
According to him, 24,000 pre-paid meters, 6,000 old meters and 2,000 mechanical meters have been installed in Lekki axis, Victoria Island Annex, Surulere, Omole and Ikeja among others.
Badmus said that the metering of houses would continue to other communities not yet covered once there was delivery of additional meters.
He enjoined the residents not yet metered not to relent in paying their water bills.
The managing director said that those metered would be recharging their cards when they run out of water.
Badmus said that the corporation was working relentlessly to have potable water to supply to areas not yet covered in its network.
Agriculture experts have identified dearth of irrigation systems, lack of political will, policy inconsistency and paucity of funds as some of the major factors militating against all-year round farming in Nigeria.
Dr Adetunji Oredipe, World Bank Task Team Leader for the FADAMA III Programme
Mr Ike Ubaka, an agriculturist, says that Nigeria is endowed with vast arable lands, favourable weather as well as abundance of water and river basin resources that could stimulate and facilitate all-year round farming activities.
He, however, says that in spite of these advantages, the country predominantly engages in rain-fed agriculture and one seasonal farming period which, unfortunately, cannot satisfy the food needs of the citizenry.
“Lack of rain during the dry season hinders agricultural production, while the lack of water management systems across the country hinders the ability of farmers to engage in all-year round farming.
“If the irrigation systems and access roads in the country are improved, it will boost agricultural production and encourage mechanised farming,’’ he says.
Ubaka says the vital instruments that will promote all-year round farming are not in place because of the lack of political will to implement policies and the failure to adopt modern farming technologies to speed up crop multiplication.
“The challenges also include shortage of labourers, inadequate markets, natural disasters and ecological challenges such as desertification, among others,’’ he says.
He cites a report of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) which indicated that over 3.6 million hectares were seriously affected by desertification in about 100 countries, Nigeria inclusive.
Ubaka emphasises that desertification is having a negative impact on biological diversity, soil fertility, hydrological cycle and crop yield, as well as livestock production.
Ubaka says that the desertification has also increased pressures on land, while poverty is often aggravated by increasingly recurrent droughts.
He notes that the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), which are created by the Federal Government to harness Nigeria’s water resources and optimise its agricultural resources to attain food self-sufficiency, have all failed to lived up to their expectations.
Ubaka says that the 11 RBDAs, which were established on Aug 27, 1976 to promote fishery development, both commercial and small-scale, have also failed in that regard.
He says that the main goals behind the establishment of the RBDAs have largely remained unfulfilled 42 years after, as the units have not lived up to their expectations to contribute to the nation’s food security.
“Besides, the river basins have not reduced the country’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture to stimulate all-year round farming,’’ he says.
The RBDAs include Sokoto-Rima Basin, Sokoto; Hadejia-Jema’are Basin, Kano; the Lake Chad Basin, Maiduguri; the Upper Benue Basin, Yola; the Lower Benue Basin, Makurdi and the Cross River Basin, Calabar.
Others are the Anambra-Imo Basin, Owerri; the Niger Basin, Ilorin; the Niger Delta Basin, Port Harcourt; the Benin-Owena Basin, Benin City and the Oshun-Ogun Basin, Abeokuta.
Dr Adetunji Oredipe, the World Bank FADAMA Team Leader, underscores the need for Nigeria to engage in all-year round farming in order to feed its growing population.
He, nonetheless, says that efforts to improve all-year round agriculture in the country will require the adoption of long-term strategies and new methods of working with partners, private sector agencies and other stakeholders.
Oredipe also attributes the inability of the country to attain food security to the lack of good policies and comprehensive strategies for land management operations.
“The operations include efforts to strengthen policies and capacity to raise farm yields, promote market access among farmers and improve overall management of the country’s rapidly expanding agriculture industry.
“Nigeria has an enormous opportunity to promote a vibrant, competitive and technology-propelled agricultural sector, which today employs 70 per cent of its population,’’ he says.
Oredipe says that many of the basic amenities that will promote the development of agriculture are still lacking in Nigeria, thereby hampering the country’s agricultural development.
He notes that paucity of funds has also prevented most farmers from going into commercial agriculture and all-year round farming.
He emphasises that most banks often fail to consider the gestation periods of agricultural production when giving loans to farmers, adding that this had been a major impediment.
The FADAMA team leader also says that financial constraints like off-putting collateral for loans and high-digit interest rates on loans have forced many farmers to engage in a single round of farming every year.
He says that the lack of good access roads to farms has forced many farmers to be at the mercy of exploitative middlemen who choose to buy produce from the farmers at give-away prices.
Oredipe stresses that the surest way to guarantee the country’s food security is to encourage all-year round farming, while ensuring stability in food prices.
Dr Tunde Arosanyin, National Coordinator of Zero Hunger Commodities, says that the country’s Land Use Act is one of the factors militating against all-year round farming.
He says that most of the country’s crop growing ventures take place on small parcels of land which are cultivated by smallholder farmers who produce over 90 per cent of the country’s food output.
Arosanyin says that the smallholder farmers habitually adopt traditional manual methods of farming and have little or no means to invest in fertilisers, irrigation facilities or equipment that would facilitate their efforts to go into all-year round farming.
“The nation’s 50 million farmers have only around 30,000 tractors between them; they are, therefore, unable to produce enough food to feed Nigeria’s huge population,’’ he says.
Arosanyin also says that the consequences of climate change are a major challenge facing efforts to engage in all-year round crop growing.
He urges the government to collaborate with local and international agencies to come up with improved crop varieties that can fast-track efforts to boost the country’s food production and ensure its food security.
Arosanyin, however, insists that there so many gaps still exist between farmers, research institutes and extension workers.
An agricultural expert, Mr African-Farmer Mogaji, says that even though Nigeria has long been recognised for its two farming seasons, the government has yet to re-establish this and spur all-year round farming in the country.
He underscores the need for the government to invest in projects that are aimed at correcting the country’s infrastructural deficits in order to put in place an environment that is conducive to all-year round agriculture.
Mogaji, who is also an agricultural consultant, says that if the country’s infrastructural deficits are duly rectified, agriculture will become more attractive to the citizens, particularly the youth.
He adds that it will also encourage more people to develop interest in agriculture and value chain development projects.
“Government must develop value chain systems and institutions that can drive competitiveness and job creation in the agricultural sector by using a market development approach,’’ he says.
Another agricultural expert, Mr Obasanjo Fasunla, says that the problems of agriculture in Nigeria include soil infertility, paucity of infrastructure and reliance on imported foods, which causes strains on local farmers and discourages all-year round farming.
He says that the inability of most farmers to have sufficient funds to engage in farm expansion or mechanised farming projects has also affected agriculture and food production in the country.
He says that certain factors such as unstable power supply, inadequate farm machines and bad road networks are also affecting agricultural production i the country.
Fasunla urges the government and other stakeholders to take due advantage of the World Bank classification and report on commercial agriculture which categorised Nigeria as an agriculture-based country.
He also says that Nigeria has vast arable lands that can be cultivated to produce several kinds of crops throughout the year to feed its citizens, without any recourse to food imports.
“The Nigerian population is yet another factor that can help promote agriculture; if the country’s youths are encouraged to go into farming, it will be an added advantage.
“The country also has adequate rainfall and extensive coastal region that is highly rich in fish and other marine products.
“Agriculture is very vital to the country’s economy, as it provides livelihoods for a larger percentage of the citizenry.
“Agriculture has contributed a lot to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while providing 88 per cent of the country’s non-oil earnings,’’ he said.
