‘We have cultivated over 5,000 hectares with cowpeas’

Mr. Sunday Wabba

Internally Displaced Persons are now one of the common features of the Nigerian horizon. Associated with them are hunger and deprivations in the camps. However, of recent, a quiet agrarian revolution is going on  and the arrowhead of this revolution, Mr. Sunday Wabba, founder of Smile Again African Initiative chatted with Food-Farm News on the changes  and other issues. Excerpts.

NDE to provide 800, 000 Jobs through Agriculture

youth farmer

As part of efforts to complement the Federal Government’s diversification policy, the National Directorate of Employment has disclosed plans to create over 800, 000 jobs in the Agricultural sector.

Climate Change, Labor, and Transportation Under a Trump Administration

Trump Administration

The current picks for cabinet members of the incoming Trump administration are likely to have a substantial influence on policy across the board, with notable change afoot for food, agriculture, and the environment. President-elect Donald Trump announced Andrew Puzder as his choice for Secretary of Labor.

Promoting Soil Carbon Sequestration: An Interview with Kiss the Ground

Lauren Tucker is the Executive Director at Kiss the Ground

Lauren Tucker is the Executive Director at Kiss the Ground, an organization based in Venice, CA. Established in 2013, Kiss the Ground is a nonprofit organization with the mission of “We can do this!” This simple phrase stems from the idea that eaters and farmers have the science and technology to balance the climate and recreate our food system, but everyone needs to feel hopeful and catalyze diverse community solutions. Because of this concept, everything that Kiss the Ground does has an underlying message of a hopeful future.

CBN approves N75 Billion Loan to Farmers under NIRSAL

CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the disbursement of about N75 billion as loan to farmers in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing in Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).

Nigeria must return to agriculture says ex-president Obasanjo

Olusegun Obasanjo

Nigeria must return to agriculture in order to get out of recession. This was expressed by former president Olusegun Obasanjo at a seminar held in  Abuja.

Cross River invests more in rice production

Governor Ben Ayade

*creats employment for 22,000 youths

Amidst great expectations of the people of Cross River, Governor Ben Ayade has launched Cross River State into the current rice revolution as to further reposition the future of the state  and the nation's economy through the diversification from oil and tourism to other sources of revenue generation; especially agriculture and solid minerals. 

Action-Oriented Research for Jamaican Farmers: Interview with the Winners of the BCFN YES Competition

researcher

 

Jamaican researchers Shaneica Lester and Anne-Teresa Birthwright recently won the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition’s YES Competition, which will provide support for their project centered around small farmers’ exploration of various climate-adaptive irrigation strategies. Food Tank had the chance to speak with Lester and Birthwright about the motivations behind their work and the results they hope their project will generate.

Nigeria: CBN, Heritage Bank Fund N2 Billion Aquaculture Projects

Aquaculture Projects

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with Heritage Bank PLC has provided a N2 billion long term facility to aquaculture businesses under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), to Triton Aqua Africa Ltd (TAAL). This is in furtherance of efforts to support the real sector and unlock food potentials.

‘In Cameroon and Brazil they are already adding 20 percent cassava flour to their bread, only Nigerian factor is stopping Nigeria.’

Pastor Segun Adewunmi

Pastor Segun Adewunmi is the president  of National Cassava Association. In this interview on AIT Business Economy, spoke on the various uses of cassava as an industrial and food crop; in terms of food security and as biofortified crop because it is versatile (it can grow in several climatic conditions including areas that experience prolonged dry spells); how commercialization of high value products from it can be done at a small scale, with high quality cassava flour being the main product traded; that cassava has some major industrial products which are also  raw materials in the manufacture of some products; and finally, the possibility of cassava  triggering a revolution with nearly all parts of Nigeria can have industries based on the crop. Excerpts: