West Africa has unprecedented opportunities for agricultural growth, but making the most of them will require more effective regional integration, says a new report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

“Nigeria farmers have not had it well in terms of having a farmer as their minister that will pilot affairs of the ministry and having rural farmers at heart when making policies.

As the Dangote group plans to invest over $200m in the area of Rice and Sugar production in Jigawa state, the the President of the group of companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has called on governments at all level to focus on agriculture. Speaking during an interactive session with journalists in the Dutse, Aliko Dangote said agriculture is a sustainable means of economic development and growth for the country.

THE Registrar,Veterinary Council of Nigeria, VCN, Dr. Marcus Avong, has disclosed that the proposed N300 million veterinary specialist hospital will boost human capital development in agricultural sector. Avong disclosed this in Abuja while explaining the huge expectations from the livestock sub-sector, which people rely on for food, job creation, and revenue generation.

A total of N738 billion worth of agricultural products were imported into the country in the first quarter of 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest foreign trade reports. Agricultural imports increased by N132.1 billion or 21.8 percent from N606 billion in Q1 2014 to N738 billion in Q1 2015, the data show.

One question on the lips of many followers of the African Development Bank (AfDB) before its just concluded 50th Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire last week was who will come top in the development bank’s Presidential elections. The question became imperative because of the gripping nature of the race and the lobbying that followed the high level power play against the credentials of the eight candidates that vied for the position.

Olam management has re-instated its commitments to helping Nigeria advance its journey to self sufficiency in rice production by bridging the gap in local production and importation. This is coming on the heels of the company call for caution in the handling of excessive import duties and levies on rice as it might lead to smuggling of cheaper rice from neighbouring countries which will be counter productive to the protection of domestic rice producers and local rice investors.

Fertilizer suppliers who participated under the Federal ministry of Agriculture’s Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) are appealing to the government to redeem the N52 billion (Fifty Two Billion Naira) being the subsidy portion they are being owed by both the Federal and State Governments. The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) is a Federal government initiative to actualise the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). It is also aimed at subsidising the costs of major agricultural inputs, such as fertiliser and seedlings for farmers.

Fertilizer suppliers who participated under the Federal ministry of Agriculture’s Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) are appealing to the government to redeem the N52 billion (Fifty Two Billion Naira) being the subsidy portion they are being owed by both the Federal and State Governments. The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) is a Federal government initiative to actualise the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). It is also aimed at subsidising the costs of major agricultural inputs, such as fertiliser and seedlings for farmers.

Olam management has re-instated its commitments to helping Nigeria advance its journey to self sufficiency in rice production by bridging the gap in local production and importation. This is coming on the heels of the company call for caution in the handling of excessive import duties and levies on rice as it might lead to smuggling of cheaper rice from neighbouring countries which will be counter productive to the protection of domestic rice producers and local rice investors.

ABUJA-THE government Poland has concluded plans to partner with Nigeria in fish production in order to achieve self sufficiency in producing the commodity. This was disclosed by the Deputy Minister of Economy of Poland, Andrzej Dycha, during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in Abuja.

The Ogun state government has entered into partnership with the British-American Tobacco Nigerian Foundation (BATNF) on human capacity development and materials empowerment of women poultry farmers in the three senatorial districts. Speaking at the certificates presentation for the first set of women farmers who were trained on poultry value chain in Abeokuta, general manager, British-American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) , Abimbola Okoya, declared that the foundation was established with the vision to reduce poverty in Nigeria Communities, targeting all divisions within the state.

Members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, has called on the Federal government to stem the tide of smuggled poultry products into the country as over 1.2 million metric tons of poultry product estimated at about 2.75 billion dollars get into the country illegally annually. Speaking at the 3rd edition of the Nigeria Poultry Summit, President of the association, Dr. Ayoola Oduntan disclosed that the continued smuggling of poultry products is depriving the country foreign exchange and job opportunities for Nigerians.

THE Management of Ikeja Electric has blamed the current very poor power supply situation across its network to low power allocation from the National Grid. The Chief Executive Officer, of the distribution company, Mr. Abiodun Ajifowobaje, was quoted as saying in a statement that in the last one week, the average power allocation to Ikeja Electric is 350 megawatts, MW, against minimum load demand of 1,250MW.

Many may have given up that the bill on Biosafety will be passed by the 7th National Assembly not to talk of being signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan before he leaves office on May 29, 2015. But all that doubts changed when the National Assembly passed the bill and it was signed by President Goodluck Jonathan the National Biosafety Agency Bill into law on Monday, April 21, 2015.