The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that the prices of staple foods such as beans, tomatoes, and yams have surged by an average of 122 percent within twelve months from September 2023 to September 2024. This surge, the NBS Selected Food Prices Watch report for September 2024 said, was highest in South East,…
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that Nigeria has an estimated two million ‘zero-dose’ children, who are substantially at risk of contracting diseases like polio, due to lack of vaccination. The Chief of the UNICEF Field Office in Kano, Rahama Farah made this known at the commemoration of World Polio Day. He lamented…
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday emphasised that relying solely on dairy imports while neglecting livestock farming was a mistake his administration is committed to fixing. He expressed concern that the sector’s neglect has cost Nigeria a staggering $1.5bn and pledged to restore confidence in the industry. At the two-day Consultative Workshop on Livestock Reforms held…
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), in a joint initiative with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced that they empowered 311 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the Feed the Future initiative. Over the past four years, this effort has improved agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers, according to Minister…
The Niger State Government launched an initiative to supply farmers with agricultural inputs for dry season farming, aiming to boost food supply and monitor productivity using GPS coordination. The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Musa Bawa Bosso, stated that applicants must provide accurate and verifiable details, including name, gender, date of birth, phone number, and…
The Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) announced its readiness to train farmers in vegetable production, focusing on the F1 species of bell pepper. Professor Ayo Olalusi, the team lead for vegetable production in the university, explained that the process involves planting and nurturing this hybrid variety, which offers several advantages over traditional types. During…
BUA Foods Plc and Dangote Sugar Plc collectively incurred a significant expenditure of N661.06bn on input costs in the first half of 2024, marking a substantial 137.74 per cent increase from the N278.06bn spent during the corresponding period in 2023. This input cost represents 90.38 per cent of the total cost of sales, which amounted…
Rivers State Commissioner for Agriculture, Engr Victor Kii has reiterated the need for farmers to grow more food to avoid food shortage in the future. According to Rebecca Anumaka, Press officer of the ministry, the Commissioner said this at the just concluded meeting of Commissioners of Agriculture in the six BRACED States of Bayelsa ,…
The Kwara state government has announced that over one million children across the 16 local government areas of the state will be vaccinated under the Polio Vaccination Campaign. The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Nusirat Elelu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Ilorin during the implementation of a three-day Local…
The House of Representatives has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide an additional $3bn to the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL). The lawmakers said the fund would be used to finance agricultural lending to enhance efforts at combating food insecurity in the country. The member representing Idemili North/Idemili South…
