Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 21
ICCO urges Nigerian manufacturers to explore cocoa potential T
HE International Cocoa Coordina tion Organisation (ICCO) has urged Nigerian manufacturers to explore the potentialities of cocoa so as to produce more cocoa-based goods. The ICCO Project Coordinator, Mr Yunusa Abubakar, who made the appeal, said that the measure would improve the benefits of cocoa farmers in the country. Abubakar said that there was the need for researchers to do more in the area of cocoa products that could be adaptable to the tropics as most cocoa products could not be stored for a long time in the region. He said cocoa was mostly produced in West Africa, but widely consumed in Europe and America. “Our researchers and manufacturers should step up efforts to tap into cocoa properly and produce more local beverages from it. We can increase the benefits farmers get from cocoa by encouraging local consumption. If we do that, it will increase demand and there will be competition between domestic and international demand to the point that it could. When the demand is higher than supply, it will
help maintain prices and that will improve farmers income generating capacity.’’ Yunusa lamented that in Africa, where 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa was produced, there was high level of poverty among cocoa farmers because of the lack of skills and low productivity. He said that the annual production of
cocoa in Nigeria, which previously witnessed a decline was picking up, with a 240 tonnes per annum at present. According to him, the Federal Government, the ICCO and the Cocoa Association of Nigeria are making frantic efforts to increase the tonnage. The ICCO project coordinator said the organisation was also working to
increase the market access of Nigerian cocoa by improving its quality and considering safety concerns. A delegation from ICCO had on May 22, visited Dr Samuel Ortom, the Minister of State, Trade and Investment, to seek support for cocoa producers in West Africa.
Agric Transformation: FG to phase out wild palm trees — Official
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MPROVED palm tree seedlings will be introduced to replace the wild varieties under the palm oil value chain programme of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). Dr Dickson Okolo, the team leader and Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, disclosed this in Abuja. Okolo said: “We are meeting with the states. Any state that accepts the removal of one wild palm tree will be given two improved seedlings.” According to him, about 2.1 million hectares of palms trees are in the forest and are not productive. The wild palms trees are not improved varieties; we are working on replacing them with the improved varieties.’’ He, however, said that the wild palms trees would be phased out only after three years, when it is expected that the improved seedlings would have started bearing fruits. Okolo expressed regret that Nigeria imports nearly 300,000 tonnes of palm oil every year to meet the nation’s local needs. “If we have the need for palm oil, we should produce. That is what other countries do. It is demand that drives supply. It is unhealthy for us to import palm oil; we need to go back and start planting.’’ He said that Nigeria may never develop, if it continued to import palm oil. Under the ATA, Okolo said that a total of 240, 000 hectares would be added to the existing hectares of palm trees from 2012 to 2015, to increase the country’s palm oil production. “What we have currently is 350,000 hectares; we are raising nine million improved seedlings to be planted on 60,000 hectares in 2013. C M Y K
From right: Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide; Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and Chairperson, Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Senator Helen Esuene, at the Gender Policy Dialogue organised by the World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID), in Abuja.
Global youth unemployment hits 75m, says ILO …Nigeria, other sub-Sahara Africa account for 11.5 percent BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
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LOBAL youth unemployment including Nigerians between aged 15 and 24, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, has said, is now over 75 million. ILO in a “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012” report just released, said the global youth unemployment rate for 2012 remained stuck at crisis peak levels and was not expected to come down until at least 2016. In a statement by ILO’s Guebray Berhane, Senior Communication and Public Information Officer, Regional Office for Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said there had been four million more jobless youth since 2007. According to the statement, “Projections show 12.7 per cent of the global youth labour force will be unemployed this year, unchanged from the peak of the crisis in 2009, and slightly up from last year’s 12.6 per cent, the report says. The rate would even be higher if one takes into account those who - often discouraged by the lack of prospects - give up or postpone looking for a job. The
adjusted rate would put the global youth unemployment rate at 13.6 per cent in 2011. In terms of global numbers, there will be nearly 75 million unemployed youth aged 15 to 24 in 2012, an increase of nearly 4 million since 2007.” “In North Africa, youth unemployment rose by 5 percentage points following the Arab Spring, leaving 27.9 per cent of young people jobless in 2011. In the Middle East the rate was of 26.5 per cent. In SubSaharan Africa, the rate, at 11.5 per cent in 2011, has been fairly stable since 2005. Globally and in most regions, the crisis had a stronger impact on youth unemployment rates among women than men. The difference was particularly strong in North Africa, while in developed economies, the impact was stronger for young men. Many young people are trapped in low-productivity, temporary or other types of work that don’t pave the way for better jobs. In developed economies, youth are increasingly employed in temporary and part-time jobs while in the developing world
many perform unpaid work supporting informal family businesses or farms.”
166.35
-8.15
2,12.00
-67.00
19.51
-0.29
105.51
-2.90
89.88
-1.97
CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING CFA KRONER EURO POUNDS RIYAL SDR FRANC DOLLAR WAUA YEN RENMINBI
0.2817 26.5721 197.5055 244.5343 41.2489 236.1186 164.3472 154.7 235.6595 1.9364 24.4642
0.2917 26.658 198.1439 245.3247 41.3823 236.8818 164.8784 155.2 236.4212 1.9427 24.5437
0.3017 26.7438 198.7822 246.115 41.5156 237.6449 165.4095 155.7 237.1828 1.9489 24.6232
CBN Exchange rate as at 24/05/2012