Economy
NGO Trains 150 Kaduna Residents on Climate Smart Agriculture
The Care and Action Research Non-Governmental Organisation (CaRE-NGO) has trained 150 residents of Sabon Tasha, Kaduna on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), urban agriculture, and home gardening.
Prof. Bala Dogo, the Coordinator of the project, said at the opening of the training in Kaduna on Thursday that the goal was to empower the community with smart agriculture techniques for food production.
Dogo said that the training was supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-Small Grant Programme (SGP) Nigeria and was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme.
He said that the GEF-SGP Nigeria launched in 2009, supports non-governmental and community-based organisations in the country to protect the environment, while generating sustainable livelihoods for the poor and the marginalised.
According to him, CSA is an approach that guides actions to transform agricultural systems to effectively support development in communities and ensure food security in changing climate.
“While urban agriculture is the practice of farming within the boundaries of towns or cities,” he said.
He said that the participants would be trained on CSA, urban agriculture, roof-top farming, raising of seedlings, land preparation for heaps using sacks, local chicken production, and dry season farming of vegetables.
“Other areas include grass cutter, rabbit and snail farming, fertilizer production from eggshells, yam cultivation in sacks and other forms of agricultural practices in available spaces in homes.
“After the training, the 150 trainees, made up of youths and women groups, farmers associations and tribal unions, will come up with action plans, and would be expected to train others.
“CaRE-NGO CSA Resource Centre will supervise their activities and provide the needed guidance and technical support,” he said.
Dogo said that CSA, urban and home gardening would provide a huge opportunity for farming households to sustain food production in little spaces in their homes and urban centres, while protecting the climate and the environment.
“We at CaRE-NGO want people in the Sabon Tasha community to know that within the little space in and around their houses, they can do a lot of farming activities using climate smart agriculture.
“With little space and water households can produce vegetables, grow fruit trees, keep grasscutters, rabbits, fish, poultry, pigs, goats and other livestock.
“Water from the fishpond can be used to water the garden, chicken drops to feed the fishes, while dung from livestock can be used as organic fertilizer for backyard garden or greenhouse,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NGO unveiled a Greenhouse constructed and demonstrated how to produce all kinds of vegetables and nurseries for fruit trees and other crops.
The NGO also inaugurated a borehole constructed and donated to it and its host community by GEF-SGP Nigeria. (NAN)
The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) continued its bullish trend on Wednesday, gaining N183 billion.
Accordingly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N59.532 trillion, gained N184 billion or 0.31 per cent to close at N59.715 trillion.
The All-Share Index also added 0.31 per cent or 303 points, to settle at 98,509.
68, against 98,206. 97 recorded on Tuesday.Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased to 31.
74 per cent.Gains in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, United Bank For Africa(UBA), Oando Plc, Nigerian Breweries among other advanced equities drove the market performance up.
Market breadth closed positive with 34 gainers and 17 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, Africa Prudential, Conoil and RT Briscoe led by 10 per cent each to close at N14.30, N352 and N2.42 per share, respectively.
Golden Guinea Breweries followed by 9.95 per cent to close at N7.18, while NEM Insurance rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N10.70 per share.
On the other hand, Julius Berger led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N155.25, Secure Electronic Technology Plc trailed by 9.52 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Multiverse lost 7.63 per cent to close at N5.45, Haldane McCall dropped 6.07 per cent to close at N4.95 and Honeywell Flour shed 5.62 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 49.44 per cent.
A total of 320.10 million shares valued at N6.48 billion were exchanged in 7,943 deals, compared with 939.41 million shares valued at N12.81billion traded in 9,098 deals posted in the previous session.
Meanwhile, ETranzact led the activity chart in volume with 70.27 million shares, while Aradel led in value of deals worth N1.22 billion.(NAN)
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the Yuan, weakened 22 pips to 7.1870 against the dollar on Monday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreign exchange market, the Yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the Yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
Arewa Youths Initiative for Energy Reforms (AYIFER), has urged Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to do everything possible to bring Kaduna Refinery back into operation.
National Coordinator of the group, Mr Bashir Al’Amin, stated this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.
Al’Amin specifically called on the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari, to do all within his powers to rejuvenate the refinery and bring it up to global standard.
He said that having delivered the Port Harcourt refinery, coupled with the establishment of Dangote Refinery in Lagos, attention should be shifted to Kaduna refinery for easy spread of petroleum products.
“We are calling on Malam Mele Kyari to expedite action on Kaduna refinery so we can be at par with other regions in the country.
“We equally beg the NNPCL to do professional work in rehabilitating the old refinery and deliver a standard and functional petrochemical refinery and not a blending plant.
“Kyari should resist any temptation that could make him do something that can jeopardise his good image,” he said.
Al’Amin said that since the extinction of groundnut pyramid and textiles in Kano State as well as PAN in Kaduna State and with the Kaduna refinery getting moribund, a lot of youths had lost their jobs.
According to him, all their hopes in the north are tied to the legacy refinery, expressing the hope that God would use Kyari to deliver it well and on time.
He said that the group was solidly behind NNPCL in prayer and would be ready to celebrate the company if its expectations were met. (NAN)
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