Livestock Training School in Pictures

Seeing is believing

http://fmi.gov.ng/latest/44616/

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Agriculture On A Roundtable - NESG

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) has held a
consultation forum for stakeholders in the agriculture sector
to ensure that Nigeria contributes to the United Nations'
Global Compact initiative on sustainable agriculture business
principles.
The event which held at the NESG Summit House in Lagos had
participants drawn from the academia, production, finance,
processing and distribution in attendance to brainstorm on
how global decisions affect their practice in the agriculture
sector and make contributions towards the finalization of the
UN's Global Compact white paper on sustainable agriculture
business principles
The Director General of the NESG, Mr Frank Nweke Junior,
said that the contributions of industry players from within
Nigeria would form part of the content of the white paper and
help sustain the policy initiatives of Government and engage
the private sector in ensuring the implementation of policies in
the agriculture sector.
The 16 factors identified by the participants include amongst
others; workers' rights, land use and rights, climate change,
biodiversity, protecting children, health and nutrition, supply
chains and trade, value chain financing, yield and productivity,
small-scale farmers and co-operatives, as well as institutions
and infrastructure all of which if properly harnessed will bring
desired outcomes.
It would be recalled that, for the first time, the recently held
19th Economic Summit entirely focused on agriculture,
against the backdrop that it contributes over 40% to Nation's
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employs majority of
Nigerians, but the country still spends huge sums in foreign
exchange, importing food annually, hence the need to improve
the lot of the sector.

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Nigeria food imports reducing — FG

The quantity of food imported into Nigeria has continued to
drop on a yearly basis, the Federal Government has said.

It said efforts by indigenous farmers were yielding meaningful
results as most foods consumed in the country were produced
locally.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, gave the
report on Tuesday and stressed that Nigeria was doing well in
its bid to ensure adequate food security.
She said, "Nigeria is trying and one way to measure that in
economics is to look at the amount of food imports over the
years.

"The statistics we have show that food import is going down
and this means that domestically, Nigeria is trying to cover up
most of the imported foods. This, therefore, points to the fact
that we are doing more in terms of food security."

Okonjo-Iweala spoke in Abuja through her special assistant,
Dr. Emmanuel Nwosu, at the 2013 World Food Day talk show
organised by Oxfam – an international confederation
operating in Nigeria.

The minister stated that it was important to educate school
children on the importance of food security so that when they
grow, they would work on what they learnt.

"This is because in Africa and most developing world, we have
malnutrition problems and one of the MDG goals is to fight
hunger and provide food for the population," she added.
Okonjo-Iweala, however, observed that the challenge in Africa
had a lot to do with its growing population, adding that this
often led to food security problems.
She said the programme was important as it would help to
inculcate the right ideas in youths to combat the problem of
food in security.
The minister said, "There is a lot of work because most people
in Nigeria are running away from agriculture. They think that
it is just for the old. But when agriculture is taken seriously,
we will achieve better results."
The Gender Officer, Oxfam in Nigeria, Ms. Boyowa Roberts,
said the organisation was using the opportunity to raise
awareness on agriculture.
She said, "The theme for this event is 'Grow, Think, Act'. We
are working with youths from three secondary schools here in
Abuja, who will become food heroes and will be able to
mentor other people on healthy feeding habit and a lot more."

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A Whole Country Rejects fast Foods

McDonald's happy image and its golden arches aren't the gateway to bliss in Bolivia. This South American country isn't falling for the barrage of advertising and fast food cooking methods that so easily engulf countries like the United States. Bolivians simply don't trust food prepared in such little time. The quick and easy, mass production method of fast food actually turns Bolivians off altogether. Sixty percent of Bolivians are an indigenous population who generally don't find it worth their health or money to step foot in a McDonald's.

Despite its economically friendly fast food prices, McDonald's couldn't coax enough of the indigenous population of Bolivia to eat their BigMacs, McNuggets or McRibs.

One indigenous woman, Esther Choque, waiting for a bus to arrive outside a McDonald's restaurant, said, "The closest I ever came was one day when a rain shower fell and I climbed the steps to keep dry by the door. Then they came out and shooed me away. They said I was dirtying the place. Why would I care if McDonald's leaves [Bolivia]?"

The eight remaining McDonald's fast food shops that stuck it out in the Bolivian city's of La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, had reportedly operated on losses every year for a decade. The McDonald's franchise had been persistent over that time, flexing its franchise's deep pockets to continue business in Bolivia

After 14 years of presence in the country, their extensive network couldn't hold up the Bolivian chain. Store after store shut down as Bolivia rejected the McDonald's fast food agenda. Soon enough, they kissed the last McDonald's goodbye

Goodbye from Bolivia...

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Groundnuts Can Cure Haemophilia

Groundnuts, also known as peanuts, are considered a very healthy snack. Groundnut is the member of the legume family and is native to regions like South America, Mexico and Central America. However, it is successfully grown in other parts of the world as well. 

 

The name of the plant combines the morpheme, ‘pea’ and ‘nut’. In the culinary sense, it is regarded as a nut, but in the botanical sense, the fruit of the plant is a woody legume. Since that is the case, the groundnut is actually a kind of pea. The groundnut is also known by different names like earthnuts, goobers, goober peas, pindas, jack nuts, pinders, manila nuts and monkey nuts. Throughout the world, they are known for their nutrition and health benefits. Peanuts or groundnuts are among the most common oil-seeds, since time immemorial. The nuts are rich with significant, beneficial nutrients that are essential for optimum health. People consume groundnuts in various ways such roasted, boiled, raw and also use them as a base for gravies. Read on for information on the nutritional value and benefits of groundnuts.

Nutritional Value of Groundnut

 

Nutrients	Content per 100g
Energy	567 Kcal
Carbohydrates	16.13 g
Protein	25.80 g
Total Fat	49.24 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Dietary Fiber	8.5 g
Vitamins
Folates	240 µg
Niacin	12.066 mg
Pantothenic acid	1.767 mg
Pyridoxine	0.348 mg
Riboflavin	0.135 mg
Thiamin	0.640 mg
Vitamin A	0 IU
Vitamin C	0
Vitamin E	8.33 mg
Electrolytes
Sodium	18 mg
Potassium	705 mg
Minerals
Calcium	92 mg
Copper	1.144 mg
Iron	4.58 mg
Magnesium	168 mg
Manganese	1.934 mg
Phosphorus	76 mg
Selenium	7.2 µg
Zinc	3.27 mg
Phyto-nutrients
Carotene-ß	0 µg
Crypto-xanthin-ß	0 µg
Lutein-zeaxanthin	0 µg

 

 

Health Benefits Of Eating Groundnuts

• Groundnuts and groundnut products are very beneficial in the treatment of hemophilia and other such inherited blood disorders. People suffering from nose bleeding also benefit from eating groundnuts and it is also helpful in reducing excessive menstruation bleeding in women.
• Five main nutrients required by the body to maintain and repair the tissues namely, energy, protein, phosphorous, thiamin and niacin are found in good quantity in groundnuts.
• Groundnuts are rich vitamins and contain at least 13 different types of vitamins that include Vitamin A, B, C and E. along with this, groundnuts are also rich in 26 essential minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, boron, etc. These help in brain function and development and also help to maintain strong bones.
• It is recommended that growing children, expecting women and nursing mothers consume roasted groundnuts with jaggery and goat’s milk. It is said to provide resistance and immunity against dangerous infections like hepatitis and tuberculosis.
• Groundnuts are rich in anti-oxidants and a chemical called resveratrol. These help in reducing the risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases, cancer risk and also help in anti-ageing, thus, keeping the body young and fit.
• They are composed of adequate levels of mono-unsaturated fatty acids especially oleic acid which helps to lower the LDL or "bad cholesterol" and increases HDL or "good cholesterol” level in the blood. This in return prevents coronary artery disease and strokes by taking care of the healthy blood lipid profile.
• Groundnuts contain amino acids and are a good source of dietary protein, which is essential for growth and development.
• Peanuts have high content of poly-phenolic antioxidants, primarily p-coumaric acid which reduces the risk of stomach cancer by preventing the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines in the stomach.
• Boiling the peanuts for consumption is known to enhance the antioxidant concentration, such as biochanin-A and genistein.
• Groundnuts are packed with B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates, which contribute towards brain health and stimulate blood flow to the brain.
• It is said that a handful of groundnuts per day, offers enough levels of phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins, and protein recommended by doctors.
• Peanuts contain dietary fiber which enhances digestion.

 

Buying & Storing Tips

• Groundnuts are easily available in supermarkets. Also, in many places they are available in stalls on roadsides.
• Peanuts can be bought according to your requirement, such as raw, roasted, boiled, roasted and salted, etc.
• Raw peanuts can be stored in air-tight containers for up to one week. In the same manner boiled peanuts can also be stored in air-tight vessels for about a week. If you want to store them for a month or so, place the air-tight container in the freezer.
• Whole or shelled raw peanuts can stay in the refrigerator for 2-3 months. But if you freeze them, they can stay up to six months.

 

Cooking Tips

• To enjoy the crunchiness of peanuts, roast them with some salt. This is one of the most common ways of enjoying peanuts.
• Boiled peanuts are considered healthy as well as tasty. To relish the peanuts add some salt while boiling them. Though their shelf-life is short in comparison to roasted peanuts, the health benefits are a lot more.
• You can add them as ingredients to cookies/chocolates and have them.
• Another very popular peanut recipe is the peanut butter spread. You can spread peanut butter on slices of bread or use them in cookie dough. Peanut butter is a great source of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.