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Sudan, IITA sign MoU on cassava transformation
The Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga said today that a collaboration between IITA and Sudan will put smiles on the faces of farmers in the northern African country.
This was contained in an address to a presidential delegation from Sudan, that spent 5 days in Nigeria and visited IITA to familiarize, exchange ideas, and explore areas for collaboration with IITA on cassava transformation.
The collaboration between Sudan and IITA aims at cutting the importation of wheat and saving the country’s foreign exchange. The collaboration is also part of a broader decision that would facilitate the introduction of improved cassava varieties to Sudan.
Dr Sanginga said, “We are ready to expand into Sudan with a strengthened diversified portfolio to contribute to improved livelihood and income for small-scale farmers in the country.”
Leading the 6-person delegation, Professor Ahmed Mohamed Suliman, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Khartoum, said the country desired to become a cassava growing nation for the sole purpose of converting the root crop to cassava flour that would replace wheat in baking.
According to him, Khartoum plans to replicate the cassava bread model in Nigeria that was developed by IITA and partners. He said that when implemented, Sudan will be able to fill the wheat shortfall that is currently being experienced.
“Our Presidency is very much interested in supporting the inclusion of High Quality Cassava Flour in bread and other forms of confectioneries as part of efforts to improve food security and the livelihoods of farmers in the country. On that note, I would initiate an immediate development of a MoU with IITA to serve as a guide to common interest between the two institutions,” Prof Suliman added.
The visit of the delegation culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Dr Abuelgasim Elzein, Head, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, University of Khartoum, said that even though the Republic of Sudan was not a cassava producing country, as soon as the cassava breeding program is replicated into our farming system, agriculture will take a new dimension.
Other members of the delegation were Dr Elhadi Ali Ibrahim Elkhalil, Prof Awadalla Abdalla Abdelmula, Dr Abdalla Ibrahim Yousif, and Hala Ahmed Elamin.
Dr Alfred Dixon, IITA Director for Development & Delivery noted that cassava as the third-largest crop in the tropics, is a major staple food in sub-Saharan Africa, providing a basic staple for over half a billion people.
He added that Khartoum’s interest in cassava was a decision in the right direction as cassava is one of the most drought-tolerant crops, capable of growing on marginal soils.
Dr Dixon added that with the help of cassava experts from IITA, good agronomic and weed management practices, “Sudan in no distant time will be known for cassava production.”
Highlights of the 5-day visit included presentations by key IITA staff: Frederick Schreurs, CEO Business Incubation Platform; Ismail Rabbi, IITA Molecular Geneticist / Breeder; Festus Okunlola, IITA Youth Agriprenuer (IYA); Iheanacho Okike, IITA Cassava Peel Technologist; and Thierno Diallo, IITA Machine Fabricator. The delegates also had the opportunity to undergo hands on training at the IITA Food and Nutrition Science Laboratory on how to bake bread, croissant, chin-chin, Tidbits, using cassava flour.
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that 95 million Nigerians need to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN) to meet its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025.
Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, emphasised the importance of this enrollment during an interview on X over the weekend.
He stated, “For NIMC to meet the 200 million target by 2025, 95 million Nigerians need to register for the NIN.”
Adegoke revealed that over 105 million NINs have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents so far.
He assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment, saying, “We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
“The NIN serves as a unique identifier for each citizen and has become increasingly important for various government initiatives aimed at improving security, governance, and service delivery.”
Adegoke highlighted the efforts to streamline the modification and enrollment processes under the leadership of Abisoye Coker, the director-general of NIMC. He announced the development of a self-service platform, allowing Nigerians to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from anywhere, using different devices.
Emphasising the convenience of the self-service modification portal, Adegoke encouraged Nigerians to utilize this innovative solution.
He noted the evolution of the process, citing the past requirement for applicants to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
Engr Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has disclosed that the nation’s oil and gas reserves have risen to 37.50 billion barrels as of January 1, 2024.
This marks an increase from the 37.046 billion barrels recorded in May 2022.
Komolafe emphasised the implementation of robust policies aimed at enhancing and optimising oil and gas operations across the country.
Notably, gas reserves stand at 102.59 trillion cubic feet (TCF), with non-associated gas reserves reaching 106.67 TCF, culminating in a total of 209.26 TCF of gas reserves.
Addressing concerns during a press conference held in Abuja on Monday regarding crude supply regulation and enforcement, Komolafe underscored the importance of prioritising feedstock supply to local refineries while addressing grievances from oil producers and the Dangote Refinery within specified timelines.
This announcement follows recent reports of a decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production during February and March 2024.
According to data from the April 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s crude oil production (excluding condensates) experienced its second consecutive monthly decrease, dropping to 1.231 million barrels per day in March from 1.322 million barrels per day in February.
OPEC attributed this decline, amounting to a reduction of 91,000 barrels per day, to factors communicated directly from Nigeria.
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