Food security: how the Ukraine and Russian war affects you.

 

Food security means having, at all times, both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. A family is food secure when its members do not live in hunger or fear of hunger. According to reports there are 4.5 million food insecure people in Nigeria with the highest number in Lagos. Food insecurity is rooted in poverty with long-term impacts on the ability of families, communities and countries to develop and prosper. 

 

The scenario above was the status quo before the Ukraine-Russian war,now with all the sanctions, bans and restrictions on Russia things are going to be tough. According to Mr Aliko Dangote there is a forecast of food scarcity in the next four months. 

 All Countries with very close economic links with Ukraine and Russia are at particular risk of scarcity and supply disruptions and are most affected by the increasing inflows of refugees.

 According to reports that Russia is among Nigeria’s top 10 import trade partners between the third quarter of 2020 and the corresponding period in 2021, with a total import trade value of N993.38bn. Russia supplies the majority of wheat imported to Nigeria,meaning wheat and wheat products will skyrocket and become more inaccessible to majority. 

 How the Ukraine-Russian war affects you? 

 Wheat is one of the products Nigeria import from Russia.Wheat is typically milled into flour which is then used to make a wide range of foods including bread, noodles, pasta, biscuits, cakes, pastries, cereal ,bars, sweet and savory snack foods, confectionery and in animal feed. 

This means not only will food prices go up,animal feed costs will rise. This war can actually be the time to look inwards and promote alternatives to wheat such as CASSAVA. 

 CASSAVA OUR SUPER FOOD TO THE RESCUE. This is the time to scale up production of cassava as well as promote the processing to GARRI to produce food and confectionery. 

Did you know you could make pasta,noodles, bread and feed from cassava?

 Did you know you could turn garri to bread? 

 Did you know that promoting the processing of cassava to garri you will empower families especially women. 

 Did you know that by promoting the garri business/initiatives more children can be fed healthy meals? The time to shift is here now, Cassava------garri-= empowerment =foodsecurity==forex generation by exporting the Nigerian garri.

Garri initiatives : Osun State government distributes garri to 30,000 vulnerable.

 Osun State government distributes garri to 30,000 vulnerable.

The Osun State Government has distributed garri to another 30,000 vulnerable in the 11th edition of the food support scheme, saying the initiative was to encourage and boost local production. 

 The young entrepreneurs who have been contracted to make the supply, however, lauded the initiatives, describing it as the best way to encourage local producers. Addressing journalists during the flag-off of the scheme at the open field of the Local Government Service Commission, Government Secretariat, Abere, Osogbo. 

                           

 One of the local entrepreneurs who supplied the garri to the government, Raji Adekunle, hailed the government for its determination to harness and explore the potential embedded in the youths for the growth and development of the state. 

    Learn how to start a lucrative garri business. 

 Adekunle said the inclusion of his venture in the list of those that supplied garri to the government has helped to expand the scope of his business for the maximum capacity.

HOW TO PACKAGE GARRI FOR EXPORT.

  Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava and 70% of cassava produced is processed into garri.  There is a common slogan that no matter the amount of garri you produce, there is always a market with customers ready to pay.

 Garri business is not limited to local markets as in Nigeria, but there is an opportunity in the international market for properly packaged garri.

Flow chart of garri marketing from farm to store/export.( Ojuri,H.B 2021)

 How do you start this lucrative business? the level you want to participate depends on your target market. The fastest entry level to tap into this business is to selling of the garri, not starting from the processing.

How to start the lucrative garri business with just 25,000 naira. 

1) Source the garri from local markets where the processors sell to  other merchants /traders and middle men that bring to the city.

2) Buy the desired quantity if you cant afford a bag.

3) Bring the garri back to the city and sell in markets or stalls.

 The price of the 50 kg bag of  the white garri in clusters/ local markets...........13,000 naira

The price of the paint bucket is.....................650 naira.

There are 20 paint buckets in a 50 kg bag. If the merchant goes with a private car, transportation cost is negligible as compared to public transport where the merchants will pay the fare for the journey and also pay for the garri.

 The current price of garri now is 17,000 naira per 50 kg bag and the paint is 850 naira.

 Profit analysis: 

 A bag from the farm is 13000 naira.

lets assume the transport is public and the cost is 2,500 naira from market to merchants destination.

Cost of the garri ==13000 + 2500=15,500 naira.

Profit on a bag=17,000 - 15500=  1,500 naira.

 This is the first level of profit. The  merchant can profit on another level depending on how sales are made.

Customers can buy in cups, mudus or paint rubber, the merchants profits at this level.

 One mudus =8 cups

A paint rubber contains 3 mudus.

A cup is 100 naira meaning one mudus= 800 naira.

This means by selling in mudus the merchants will make 800*3= 2,400 naira for paint instead of  850 naira. This gives credence to the slogan " retail business is big business".

 The new gold= garri business. This is just an insight, see what garri can become.

Garri business is lucrative, see more

Rabies: dont ignore a bite or scratch.

 

 

 Knowing more about animal bites and rabies may save your life .    Knowing more about animal bites and rabies may save your life . 

 100% of human cases of rabies are preventable. 

 59,000 people die of rabies every year. 

95% of human rabies death occurs in Africa and Asia.

End rabies now, join the team.

 

Rabies awareness campaign and free vaccination for dogs,cats and monkeys in Lagos is kicking off on the 15/3/2022. Join the campaign, end rabies now!!!. This happened last year The 2022 edition will be extraordinary.

     

Mosquitoes Can Learn To Avoid Pesticide After A Single Exposure.

 

Mosquitoes Can Learn To Avoid Pesticide After A Single Exposure.Mosquitoes can learn to avoid pesticide after a single non-lethal pesticide exposure, according to a study published Thursday in Nature, highlighting an overlooked challenge in fighting the spread of diseases and parasites like malaria, which has grown more widespread and severe due to Covid-19 healthcare disruptions.

 Researchers studied two mosquito species that are common in tropical and subtropical areas around the world: Culex quinquefasciastus—which spreads avian malaria, Zika virus and West Nile virus—and Aedes aegypti—which spreads dengue fever and yellow fever. 

 Mosquitoes learned to associate the smell of pesticide with the negative effects of pesticide contact, and were willing to forgo blood-feeding to avoid landing in an area that smelled of pesticide, researchers said. 

 Mosquitoes have grown more resistant to pesticide in recent years, and researchers identified mosquito cognition as an overlooked factor in this change. However, new pesticide solutions could be developed with a delayed reaction, so that a mosquito that survives exposure will not learn to associate the smell of the pesticide with the negative experience, Frederic Tripet, director of the Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology at Keele University in the U.K., told ABC