Editorial and publishing CDs

27/02/2020

Indeed the Editorial and Publishing CDS group of the NYSC makurdi, are Pace Setters, as exactly one week after their major workshop on Post-Harvest Losses :Challenges, work done so far and Way Forward, they are still making headlines, as the renowned Daily Trust News Paper has also published its news on it.
The CDS group has indeed received loud applaud for having the initiative of looking into a major issue in the state.

This has won them a major partnership deal with the institution known as, CEFTER, which deals with managing post harvest losses.

The amazing part of the partnership is that, Corps members and CDS groups that wish to carry out projects on Post harvest Losses or agricultural related projects, can confidently work up to them (CEFTER) as a platform has already been made to accommodate Youth Corpers.
This is indeed good news to the NYSC scheme, Makurdi.

Below is the link to the published news of the Daily Trust News Paper

The Centre for Food Technology and Research (CEFTER) in Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi has expressed willingness to partner the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in the state to check post-harvest wastages. CEFTER’s Deputy Director of Research and Collaborations, Dr. Sylve...

22/02/2020

Mr. Agida Wisdom, the secret brain behind the mind blowing workshops that have been enacted by the Editorial and Publishing CDS group in the past few months.
He believes strongly in excellence and frowns badly against mediocrity.
He believes also that the reward of hardwork is more work.
He was the anchor, alongside beautiful miss Jennifer, of the Post Harvest Losses one day Workshop.
The duo handled the workshop beautifully in turns.

22/02/2020

Certicate of attendance was further given to all farmers and cooperative representatives that were present at the workshop.
The certification process was handled by the key note speaker, Dr. A. A. Jimin and the second speaker, Mr. Dav Raphael Vaerumun respectively.

22/02/2020

The second speaker, Mr. Dav Raphael Vaerumun, the State Desk Officer, Farmers and Agriculture Organization, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Makurdi, also had a beautiful delivery

*He started by defining the key terms stating that post harvest losses is the degradation in both quality and quantity of crop within the period of harvest and
consumption
* If you don’t tackle post harvest losses, no matter the increase in production post harvest losses increase also
*Post harvest handling which is the sum total of the activities done after harvest to ensure the edibility and security of agricultural produces
*Shelf life: period the crops stays in an acceptable quality
*If we don’t handle PHL, we will never have what’s called food security. Increase production+Post Harvest Handling leads to food security

Factors that leads to PHL
*Low level of agricultural extension service
*Lack of easy access to modern effective post harvest technology
*low level of agro-processing industries
*Insufficient media promotions of locally processed products
* Poor handling after harvest
*Lack of easy access to market
*Low level of organized value chain development

Recommendation
*Government and non government organization should facilitate farmers access to modern post harvest technology in Benue State
*Government should recruit and sustain agricultural extension services in the state
*More resources should be put into value chain development
*Attention should be given to the provision of organizational storage system

22/02/2020

The Editorial and Publishing CDS Group, amidst serious work, did not forget the old saying that goes "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" as they gave Afolabi Olugbenga and opportunity to give a beautiful poem recitation that was indeed emotional, relating it to the state of decadence of agriculture, and also the beautiful culture and Tourism CDS group, that graced the occasion and added colors and aesthetics to the event by entertaining the audience with a beautiful dance performance.

22/02/2020

The first speaker, Dr. Sylvester Adejoh, the Deputy director, Research and Collaborations, CEFTER, also did a great job By dissecting the topic given to him: Effective Combating Post Harvest losses in Benue state, by telling his listening audience that a company has been set up for such issues of Post Harvest Losses called CEFTER, which is located at Benue State University. He said the training center trains undergraduates and Msc respectively
He all said that the farmers could partner with the institute to improve their agricultural produces.
He stated that CEFTER was a large body both nationally and internationally and has it's web of connection cut across these regions respectively.
Below are his key points

• (CEFTER BACKGROUND) : The organization is in partnership with world bank and has been in existence since 2004
• The object is to invest much attention to agricultural production in relation to post harvest losses and wastage especially in the third world Africa.
• To improve and upgrade the narrative of post harvest losses in the country.
• Conduct research and develop technologies primed to combat post harvest losses and its far-reaching consequences which includes; Malnutrition, diseases, etc.
• (CEFTER research focuses on: Food technology, solar drying, chemical and phytochemical preservation

Benefits of studying with CEFTER
a) Scholarship and grants
b) Sponsorship to world bank meeting, conferences and workshop.
c) Special training for students like intercultural communication and ICT skills.

Questions asked during his lecture
How can we add value to our farmers who wants to key into the program?

Dr. Sylvester Adejoh also disclosed the things CEFTER has been able to produce like: biscuit, cookies, yoghurt, water, etc, and most from farm produce.

22/02/2020

The key Note speaker in Person of Dr. A. A. Jimin, of the Department of Crops and Environmental Protection, College of Agronomy, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi. took it upon himself to talk about the theme of the program in details with detailed examples and statistics.
He outlined the things he had noticed were the causes of Post Harvest Losses(PHL) which included:bad road networks and lack of proper farming facilities amongst others.
He also went further to talk about the work that has been done so far and to the way forward, stating that the improvement of road networks, and government getting fully involved and investing in purchasing high quality farming equipment as done in other states, would improve the agriculture of the state. Below are the key points to his lecture.

He stated that wastage can be as high as 40-50%. About 0ne third of the worlds food is lost annually.

Challenges of post harvest losses includes
• Deficit of infrastructure- no good roads and incentives.
• The period of production.
• Farmers not knowing where the losses come.
• Farmers do not know when their product is decomposed.
• Lack of policy direction
• Lack of coordination
• Poor involvement of private sector and other disciples.

Post harvest losses occur through
a) Harvesting
b) Transportation
c) Packaging
d) Marketing

Work done so far
 To facilitate establishment of post harvest losses.
 To develop curriculum on how to reduce losses.
 To support establishment of mechanisms of government.

Way forward
 Sincerity of purpose.
 Partnership with financial and private sector.
 Improved infrastructure.
 Reduced cost of technology equipment.

He brought to a close his segment by handling diverse questions thrown at him by the farmers present logically.

22/02/2020

The NYSC state coordinator, Mr. Shicha Joshua Simon, officially giving the opening remark.
He addressed and applauded the CDS for going outside the box to organize such a handy and important workshop that calls attention of the Government of Benue state, to the cries of the average farmer in the state.

22/02/2020

The arrival of the special guests of honor which includes the NYSC State coordinator and other NYSC top officials, the key note speaker and other speakers to the event venue

22/02/2020

The one day Workshop organised by the Editorial and publishing CDS group to tackle issues of Post harvest losses, as always, was a great success.
The group has once again set a pace worth emulating to other CDS group with its ability to gather different calibers of people from within Benue state.
Farmers and their representatives tripped in from Tarka, vandekya, Makurdi, naca and so on.
It was indeed a huge success with media houses like NTA, Galaxy TV, Punch, and daily trust coming to cover the event.

20/02/2020