NCDMB enhances media competencies with capacity building - NaijaAgroNet

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Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has enhanced some journalists capacity building at a workshop with the theme: Enhancing Media Competencies to Support Nigerian Content in a Gas Economy, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The event organized annually by the board for media practitioners to enhance their capacity and competence in the field of journalism.

Scientist describes Uber, Airbnb as new model for sustainable society

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An environmental social scientist at The University of Manchester, Dr Chris Martin, has described the duo of Uber and Airbnd as new model way of building a sustainable society, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He also said that this new form of consumption could be rolled out to bolster the sustainability of other day-to-day functions including production, education, banking and transport and further described the Silicon Valley success stories like Uber and Airbnb as paving the way to a more sustainable global society.

The ‘sharing economy’ model, he said, has seen a boom in the collaborative use of services, which has come under criticism for disrupting traditional and independent business activity.

Dr. Martin contended that it is bad for business in his new paper, The sharing economy: a pathway to sustainability or a nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism? published online in the journal Ecological Economics this week, that radically decentralising economic activity and allowing people shared access to services and resources is more than just an economic opportunity for big business and an employment solution for governments.

“This decentralised, online model of economic activity has significant sustainability potential but it is currently being overlooked by big players who are focused on the commercial aspects,” he declared, explaining that the potential, and the appetite, for a sharing economy promotes social sustainability, in addition to environmental sustainability and economic growth. 

“The core ideas and technologies behind Airbnb and Uber could also be used to empower citizens and civic society to participate in previously centralised activities, be that more open education, car-pooling or microfinance models in place of traditional banking,” Martins said.

For him, the taxi giant Uber and holiday rental firm Airbnb are at the tip of the sharing economy iceberg, underscoring that policy-makers, innovators and entrepreneurs need to look beyond the idea of ‘sharing’ just service industries. Rather, they could focus on exploiting the potential of the sharing economy to reduce overall consumption and create a more equitable, sustainable economy and society.

  Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Germany doles out N2.39b to assist eight countries

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Germany through its Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety has doled out $12 million, about N2.39billion to assist eight developing countries, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Under a new United Nations (UN) programme called “Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans programme”, Germany will through funding collaborate with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) to work with ministries of agriculture in Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Uruguay, Viet Nam and Zambia to incorporate agricultural sectors into National Adaptation Plans.

An FAO press release made available to NaijaAgroNet, said under the four-year initiative, countries will receive various types of support. FAO will offer policy advice and technical support to ensure that climate change adaptation priorities in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors are incorporated in this planning process. UNDP will engage with countries in managing climate risk, in planning and budgeting, and help them strengthen information systems, project formulation, and coordination between government institutions.

The initiative, NaijaAgroNet gathered, has immediate potential to link with and amplify existing programmes in the target countries and improve their prospects for accessing global funds for climate finance, such as the Global Environment Fund and the Green Climate Fund.

The Executive Coordinator UNDP Global Environment Finance Unit, Adriana Dinu, said, "Our food security in the decades to come depends on our collective ability to innovate and adapt to climate change. The agriculture sector is critical to every nation and is a lifeline for livelihoods. Therefore, FAO and UNDP have joined forces to support partner countries to integrate agriculture into National Adaptation Planning (NAP) processes."

While the Director of FAO's Climate, Energy and Tenure Division, Martin Frick, added ,"Ministries of agriculture, fisheries and forestry need to be at the table when countries develop and implement domestic policies to address climate change,"

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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