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Showing posts with label European Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European Union. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Malabo Declaration, a stakeholder reference for next decade - EU



Chairman of the European Union (EU) Development Partners Task Team, represented by the Head, Operations at EU Delegation to African Union, Ms Anna Burylo, has described the Malabo Declaration as a reference point for all African development stakeholders for the next decade, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment at the African Union headquarters, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, assured of their support to Malabo Declaration, stressing that Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) agenda is articulated into the new context created by the Malabo Declaration.

As said by her, the CAADP Results Framework (RF) along with the Malabo Implementation Strategy and Roadmap (IS&R) as well as its related programme of work are key documents demonstrating African leadership and framing Development Partners (DPs) and all other Malabo stakeholders action at continental, regional and national level, in particular through a set of headline indicators.

“All partners should adopt and adapt to these documents,” the EU Development Partners chair declared.

Pointing out that how DPs could align and tract their actions against such documents is a key issue of partnership.
 This is because, they would be able to frame the mutual accountability system which DPs will adhere too along with all other African CAADP and Malabo stakeholders, especially those seeking to coordinate and harmonise projects and programmes across Africa, by way of ensuring that food security and agriculture actions in global processes such as G8 and G20 align with African priorities and needs.


+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) in Addis Ababa 
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Thursday, August 6, 2015

China, others cause food price crash in July---FAO




NaijaAgroNet
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has revealed that in July, the dairy price index dropped 7.2 per cent from the previous month, mainly due to lower import demand from China.

Other regions which contributed to the crash in prices, NaijaAgroNet gathered, include Middle East and North Africa along with abundant European Union (EU) milk production which has resulted in good availability of dairy products for export.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 164.6 points in July, down 1.0 per cent from June, and 19.4 per cent from a year earlier. The trade-weighted index tracks prices on international markets of five major food commodity groups: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

The July, NaijaAgroNet reports, vegetable oil price index was some 5.5 per cent below its June level, reaching its lowest value since July 2009. The recent slide was primarily caused by a fall in international palm oil prices due to increased production in Southeast Asia combined with slower exports especially from Malaysia, and a further weakening of soy oil prices on ample supplies for export in South America and a favourable outlook for global supply in 2015/16.

The cereal price index, NaijaAgroNet reports, rose by 2.0 per cent from June, but was still 10.1 per cent below July last year's level. For the second consecutive month, higher wheat and maize prices, in part due to unfavourable weather in North America and Europe, kept the cereal index rising, but rice prices continued to fall.

In July the meat price index remained nearly unchanged from the previous month. An increase in international prices of bovine meat offset a decline for pig meat and ovine meat, while prices for poultry remained stable. The sugar price index rose by 2.5 per cent from June 2015, largely due to less than ideal harvesting conditions in the main producing region of Brazil, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

EU invests N251.1billion in West Africa



The European Union (EU) will pump about €1.15 billion (N251.1b) into peace, security and regional stability, including support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its regional mandates, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Other aspects of interest covered by the fund include regional economic integration and trade, the private sector, regional integration and support for infrastructure.

The assistance made possible by the 11th European Development Fund, NaijaAgroNet gathered, was made public during the signing of a new regional funding for cooperation between European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimic and  representatives of regional organizations from West Africa.

 Mimica said, “Regional integration in West Africa is already bearing impressive fruits and today’s signing is the ambitious starting point for preparing new, concrete projects that will benefit the region and its countries. Having almost doubled our support from the last programming period, we will work with a wide range of partners to tackle the challenges that remain in West Africa, such as peace and security, economic integration and trade, as well as sustainable development,” NaijaAgroNet learnt.

The West Africa Regional Indicative Programme was co-signed by President Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and President Cheikhe Hadjibou Soumaré of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

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Saturday, April 18, 2015

Food, nutrition security, climate change dominate FAO-EU talks




 
  Food and nutrition security, climate change and soils are among the key issues slated for discussion in the coming months between Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the European Union (EU), NaijaAgroNet learnt.

According to a press release made available to NaijaAgroNet on Thursday, this follows series of meetings involving FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and EU high-level representatives that were held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels.

Graziano da Silva, NajaAgroNet further learnt, met EU Commissioner of Agriculture, Phil Hogan, EU Director-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, and the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.

NaijaAgroNet reports that both parties highlighted the alignment between the EU initiatives and FAO's strategic objectives, and expressed satisfaction on the strategic partnership and high-level political dialogue taking place on common key challenges.

They reiterated that food and nutrition security will remain at the heart of their respective programming cycles.

FAO and the EU have also stressed the joint role they will be playing within some of the main conferences and events to take place in 2015, reports NaijaAgroNet.
 
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Thursday, October 31, 2013

EU, FAO call for funds to combat cassava diseases in Africa




The European Union (EU) and the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) have called for increased investments to prevent further crop damage and the rapidly spreading strains of cassava disease.

This position was made in a statement by the two bodies as the outcome of the meeting of 70 regional cassava professionals in Nairobi, Kenya where it was decided that a minimum of $100 million ( about  N15.9 billion) is needed to continue the efforts of the EU funded, FAO coordinated Regional Cassava Initiative.

 NaijaAgroNet gathered from the statement that over a four-year period, the initiative has improved food security and repaired damaged yields in the areas affected by cassava disease and noted that the project is set to end without further investment.

Seven countries including Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda worked with the initiative to offer cassava farmers disease resistant plants and clean materials.

Although these efforts curbed the effects of Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD), Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) continues to spread, threatening the food security of the 135 million people in the region, while NaijaAgroNet learnt that without continued funding of the Initiative, CBSD is likely to spread into Nigeria, the biggest cassava-producing nation in Africa.



AN/GEE

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Friday, October 11, 2013

EU seeks business partnership with Nigeria agric sector



Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Indications have emerged that businesses of European Union (EU) origin are poised to seeking more business opportunities and partnerships in Nigeria, especially in the agricultural sector, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwunmi Adesina confirmed this after a meeting the stakeholders on European Union-Nigeria business forum in the  move being made by Europe and reiterated President Goodluck Jonathan’s support in getting the country to move towards this fresh produce export market with Europe.

 “There is a lot of opportunities for Europe and Nigeria for agribusiness investment partnerships. We plan to play big in the horticulture market in Europe because Nigeria is closer to Europe than Kenya, Tanzania or even Mozambique. We are going to take advantage of our big size in the horticulture market.
“The largest market is in Europe, but that market is quite difficult to penetrate because it is based on a lot of safety standards, consumer standards that we have to meet, so we have been working together with the ambassadors of the European countries to prepare Nigeria to enter that global horticulture market,” Adesina said.

He explained that issues such as certification, farm audits, and contracts with supermarkets were hurdles to be crossed which is being handled in consultation with the ambassadors of those European countries, while National Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS), an agency under the ministry is the one that gives certification to farmers that want to export.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Nigerian German Business Association, Jennifer Ijeoma Anoika, that “a lot of Nigerians do not know the regulations or the changes in the regulations, the SMEs in particular. We want to see more small companies such as Tropical Natural, which is doing quite well with the Dudu Osun, with export products.”


Lawrence Ohue-Inegbenoise, from Friesland Campina, said the company‘s plans is to get more indigenous farmers and investors involved in sourcing milk for its production.

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

EU boosts Ethiopia food security with N10.9 bn


Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The European Union (EU) as part of the Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience (SHARE) initiative has released a EUR50-million about N10, 873,196,311.82 aids to improve food security and build resilience to drought in southern and eastern Ethiopia.

This was made known in a press release signed by the EU Commissioners Andris Piebalgs and Kristalina Georgieva and made available to NaijaAgroNet that the new funds will help boost food security in the lowland areas of Ethiopia through a series of long-term measures.

"with this new program, we will be helping Ethiopian people in the longer-term; providing support to help them rebuild their lives, make a living, and make sure they are well equipped to deal with droughts that will inevitably come again in the future," Piebalgs said.

Georgieva explained that SHARE initiative is a prime example for how to ensure better coherence of EU external assistance instruments and a maximum impact of its aid for the benefit of the targeted populations.

NaijaAgroNet findings  showed that the Ethiopia is plagued by recurrent droughts, which often translate into emergencies, with high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity thereby increasing demographic pressures on natural resources, along with poor infrastructure, absence of alternative livelihoods, insecurity and  make people particularly vulnerable to droughts in this region.
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The Accelerating Resilience Capacity in Southern and Eastern Ethiopia (ARCE) project, which is part of the SHARE regional program, is said to be implemented by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), FAO and the World Bank, along with Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).


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Friday, September 27, 2013

EU, FAO partner to help six countries achieve MDG on hunger


Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

Less than two years before the deadline set to achieve international development goals, the European Union (EU) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have teamed up to reduce world hunger by assisting two million people in six countries with agricultural development activities worth nearly €60 million about N15.6 billion.

The funding comes from a €1 billion, about N259.4 billion EU initiative that aims to foster speedier progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

During a special event on the Millennium Development Goals at the UN General Assembly, FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva said "So close to the deadline, when there is still so much to do, this good investment in agriculture will enable FAO to increase its efforts to eradicate hunger and do even more to help countries halve the proportion of hungry people by 2015."

Commenting on the development the EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said "I find it unacceptable in the 21st century that some 870 million people are still going hungry and malnutrition is responsible for over 3 million child deaths annually. This funding underlines our commitment to stepping up our work on hunger and to meeting the MDGs.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the MDG-initiative promotes strong partnerships with the UN agencies, while the EU and FAO focus on agricultural development involving smallholder farmers and their families on improved nutrition in Burudi, Burkina Faso,Gambia , Haiti, Madagascar and Mozambique.


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Monday, November 5, 2012

IFAD projects in Yemen worth $230m

Nwanze, IFAD President

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has valued its projects in the west Asian country of Yemen to the tune of $230million, about N36.19 billion.
The United Nations’ specialised agency’s recent pledge to support agriculture and rural development in Yemen to the tune of $41million, brings the total investments in the country’s projects to $230million, as at September 2012
Of the total sum, $130 million was co-financed from domestic sources and the rest by external financiers, such as the European Union, International sDB and World Bank.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that some of the previous projects co-financed by IFAD in the Asian country include a $32.9, about N5.17billion Fisheries Investment Project in 2010, a project which benefited small-scale fishers, their associations as well as poor households that want to engage in aquaculture.
IFAD came up with the Fisheries investment project in a bid to improve the economic status of small-scale fishers through the creation of sustainable and diversified economic opportunities for poor women and men alike with special focus on the development of value chain development.
One of the numerous projects that sum IFAD’s financial commitment to N36.19billion includes the Economic Opportunities Programme early in 2010, which seek to create economic opportunities for the rural poor while working with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to significantly reduce poverty.
The economic opportunities programme, NaijaAgroNet further gathered also assisted landless households to develop the value chains for coffee, honey and horticulture products, being the three high-value agriculture commodities for some of the selected areas for the project.
IFAD in collaboration with the Government of Yemen introduced a private-sector-led approach to development operations with the economic opportunities programme.
The programme also established a private-public partnership to effectively, efficiently and transparently manage development resources and create synergies, whilst women constituted the key target group for the micro-business.
NaijaAgroNet equally gathered that projects by IFAD in Yemen have supported more than 1.2 million poor women and men alike, helping them build resilience to shocks and conflict, and at the same time improving their household food security and incomes.
However, the new pledge by IFAD will also allow the scaling up of successful investments to cater for additional communities and introduce innovations with the IFAD supported country programmes.
The investments according to IFAD are expected to stimulate rural economic growth and job creation for additional one million poor women and men in the rural areas.
Yemen was one of the first countries to receive financing from the UN specialized agency at the early period of its establishment.
IFAD as an international financial institution created in 1977 as a result of the outcome of the 1974 World Food Conference with the aim of financing agricultural development projects targeted at food production in developing countries, has since inception being working towards the eradication of poverty and food insecurity in developing nations of the world.


Yinka Awosanya
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