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Showing posts with label International Fund for Agricultural Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Fund for Agricultural Development. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Investments in agriculture will unlock prosperity in Africa – IFAD President

The President of the United Nations (UN's) International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, has told African leaders that investments in agriculture have the capacity to unlock prosperity of the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Nwanze in a message to African leaders participating in the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Kigali that he is optimistic that such investment which must be a collaborative one between government and businesses will grow Africa tremendously.

"Investments in agriculture can generate great riches for the continent and lift millions out of poverty and hunger," said Nwanze en route to Rwanda. "There are high returns to those countries that take agriculture seriously."

Since 2009, he said, Africa has been seen as the next great investment frontier yet, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), economic growth on the continent is now predicted to be slower than the rest of the world for the first time in sixteen years.

He emphasised that with many countries in southern and eastern Africa suffering from the worst drought in decades, coupled with fiscal deficits widening and conflicts increasing, some experts are questioning whether Africa is still on the rise.

Despite these dire predictions, Nwanze said Africa is still a continent of unprecedented opportunity, and supporting small-scale farmers and investing in rural areas are some of the best ways for countries to meet their broader development objectives, including poverty reduction.

“With the right investments, Africa could double its agricultural productivity in the next five years,” he said, stressing that half of the world's uncultivated land which is suited for growing food crops is in Africa.

"We need to work together to harness the continent's potential and this means investing in small-scale farmers who are the backbone of African agriculture," Nwanze said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Mo Ibrahim delivers IFAD lecture, canvasses creating opportunities for African youngsters



Globally recognized entrepreneur and founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, at the weekend delivered the annual lecture for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), canvassing for the creation of opportunities for African youngsters in agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Dr. Ibrahim who spoke in Rome, took African governments to task for not living up to their commitments to invest in agriculture and rural development, stressing that its essential that they create opportunities for young people in agriculture so that they are able to resist the dangerous call of extremism. 

“No jobs, no hope,” he said, adding that Africa has more hungry, malnourished people than anywhere else in the world. “We are by far the least productive region in the agriculture sector but because we have more uncultivated, arable land than anywhere else, it presents opportunities.”

NaijaAgroNet equally gathered that a private-sector panel which included Sunny Verghese, Co-founder and Group CEO of Olam International, highlighted the need for bold initiatives to better link smallholder farmers to markets. Panel participants emphasized that everyone – government, the private sector, financing institutions such as IFAD, small- and medium-sized enterprises and smallholders farmers – have a role to play. 

While the second panel discussion, facilitated by IFAD Associate Vice President PĂ©rin Saint Ange, focused on innovative agricultural solutions to many of the global challenges discussed over the two days, including IFAD investments in farming technologies, approaches to empower women and youth, and the use of new technology to enhance rural development project design and management.

Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, told correspondent that the world is at a crossroad in terms of its overuse of natural resources, and that the Middle East and North Africa region already has some of the highest water scarcity in the world.

"Climate change impacts the poor and marginalized most of all,” she said, underlining that they have huge challenges ahead, and there is need to act now.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that some of the outcomes from the Farmers’ Forum, a two-day meeting held in conjunction with IFAD’s Governing Council, organizers announced a plan to make the platform for dialogue more inclusive, inviting pastoralists and livestock breeders to take part, and more decentralized creating stronger links to smallholders and family farmers on the ground.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +Naija AgroNet

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Pix: Mo Ibrahim

Monday, February 22, 2016

IFAD tasks leaders to break chains of desperation



The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, has tasked development leaders to break chains of desperation, which often lead to emergencies and humanitarian disasters, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Addressing the 39th Governing Council of IFAD in Rome at the weekend, Dr. Nwanze said this has become necessary given the backdrop of new reports that showed the number of refugees entering Europe has continued to skyrocket.

He told senior government officials attending the final day of the Council session to renew their commitments to invest in smallholder agriculture and reduce poverty in developing countries.

As said by him, rural development plays a fundamental role in stabilizing communities and reducing migration and conflict, and “by working together to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) starting with zero poverty and zero hunger; we can break the chain of desperation” that leads to emergencies and humanitarian disaster.”

He also made urgent calls for action in support of increased investment in smallholder agricultural to ensure food security, climate change adaptation, equitable prosperity and ultimately to remove the root causes that lead to conflict and migration, were shared throughout the two-day conference, held annually in Rome for senior government officials representing IFAD’s 176 member states.

Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Italian Republic, pledged that Italy will continue to play a key role in the eradication of hunger and poverty, conditions he described as "insidious".

Equally, Mattarella brought attention to the increasing number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria and called on leaders of all nations to get involved.

"Saving human lives and reaching out to those fleeing war or misery is a moral duty, a duty for any society that defines itself as free, democratic and truly respectful of human rights," he said.
 
Isaac Oyimah/GEE 
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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

IFAD tasks youths to engage in farming


The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Director for West and Central Africa Ides v.d Does de Willebois has called on African youths in the rural communities to stay in their localities and engage in agriculture.

Willebois made the plea during a chat with NaijaAgroNet, and stressed the need for the continent's youths to venture into farming and produce the food required for consumption in their respective countries.

"What I have seen in Africa for the past 30 years is that many farmers are old and young ones are not taking farming like their forefathers. I don't see the younger ones coming in, and if that continues, we will only be importing food,” Willebois said.

The IFAD official also stressed the need for the rural youths to be enticed to stay and farm in their communities, noting that some of them are ready to do so but are lacking support technically and financially.

He also used the opportunity to inform NaijaAgroNet on the relevance of the Earth Observation Technology which is being piloted in the Gambia and said that the Earth Observation tools is an explanatory tool for policy makers to know what is happening and to check the patterns of the crop, while it gives implementers and farmers the opportunity to see what happens to their environment, farms and so on for over a period of time.

"IFAD became very keen in promoting the tool and over the years, it is fortunate that the technology has become very affordable. That is why together with European Earth Space Agency (EESA) we are trying to see how best we can work in countries in West and Central Africa using this technology to develop base line data. Gambia is the first country to benefit from the technology which  is being piloted in Jarumeh village, Sami District, Central River Region (CRR) north,” he said.

AN/GEE


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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Nwanze advocates farmers train on new agro-tech


Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet
President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr Kanayo Nwanze has canvassed for training of farmers on agriculture technology.
He made this call during his recent working visit to IFAD-assisted Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP) in Asaba, Delta State, saying that training of Nigerian farmers on agro technology would avail them better chance to use fertiliser and water harvesting techniques in farming.
Nwanze lamented the role agriculture played in the history of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) which was put between 70 to 80 per cent before it nose-dived to abysmal less than 10 per cent and said that the discovery of crude oil resulted in the neglect of agriculture leading to the decline in the production of groundnut, cocoa, rice and many other crops.
NaijaAgroNet noted that CBNRMP is being implemented in the nine Niger Delta states of  Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers aimed at improving the standard of living and quality of life of or at least 400,000 poor rural households with emphasis on women and youths.
He explained that the ongoing agricultural transformation agenda of the Federal Government has come to restore the country’s lost glory in agriculture and urged Nigerians to embrace all aspects of agriculture because crude oil would one day finish while agriculture would continue to be renewed by nature.
In their remarks, the IFAD Country Programme Manager in Nigeria, Ms Atsuko Toda, urged the state programme officers to utilise the two-year extension of the programme to ensure the achievement of the goals of the programme, while the CBNRMP National Coordinator Jumbo-Ibeakuzie commended IFAD for cutting down the counterpart funding of the participating local governments from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, to make them more committed to the programme.

*with additional report from NAN
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Thursday, September 12, 2013

World Bank, ADB, IFAD boost agriculture with N200.3bn

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (ADB) have approved $1.23 billion, about N200.3bn to boost food production in Nigeria, according to the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Dr Akinwumi Adesina.

 
He disclosed this NaijaAgroNet in Abuja, during a press meeting on the activities of the ministry, saying that $900 million was approved by the World Bank, $250 million by ADB and $80 million by IFAD.   

He explained that the international community is rallying round government’s effort, saying that $500 million of $900 million obtained from the World Bank was meant for agriculture, while $400 million would support water and irrigation projects.

‘‘As you know, the World Bank has agreed to invest $900 million behind agricultural transformation in Nigeria, $500 million for agriculture and $400 million for water and irrigation. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), their board has approved the release of $80 million to Nigeria to support the agricultural transformation going on in Nigeria. The African Development Bank is considering $250 million in support of the transformation agenda on agriculture,” he said.

He further disclosed that American billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates, has agreed to co-opt with the eminent persons group to advise President Goodluck Jonathan on matters concerning agriculture and health in the country.

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