IFAD shops for President Nwanze’s replacement

NaijaAgroNet:

The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) is now shopping for the replacement of its current president, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze whose second tenure will end om March 31, 2017, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The President of IFAD, NaijaAgroNet gathered is appointed for four years with a two-term limit. NaijaAgroNet reports that in accordance with the Agreement Establishing IFAD, the Governing Council of IFAD will appoint the President at its forthcoming annual meeting on 14-15 February 2017. The appointed President will take office on 1 April 2017.

Under the direction of IFAD’s governing bodies, the President of IFAD is responsible for conducting the business of the Fund and for organizing its work. The President is the chairperson of the Executive Board, whose membership consists of representatives of IFAD’s Member States.

The Secretary of IFAD Council, Cheryl Morden in a letter addressed to the Governor, with the subject “Appoint of the President of IFAD,” and dated September 27, 2016, said  “I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with article 6, section 8(a) of the Agreement Establishing IFAD, the appointment of the President of IFAD will be considered at the fortieth session of the Governing Council, to be held in Rome on 14 and 15 February 2017. Information on relevant procedures and modalities for the appointment of the President of IFAD was made available on 20 June and 26 August 2016, and can be found on IFAD’s Member States Interactive Platform.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the duties and responsibilities of the President are mainly set out in IFAD’s basic documents, just as nominations will be communicated to all Members and the Bureau by the President no later than 21 December 2016.

For the first time, the call for nominations is accompanied by a list of questions to which candidates are invited to respond in writing, bearing in mind that both the responses and the nominations must be received by the Secretary of IFAD by midnight, 1 December 2016, Rome time.

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Buhari, 36 governors: ‘Devote 5% of security votes on child malnutrition’

NaijaAgroNet:

The President, Muhammadu Buhari and all the 36 State Governors have been enjoined to devote, at least, five per cent of their security votes to the fight against child malnutrition in Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Participants at the a two-day Media Dialogue on Child Malnutrition organized by UNICEF in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture for media practitioners, nutritionists and other stakeholders in Nigeria, in Owerri, Imo State made this call.

For participants, there could be no greater threat to the country than the one posed by severe child malnutrition which puts the lives of over 2.5 million innocent children on the line annually.

They also noted that government at all levels should create a specific budget line for Nutrition and ensure prompt release of funds.

Participants equally urged the government to ensure the availability of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) in every state for urgent interventions in cases of emergency.

In addition, they advocated for government to create enabling environment for local production of RUTFs to minimize cost.

According to participants, with more attention given to the prevention of malnutrition to avoid its irreversible consequences such as stunted growth and poor brain development, it is important to important to see malnutrition as part of security for the larger society through provision of at least 5 per cent withdrawn from the supposed ‘security votes’ which comes in various colour across the country.

To this end, participants pointed out that consumption of bio-fortified foods should be encouraged especially among young mothers and children.

While producers of flour, salt, vegetable oil and sugar should be closely monitored by the various regulatory agencies to ensure they are fortified with vitamin A and iodine.

The participants, further called on corporate bodies and individuals should also endeavour to devote part of their earnings to support the global efforts towards eradication of child malnutrition.

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IFAD tasks leaders to break chains of desperation

NaijaAgroNet:

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.

 
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Access to food, a fundamental right says Adeshina

NaijaAgroNet:

The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina has stated that access to food in quantity and quality is a fundamental human right, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He emphasised the importance of agriculture and food security to the growth and development of Africa. “People eat food. Access to food in quantity and quality is a fundamental human right. Just few weeks ago at the United Nations General Assembly, the world took a bold decision to approve the Sustainable Development Goals. In my meeting with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, he told me: ‘The SDGs must succeed in Africa. If they do not succeed there, they cannot be said to have succeeded’.

Adeshina, NaijaAgroNet  gathered, was speaking at a high level conference on agricultural transformation themed ‘Feeding Africa.’ He said nothing is more important than food, adding that while Africa had risen on the back of new discoveries of oil and gas fields, in reality, no one eats oil or gas.

“The other side of the trajectory, which we must face, is that the growth process is highly unequal. Africa has today, one of the highest inequalities in the world. Over 400 million live on less than one dollar per day.

“While poverty rates have fallen in Africa, the absolute number of the poor has increased, and Africa is the only region where the absolute number of the poor increased in the world,” he said.
He maintained that Africa must rise up and unlock its full agricultural potential, adding that with all its bright sunshine, abundant water resources and cheap labour, Africa should be a global powerhouse in food and agriculture, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

“Africa cannot eat potential and there is no market for selling potential. In Nigeria, we unlocked that potential when I was minister of agriculture. This convinces me that agricultural transformation can occur in a very short period of time. The Agricultural Transformation Agenda which implemented wide-ranging reforms with sharp focus on the private sector-led input delivery systems, value chain development and financing systems, led to an increase of 21 million metric tonnes in food production within three years. The food import bill in the country fell from an all-time high of $11 billion, about N2.18 trillion in 2009 to $3.2 billion, about N636. 96 billion by 2014,” he added.

Cyriacus Nnaji with additional report from Leadership/GEE

 
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Planet Earth Institute gets new VC, Trustee

NaijaAgroNet:

The President of Mauritius, Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, has been appointed Vice Chairman and Trustee, Planet Earth Institute (PEI), an international NGO and charity working for the ‘scientific independence of Africa,’ NaijaAgroNet reports.

She will host the official launch of the PEI on an event at the State House on November 23, 2015 along with Dr Álvaro Sobrinho, the PEI’s founding Chairman, and the full Board of Trustees.

NaijaAgroNet  learnt that as Vice Chairman and Trustee of the PEI, Dr. Gurib-Fakim will work alongside fellow Board Members, Dr Álvaro Sobrinho, the prominent Angolan philanthropist and businessman, Rt Hon Lord Boateng, a member of the UK House of Lords, Prof. Sir Christopher Edwards, the distinguished academic, and Prof. Sir MagdiYacoub, the pioneering cardio-thoracic surgeon.

The PEI’s expansion to Mauritius will build upon its international work to support African science, technology and innovation, as well as develop a number of locally focused initiatives to be announced in early 2016.

Gurib-Fakim, NaijaAgroNet reports, became President of the Republic of Mauritius in June 2015, following a highly distinguished career as a scientist and businesswoman, including a role as Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius. In recognition of her significant contributions to scientific research, she was awarded L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2007, report NaijaAgroNet.

The PEI’s launch on November 23will be an exclusive, high-level meeting for a range of key stakeholders including African government ministries, international institutions, private businesses, local and pan-African universities, and civil society.

The private launch will be followed by an expert policy round-table focusing on ‘Mauritius and Africa’s scientific independence: the role of business.’

 
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Africa can be world’s breadbasket

 NaijaAgroNet:

Paul Kagame, president, Republic of Rwanda and K Y Amoako, founder, African Center for Economic Transformation, a Ghana-based think tank have concurred that Africa can and should be the world’s breadbasket, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The two leaders took this stand in their contribution to Project Syndicate, an organisation that provides readers with original, engaging, and thought-provoking commentaries by global leaders and thinkers. By offering incisive perspectives from those who are shaping the world’s economics, politics, science, and culture, creating an unrivaled global venue for informed public debate.

They argued that to realise this vision – and to do it in an environmentally sustainable way – its agricultural sector must undergo a genuine transformation that entails higher capital investment, significant crop diversification, and improved linkages to burgeoning urban consumer markets.

Africa, NaijaAgroNet gathered, must start manufacturing more value-added food products for both internal consumption and export, especially to countries like India and China, where demand is growing.

From Europe and North America to East Asia and Latin America, agricultural advances have proved to be key precursors of industrial development and gains in living standards.  Africa has the added benefit of technologies that other regions lacked at this stage of their agricultural development, from cost-competitive off-grid solar power to mechanisms for mapping soil characteristics, regulating water use, and ensuring farmers’ access to accurate price information.

And innovation is already happening. Rwanda, for example, is working to link agriculture support with broader services like electricity and education. And the country’s farming communities are pioneering participatory decision-making structures for agricultural planning and conflict-resolution mechanisms to settle disputes among growers, NaijaAgroNet  learnt.

To bolster agricultural innovation and modernisation, governments must ensure that farmers have secure titles to their land, and thus an incentive to make the needed investments. The challenge lies in the fact that, in many parts of Africa, land is communally owned, with almost everyone in a village having traditional rights to some farming land – a system that has helped to prevent landlessness and destitution in rural areas.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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 Pix: Paul Kagame and K Y Amoako,

African agriculture, food industry to hit N199.2 trnby 2030

NaijaAgroNet

 

The President and Chief Executive Officer, Earth Alive, David Gilmour, has said that African agriculture and food industry is currently worth US$310 billion, about N61.76trillion and has the opportunity to grow substantially to US $1 trillion about N199.2 trillion by 2030, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He said, African agriculture represents nearly half of the continent's economic activity and the industry is pro-actively looking for safer, healthier and better fertilizer technologies to meet the accelerating demand for organic growing.

“The African agriculture and food industry is currently worth US$310 billion and has the opportunity to grow substantially to US $1 trillion by 2030, offering the prospect of a three-fold increase: bringing more jobs, greater prosperity, less hunger, and significantly more opportunities which will enable farmers in Africa to better compete globally,” he said.

Mr. Gilmour also said his office is receiving accreditation for its innovative microbial biofertilizer - which helps produce larger and healthier crops - will be beneficial to organic and traditional farmers in Africa, and is a critical step for Earth Alive to unlock this enormous market opportunity as we continue to expand registration in new markets globally," Gilmour stated.

Earth Alive Clean Technologies Inc. which aims to be a key player in world markets of environmentally sustainable industrial solutions,  recentlyannounced that it is in the process of completing product registration for its patent-pending microbial biofertilizer in West Africa and Southern  Africa. This arduous and lengthy registration process is necessary for the commercialization of fertilizers and agricultural inputs in most countries worldwide, and the Company anticipates having product registration approval by early 2016.

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AfDB advocates ‘polluter pays’ principle

NaijaAgroNet:

The President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has affirmed the bank’s readiness to champion the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The principle is an environmental law enacted to make the party responsible for producing pollution to pay for the damage done to the natural environment. Adesina added that the bank will work with member countries and partners to support governance reforms, continental risk transfer and risk-sharing schemes. In addition, they will build institutions that will support greater social and economic resilience in the face of climate change.

The AfDB president was addressing a delegation of ministers representing more than 40 nations in Paris to push for a ‘New Deal on Energy in Africa’ to solve Africa’s energy crisis.

Adesina, NaijaAgroNet gathered, also called for strong political will, sharply focused partnerships and ambitious financing programmes to address climate and its impact on the millions of people whose livelihoods are under threat.

“We need to support initiatives that address risks associated with climate change, and build disaster-response capacity and recovery programmes for those who are most affected.
“This includes building their assets, providing catastrophic bonds, weather index insurance schemes, and crop/livestock insurance for farmers and rural populations, he stated.”

The AfDB president also held bilateral talks with Laurent Fabius and Helene Le Gal, Adviser to the President of France, and senior officials of the Agence Française de Développement to discuss strategic partnerships between the Bank and France, NajiaAgroNet learnt.

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Wildlife killing, environmental degradation criminal in Malawi

NaijaAgroNet

The killing of wild animals and degradation of the environment in Malawi have become criminal offences, NaijaAgroNet reports. 

The President of Malawi, Peter Mutharika who emphasized that his government will apply tough laws against people who kill wild animals and degrade the environment was speaking at the launch of Malawi Parliamentary Conservation Caucus, Tuesday, in Lilongwe, adding that his commitment will help stop and reverse the current situation of wildlife and natural resources destruction.

"Those smuggling or killing our wild animals will face the law. Careless cutting down of our trees is a crime. We aim to harness wildlife and environment promotion policies and also working to introduce laws that will make these acts strong crimes," Muthurika stated while adding that the development of the National Conservation Policy is key.

The Minister for Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, Bright Msaka, NaijaAgroNet gathered, said the caucus will see parliamentarians become conservation activists. "We also have the Parliamentary Committee on Environment. In the caucus we are adding 178 more activists. True activists are not those who will point at a river and say it is dirty, but real activists will go out and clean the river," he said.

He went further to say that his ministry had in the meantime detained a truckload of hardwood at the border with Tanzania at Songwe.
Chairperson for Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change, WelaniChilenga said the MPCC caucus aims to build capacity of Members of Parliament (MPs) about the value of conservation of the country's natural resources.

Malawi, NaijaAgroNet  learnt, is losing most of its green cover and wild life to fraudulent loggers and poachers, including foreigners like Europeans who externalize rare fish species and Chinese who kill elephants for their ivory.

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 Pix: The President of Malawi, Peter Mutharika

ARSO President’s Forum to boost inter-African trade

NaijaAgroNet

African Organization for Standardization’s (ARSO) President’s Forum slated for Abuja next month will remove the restrictions placed by the differences in the standards governing trade among African countries, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Dr Joseph Ikem Odumodu, who is the Director-General of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and president of the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO), while speaking to newsmen in his office in Abuja recently, stated that the theme of the seminar is “the Role of Standards in Promoting Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.”

Speaking further, NaijaAgroNet learnt, “Every organism prospers by utilizing the material which every part supplies. But hardly does Africa draw strength from the trade the different countries in the continent engage in because, separated by standards, the countries hardly trade among themselves. Now, ARSO President’s Forum Abuja 2015 is bringing fifty-five heads of national standards bodies (NSB) in Africa together to open the gates of harmonization of standards and let goods and services flow smoothly across the continent”.

 Dr. Odumodu elucidated further that the forum will feature African Day of Standardization seminar in addition to the CEOs Roundtable and the Made in Africa Expo.

 
Participants expected at the forum include manufacturers, service providers, medium and small scale enterprises, investors and representatives of government ministries, departments and agencies. The International Conference Centre, Abuja is the venue of the Forum.

The ARSO President’s Forum, NaijaAgroNet reports, is the aftermath of the 20th ARSO General Assembly endorsement of a proposal for the ARSO President to convene a special forum of NSB chief executives and engage them on ARSO standardization programmes to make Africa one market. The ARSO 20th Assembly took place in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2014.

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