Africa must invest in rural development, agriculture for youth sake - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Africa countries must invest in rural development, and agriculture for youth sake and to checkmate the urban migration, reports NaijaAgroNet. 

The Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organistion (FAO) José Graziano da Silva said this at the weekend, highlighting the importance of focusing on the troubled areas of the Sahel.

As said by him by investing in rural areas and agriculture is crucial to achieve prosperity in Africa and to guarantee the continent's young people an alternative to migration.

"In Africa, we need to invest in rural development aimed at creating jobs and opportunities for young people to remain in rural areas" he said, stressing "We need youth for modern agriculture."

Speaking at the high level  EU-African Alliance in Agriculture event which is part of this week's Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin.

He noted that almost half of Africa's population remains extremely poor and food insecure.

Also, Graziano da Silva said that it is critical to channel public and private investments towards the agricultural sector.

Such interventions are particularly important in the Sahel area which is hit by the impacts of conflicts and climate change is very strong. 

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Nigeria, Arla Foods in talks to develop dairy sector

NaijaAgroNet:

As part of the follow up to the recent meeting between the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Lars Loekke Rasmussen and President Muhammadu Buhari, a high-powered Nigerian delegation from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday held talks in Denmark with Arla Foods on the development of the dairy sector in Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Arla Foods, NaijaAgroNet notes, is one of the world’s largest dairy companies. The visit is Arla’s second milestone in its declared commitment to invest in local production in Nigeria and help create a more sustainable local dairy industry, following the presentation of it's signed letter of intent to Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh. Arla's Letter of Intent was presented in February 2016 at the same meeting where Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kristian Jensen signed a letter of Intent with the Nigerian Minister of Agriculture to cooperate on the development of the local agriculture sector in Nigeria.

The Nigerian delegation was made up of the key line departments responsible for the dairy development comprising Dr. Gideon Mshelbwala, Director, Veterinary Services and Pest Control; Dr. Mrs. Egejuru Eze, Director. Animal Production and Husbandry as well as Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister, Dr. Andrew Kwasari and Hon. Saleh Hassan, Member, House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture.

Welcoming the delegation to one of Arla’s dairy farms, Steen Hadsbjerg, Senior Vice President and Head of Arla Foods for Sub-Saharan Africa, stated that, Nigeria is key to Arla’s ability to sell its farmer owners’ milk in West Africa in the future. 

Hadsbejerg declared, “we understand that developing the Nigerian local dairy industry to create a sustainable value chain that contributes to food security, local jobs and prosperity are important issues for the government. The Nigerian government welcomes companies and initiative that will help this development.”

"The purpose of this visit is for Arla to understand the challenges in developing a sustainable dairy sector in Nigeria and how Arla can most effectively contribute to the solution. It is also for Arla to share our knowledge and experience about how our farmer owners have organised and developed their value chain. The result will benefit Arla’s opportunities whilst ensuring the good development of the dairy market in Nigeria for the benefit of all parties,” Hadsbjerg further said.

Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister, Dr. Andrew Kwasari, said, “this visit has been an eye opener for me. Arla is an organised cooperative that has done very well and work in a sustainable manner. Arla is run by the farmers themselves and to protect the interest of their farmer colleagues and ensure better returns on their milk, they set a higher standard for their milk quality than expected by the government.”

“We hope for a partnership with Arla and knowledge sharing that will help us empower Nigerian farmers who face multiple challenges with logistics, infrastructure, organisation, quality and productivity. We could definitely see Arla as a partner to help build a sustainable dairy industry in Nigeria from the very beginning based on its globally proven concept of 'Dairy enterprise of the farmers, for the farmers by the farmers,” he said.

Speaking during a tour of the Arla facility in Copehangen, Member, House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Hassan Saleh, commended Arla Foods for its high production standard saying, “Arla Foods has demonstrated it is a very organised company and their processes are impeccable resulting in high quality products. I am very impressed with what I have seen and I believe that Arla will be a good partner to help us improve our milk production and make it more sustainable.” 

Saleh also said, “Nigeria will need both local farmers and imported products, so there will be a market for both in the future and I see a strong future for Arla in Nigeria. We will not be self-sufficient for some years to come.”

In continuation of their visit to Denmark, members of the Nigerian delegation also attended round table discussions with Arla and Danish food and agriculture companies where they shared knowledge about farm and dairy technology solutions and discussed potential partnerships to help develop the Nigerian dairy industry.

Nigeria spends $1.3b dollars on dairy imports. The Nigerian government’s target is to double the milk production over the next three to four years so as to meet up with domestic consumption and export. 

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Pix: L-R: Mr. Kasper Thormod Nielson,  Director, Trade Policy, Arla Foods, Mr.Steen Hadsberg, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa, Arla International, Dr. Andrew Kwasari, Senior Technical Assistant to the Minister for Agriculture and Mrs. Heather Akanni,Technical Assistant to the Minister, Quality Control and Standardization during a visit of the Federal government delegation to Arla Foods' Slagelse Dairy farm in Denmark on Wednesday 13, April 2016.

Women cornerstone of agricultural production in Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sunny Echono, said women are the cornerstone of agricultural production, processing, marketing and utilisation in the country, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He added that Nigeria’s agriculture could never achieve any meaningful development without mainstreaming concern into the nation’s policy and programme.

“Women supply 70 per cent of agricultural labour; 50 per cent of animal husbandry related activities and 60 per cent of food processing, yet they have access to only 20 per cent of available agricultural resources They play vital roles in the maintenance of our families, investing as much as 90 per cent of their income.”

NaijaAgroNet learnt that Echono was represented by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Extension, Dele Onorunfemi at the launch of African women in agriculture report titled: “Economic empowerment of African women through equitable participation in agricultural value chains’’ on Monday in Abuja.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Nigeria Country Director, African Development Bank, Ousmane Dore, said Nigerian women contribute close to 70 per cent of agricultural workforce yet get less of accruing returns.

He said the report aimed at contributing to the economic empowerment of African women in agriculture, through identification and proffering of possible solutions to hindrances to women’s active participation in agricultural value chains.

 “Lack of ownership of land and other productive assets due to existing social norms has created a significant negative impact on the family income and the nation’s GDP at large,’’ Mr. Dore said.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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Africa CSOs canvass for more openness, inclusiveness in STC

NaijaAgroNet:

The African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has canvassed for more openness and inclusiveness in the activities of the Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (STC-ARDWE), reports NaijaAgroNet.

Arising from the meeting of the African CSOs Working Group (AWG) at the on-going inaugural conference of the STC on Rule of Procedure held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the group called for a review of the Rule 14 on “Open and Closed Sessions.”

According to the chairman of the group, Mr. Martin Tsoukeu, in a working group report, said that Rule 14 should better be put the other way round by stating that all sessions are open but a decision could be made whether any of these shall be closed.

They also expected that STC-ARDWE recommends to the Ministerial Meeting to reconsider the idea of alleged abolishing of existing Ministerial conferences, in addition to the long-standing request submitted by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), with regards to their relationship with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The African Working Group urged that the STC on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment should be designed in a spirit that could make it an effective coordinating body, rather than a political representation organ.

In addition, AWG, Tsoukeu said, should be made to compliment the functionalities of the existing Ministerial conferences to be renamed or reconstituted, because Ministerial conferences have shown obvious effectiveness.

These, AWG emphasized should be maintained and fully capitalized on in the new STC operating format.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia +NEPAD CAADP CAADP 
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STC-ARDWE extends document grace period to 60 days before sessions

NaijaAgroNet:

The meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, may have resolved to increase the number of days documents of discussion will be made available prior to any meeting, reports NaijaAgroNet

 .

This was part of the fillers from the close door session recommendation from the on-going meeting.

This, our source who declined mention said is to enable expert members participating in such meetings to have ample time to peruse such documents and same time for lengthy discussion in the future on a given subject.

NaijaAgroNet also learnt that the new resolution which means two months is to enable them digest the relevant contents of the document.

Also, some of the objectives and mandates of STC were tweaked by its members to be presented to the Council of Ministers for adoption.

In addition, it was gathered that STC deliberated on the procedures to make the meeting ideal for future and easy engagement.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the Specialized Technical Committees are responsible to the Executive Council of the AU and (STCs) comprised of Ministers responsible for key sectors.

The AU’s Constitutive Act states that STCs could meet as often as necessary and should prepare their own rules of procedure for adoption by the Executive Council.

Although STCs main functions include the preparation of projects and programmes of the Union and submit it to the Executive Council; ensure the supervision, follow-up and the evaluation of the implementation of decisions taken by the organs of the Union; ensure the coordination and harmonization of projects and programmes of the Union; submit to the Executive Council either on its own initiative or at the request of the Executive Council, reports and; recommendations on the implementation of the provisions of the Constitutive Act; and carry out any other functions assigned to it for the purpose of ensuring the implementation of the provisions of the Constitutive Act.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that the Constitutive Act makes provision for seven (7) STC, comprising “The Committee on Rural Economy and Agricultural Matters; The Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs; The Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration Matters; The Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment; The Committee on Transport, Communications and Tourism; The Committee on Health, Labour and Social Affairs; and the Committee on Education, Culture and Human Resources.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) in Addis Ababa 
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Development partners reiterate commitment for Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

Africa’s Development Partners (DP) have reiterated commitment to the growth of the continent with regards to agriculture, rural development, water and environment, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Making this disclosure at the inaugural conference of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment, the representative of the chairman of the European Union (EU) Development Partners Task Team, Ms Anna Burylo, said they are determined to support the aspirational goals set by the African Heads of State in the Malabo Declaration.

“… Our determination to work with you all, our African partners in the spirit of alignment, harmonization, transparency and coordination,” she said.

According to Ms Burylo who heads operations at EU delegation to AU, the inauguration of this Specialised Technical Committee (STC) reconfirms DP support and the place of Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment in the global agenda.

EU Chairman reiterated that both at the global and African levels, DPs are committed to supporting the Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment sector.

“The idea of a Global Partnership for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition emerged back in 2008 in response to the food crisis placing such issues at the top of the international agenda,” she said.

For her, these partnerships have paved the way for initiatives such as L’Aquila, GAFSP, PARM or New Alliance ensued as well as voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests; G20 food security and nutrition framework or voluntary principles for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems.

She pointed out that the recent endorsement of 2014 Malabo Declaration shows clearly articulated commitments on eradicating hunger, halving poverty, boosting intra-Africa trae and enhancing the resilience of production systems and livelihoods to climate change and other shocks, therefore, is a call to action for impact and sustaining the CAADP momentum.

 +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) in Addis Ababa

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STC-ARDWE 5-day inaugural confab kick-off in Addis Ababa

NaijaAgroNet:

The five-day inaugual conference of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE) has opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The meeting which would last till Friday, October 9, NaijaAgroNet reported, came to the fore following the adoption of the configuration of STC and its modalities of operationalization by the African Union Assembly of Heads of the State and Government.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that Specialised Technical Committees are made up of Ministry or senior official s responsible for the concerned specific sectors based on the area of competence.

This special Committees are responsible for preparing projects and programmes of the Union and submitting same to the Executive Council of African Union.

Equally they are expected to meet every two years in order to discharge the responsibilities vested on them by AU assembly.

This conference is organised by the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of AU in partnership with the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA).

The rational, NaijaAgroNet gathered was based on fact that by end of September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly was expected to endorse the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals in addition to the 21st session of the UN Convention on Climate Change by December 2015 as well as the Malabo Declaration on Africa Accelerated Agriculture Growth and Transformation (3AGT) among others.

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Adesina urges Oshiomhole to leverage on ADB

NaijaAgroNet 
 
The former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina  has urged the Edo State Governor, Adams  Oshiomhole to play  politics well,  by leveraging on his  growing relevance at the continental level as the new head of the biggest development financial institution in Africa, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Adeshina said this while reacting to the Governor’s position that the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the immediate past administration was a big scam.

According to information from ministry of Agriculture’s website, Adesina who is currently the president of Africa Development Bank (AFDB), contended that Oshiomole’s claim was “lacking in depth, sound logic and was a calculated attempt to rubbish everything about Goodluck Jonathan’s administration under whose leadership, he was able to perform so creditably.”

His special assistant on media, Dr Olukayode Oyeleye, NaijaAgroNet gathered, said the former agriculture minister regretted that the claim was a bad public relations stunt, not expected from the governor, adding that it was even so when it is considered that Oshiomole’s comments detract from the ATA, a reform that was vigorously pursued and implemented by Dr Akin Adesina.

Oyeleye said it was “uncharitable and against the interest of Nigerian public to politicize issues of agriculture and food security as Governor Oshiomhole did in his criticisms of that sector.

“Nigerians know better and will not allow this governor’s attempt to reinvent the wheel or publicity stunt to derail what is perhaps the most ambitious and successful agricultural blueprint since Nigeria’s independence. He ought to have been asking, for instance, the erudite, resourceful and hardworking former minister, how he was able to achieve so much within so short a time.”

Adesina , NaijaAgroNet learnt, observed that at a time that the nation desperately needed to build upon his achievements as agriculture minister, Oshiomole could only do the Edo people some good by recognizing the fact that lending by commercial banks to agriculture increased from 0.07 per cent in 2011 to five per cent in 2014, while banks lent a total of N27.5 billion to fertilizer and seed companies.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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 Pix:Dr Akinwumi Adesina