Rome Water Dialogue underway @FAO - NaijaAgroNet

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A one-day hybrid event has been slated to hold at the headquarters of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome on 29 November, starting at 09: 00 CET, ahead of the 2023 World Water Conference, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Water is central to agriculture, which accounts for 72 percent of global freshwater withdrawals. And while awareness of water’s importance is growing, much more still needs to be done to value and manage it in a coordinated and holistic way to achieve all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

'The Future of Everything is here @SDG'

NaijaAgroNet:

The joint meeting of the United Nations General Assembly Second Committee and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will have a special focus on “The Future of Everything—Sustainable Development in the Age of Rapid Technological Change” reports NaijaAgroNet.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also called artificial intelligence “a new frontier” with “advances moving at warp speed.

He pointed out that nowadays, driverless cars, advanced medical diagnosis, 3D printing, artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in the economy today, and it can fundamentally reshape global and local economies in the years to come. The impacts on communities and societies could be profound.

To place the issue of artificial intelligence on the international agenda, experts from Governments, academia, business and civil society, will gather at UN Headquarters in New York on 11 October, to identify options to harness the potential of rapid technological change and innovation towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The life-like robot “Sophia,” he noted has made many public appearances, and will also participate in the event.

“Artificial Intelligence has the potential to accelerate progress towards a dignified life, in peace and prosperity, for all people,” said Mr. Guterres. “The time has arrived for all of us – governments, industry and civil society – to consider how artificial intelligence will affect our future.”

The UN discussion is intended to identify options on how the potential of technological change can be harnessed to achieve sustainable development. The experts, covering a range of areas, will discuss the key trends in technology and innovation in recent years, and how they have had differential impacts on people and prosperity.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Women entrepreneurs hold ace for successful SDGs – Fotabong

 NaijaAgroNet:

The Director of Programmes at the NEPAD Agency, Mrs Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong, has said that women entrepreneurs hold the ace for successful achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reports NaijaAgroNet.

In a key keynote at the 2nd Conference for Women in Agribusiness Durban, South Africa, Mrs Fotabong noted that in every region of the world, more and more women are seeking economic opportunity and self- determination through enterprise creation. 

The growth of women’s entrepreneurship, she said, is frequently cited on an anecdotal basis, and is increasingly covered and commented upon in the business media.

She pointed out that expectation is that by 2018, an estimated 9.72 million small, business-related jobs would be created and female entrepreneurs would contribute more than 50 per cent in this job creation space. 

Statistically, she said, nature proves that women are becoming more comfortable in assuming leadership position and creating job opportunities on a large-scale1.

“Women starting up in business tend to provide a more immediate contribution to the economy: Around one in five women come into self-employment from unemployment compared with around one in fifteen for men,” she said.

Mrs. Fotabong emphasized that women have power to contribute more to African economies, asserting, “Entrepreneurship is critical to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the inter-governmentally agreed set of targets for international development leading up to 2030.”

The MEC for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in KwaZulu-Natal, Mr. Cyril Xaba said that the heart of the strategy for agrarian transformation is the development of the small-scale farmer.

. “If the statistics are examined more closely, it actually means unleashing the potential of women in agriculture,” he said.

Chairperson, Agribusiness Development Agency, Dr. Martha Mbatha said that women are still the major producers of food in Africa; producing between 60 to 80 percent of the food output. 

She contended that it is important to take heed of women’s voices in agribusiness, whose humility is at times mistaken for ignorance.

Corraborating Dr. Martha, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Representative for South Africa Dr Tobias Takavarasha, reiterated that women play an indispensable role in agriculture and food security. 

Dr Takavarasha further stated that partnerships in maximising women’s potential in agribusiness entrepreneurship remain critical. Therefore, women who excel in the agrarian sector need to be given due recognition.

NaijaAgroNet further reports that a press statement endorsed by Mwanja Ng’anjo and Teko Nklapo both of NEPAD agency notes that the exhibition at the conference provided female exhibitors the space to showcase their value-add agricultural products. About 200 participants at the conference had the opportunity to also dialogue and share their experiences in agribusiness. 

In addition, there is capacity building training provided in the area of agribusiness processes.

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pix: NEPAD PICD Director, Mrs Estherine Fotabong, with Mr Cyril Xaba [on her left] MEC of Agriculture & Rural Development in KwaZulu-Natal, visiting one of the stands at the conference exhibition

Serena Williams, Kolo Touré, Neymar partner UNICEF on World’s Largest Lesson

NaijaAgroNet:

The Global Goals campaign and UNICEF have launched the world’s largest lesson to teach children from over 100 countries about the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in collaboration with celebrities including Serena Williams, Kolo Toure, Neymar among others in preparation to be adopted by the UN General Assembly later this month. 

NaijaAgroNet gathered that as part of the campaign to tell everyone about the Global Goals, the World’s Largest Lesson will engage children and young people in the global effort to build a more sustainable future for every citizen. 

The initiative, NaijaAgroNet also gathered, has already attracted support from influential leaders and public figures including Eminent Advocate for UNICEF Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan; UNICEF ambassadors Nancy Ajram and Serena Williams; PLAN International global ambassador Freida Pinto; and Dani Alves, Hrithik Roshan, Kolo Touré, and Neymar and the Neymar Jr. Institute.  

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said that the World’s Largest Lesson will do more than teach children about the global goals. Stressing that it will engage them in the effort to achieve those goals – educating them about the challenges that are shaping their futures and encouraging them to drive change in their own communities.

“Young people can help achieve the global goals by holding their leaders accountable for the promises they are making – and by holding themselves accountable for building a better future for everyone,” he said.  

The World’s Largest Lesson, UNICEF official said, will be held in classrooms on every continent during the week of 28 September. 

“A potential 500 million girls and boys between the ages of 8 and 14 will have the chance to learn about the Global Goals, which range from ending extreme poverty for all people everywhere, to tackling climate change, and giving all children the opportunity to gain a quality primary and secondary education. Government leaders and ministers from a number of countries will be teaching and participating in lessons,” UNICEF said.
Specifically created lesson materials, NaijaAgroNet gathered include an animated film by Aardman and author and education expert Sir Ken Robinson that introduces the Global Goals, and a downloadable comic book by Josh Elder, Karl Kesel and Grace Allison. Some of the public figures backing the campaign have recorded their own introductions to the World’s Largest Lesson, including Serena Williams, Kolo Touré, Neymar and Dani Alves. Additional lesson plans and information are available for teachers to select based on the themes most relevant for their pupils.

“The World’s Largest Lesson is a fantastic opportunity to tell all children, everywhere what the Global Goals are and how they can play their part to make sure they are achieved,” said Richard Curtis, founder of the Global Goals campaign. “It would be wonderful if all teachers could make sure the World’s Largest Lesson is taught at their school. By making the Global Goals famous we can give them the best chance of working around the world – and help make us the first generation to end extreme poverty, the most determined generation in history to end injustice and inequality, and the last generation to be threatened by climate change.”

The World’s Largest Lesson provides a unique opportunity to foster global citizenship in schools across the world. It supports student learning across a range of subject areas such as science, geography, citizenship and technology and helps teachers explore important global issues such as human rights, poverty and climate change. 

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SDGs take effect September

NaijaAgroNet

The United Nations (UN's) new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that details the investments needed to eradicate world hunger by 2030 is expected to take effect from September,2015, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Director-General José Graziano Da Silva at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said additional investments in social protection and rural development is necessary.

"Through the SDGs and the Accord, the world has declared: ‘Our goal is to end poverty and hunger,'" da Silva said while addressing world leaders, civil society and private sector groups gathered for the conference plenary, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Significant boosts, according to him, is therefore required in investment in both social protection and rural development to ensure that every person has adequate access to food all year long, and improve the productivity, incomes and livelihoods of the poor, he stated.

Graziano da Silva's remarks, NaijaAgroNet gathered, follow the release of a report by FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) that details the investments needed to eradicate world hunger by 2030 - a key aim of the SDGs to be adopted in September.

To make hunger history by 2030, the UN food agencies estimate that an additional $267 billion, about N53.1trillion per year on average needs to be invested in rural and urban areas, as well as in social protection measures that give poor people access to food and the means to improve their own livelihoods.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

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