Marie Claude Bibeau on tour of West Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

The Canadian Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, is on working visit of West African States, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The visit, NaijaAgroNet gathered is part of Canada’s re-engagement with Africa and its commitment to work together to address challenges facing the continent.

 the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, will travel to West Africa from February 1 to 8, 2018.

During her 7-day visit to Senegal and Benin which coincides with International Development Week, the Minister met with woman leaders, development partners and government officials, as well as representatives of La Francophonie institutions, to discuss issues of mutual concern, including efforts to advance the rights of women and girls in Africa.

Further, discussions would focus on education, the need for greater access to sexual and reproductive health services; decreasing child, early and forced marriages; and providing humanitarian assistance in countries affected by drought and conflict.

Minister Bibeau will revisit Benin for the first time since she started her career in the West African country in the 1990s. She will also participate in Replenishment 2020, the Global Partnership for Education’s Financing Conference, from February 1 and 2 in Senegal to reiterate Canada’s long-term commitment to quality education.

Uj. N. Dominic/ED, Ops

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Pix: Marie-Claude Bibeau - Canadian Minister

Respite for millions of children in West Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

Respite may have come the way of millions of children in West Africa, as all member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to a range of concrete measures to protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

 Arising from the ECOWAS First Ladies’ Forum in Niamey, which ended Thursday, October 5, 2017, Ministers responsible for the care and protection of children across the 15 Member States adopted on 4 October the ECOWAS Strategic Framework for Strengthening National Child Protection Systems to Prevent and Respond to Violence, Abuse and Exploitation against Children in West Africa.

In doing so they are committing to concrete measures to protect children from the most damaging forms of abuse, by focusing on five priority areas: sexual, physical and emotional violence against children, including female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C); child marriage; child labour; civil registration and vital statistics; and children on the move.

Led by the ECOWAS Commission, the Strategic Framework was developed in collaboration with a Regional Child Protection Working Group comprised of United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations and networks.

Almost 9 out of 10 children in West Africa experience violent discipline. While child marriage exists throughout the continent, it is especially prevalent in West Africa, which hosts six out of the ten countries with the highest rates of child marriage in the world: about four in ten young women in West Africa were married off as children. Less than one in two children in West Africa have a birth certificate, which is their basic right to an identity. In addition, the region is the theatre of complex migration routes where children are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

“The Ministerial adoption marks a major step forward for the protection of children in our region”, said ECOWAS’ Commissioner for Social Affairs, Dr. Fatimata Dia Sow, whose organization convened the gathering of experts and ministers from the 15 Member States. “We stand together more strongly than ever to ensure children are safe and protected. With the right framework, the right actions, the right resources and the right positive changes in attitudes and practices, we can ensure they have an opportunity to fully contribute to our societies.”

Strong child protection systems can ensure that no child falls between the cracks. They provide the surest safeguards against child abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of violence through a concerted effort between formal and informal actors. The adoption of the Child Protection Framework provides a joint platform for action on the protection priorities for children. As programmes for children are strengthened at national and community level, Ministerial commitments made during this week’s meeting will be submitted for approval at the next ECOWAS Heads of State meeting in December 2017.

“In West Africa, urgent action is needed to address the acute vulnerabilities of children”, said Andy Brooks, the Chair of the Regional Child Protection Working Group. “We count on the commitment shown by the Ministers being echoed and supported by the Heads of States and the First Ladies’ network in West Africa. We will continue to support States to strengthen services on the ground and the ECOWAS Commission in tracking accountabilities to commitments made here today.”

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Ghana to host West Africa Agrofood

NaijaAgroNet:

The city of Accra, capital of Ghana, is warming up to host the 2017 West Africa Agrofood show billed for December this year, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The German trade fair specialists, FairTrade disclosed this to NaijaAgroNet, noting that the 4th edition of Agrofood & Plastprintpack West Africa slated for 05-07 December 2017 at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that producers of process and packaging technology obviously see great chances for business in Ghana and the surrounding West African countries, hence they are participating in this event.

Official national pavilions, NaijaAgroNet gathered, have been confirmed by Algeria, Belarus, France and the Netherlands, in addition to leading exhibitors from 10 countries.

According to VDMA German Food Processing and Packaging Association, Ghanaian imports of process and packaging technology increased by 10 per cent in 2016 to 77 million euro whereas West African imports of the same also went up by 10 per cent to 557 million euro.

Also, the association said, Ghanaian imports in the plastics, printing and packaging sector rose sharply last year, as Plastics technology up 4 per cent to 23.4 million euro; Printing and paper technology up 32 per cent to 22.4 million euro; and Packaging technology up 2 per cent to 30.1 million euro.

FairTrade told NaijaAgroNet they were not surprised that producers of process and packaging technology saw the opportunity in Ghana and its surrounding West African countries.

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Avian flu to gulp $20m

NaijaAgroNet

The resurgence of the deadly avian flu virus H5N1 across West Africa has sent jitters in the spine of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as it has call for a whopping $20 million, about N3.98billion to stem spread of the disease to all the parts of the region, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana are said to be among countries where the avian flu have made a comeback following outbreaks of the virus in poultry farms, markets and family holdings in these countries.

The disease comes even as some countries in West Africa are still recovering from, and in some cases still battling, Ebola. Avian flu could trigger a mass death of chicken – a nutritious and inexpensive source of food for many people– with detrimental impacts on diets and on the economy of the region, exacerbating an already difficult situation.

To save other countries from the flu, NaijaAgroNet learnt, FAO has embarked on assessment missions to Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Togo – to undertake in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health, the African Union, and in some cases with the World Bank –  the existence or otherwise cases of H5N1 in their poultries because these countries and other countries in the Sub-Region need to put preventive  measures in place.

Chief of FAO’s Animal Health Service Division, Juan Lubroth, said “Based on what we do know, there is a real risk of further virus spread. Urgent action is needed to strengthen veterinary investigation and reporting systems in the region and tackle the disease at the root, before there is a spillover to humans.”

While the first incursion of the H5N1 in West Africa occurred in 2006 it was eliminated by 2008. In late 2014, however, the virus was re-introduced in Nigeria, where it spread rapidly in the following three months - to date more than 1.6 million birds have been culled or have died from the virus, NaijaAgroNet reports.

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West Africa food security: Small-scale farmers must have access to markets

NaijaAgroNet:

A new study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) made available to NaijaAgroNet shows that for West Africa to surmount its food security challenges, small-scale farmers must have greater access to markets.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the study, entitled Rebuilding West Africa’s Food Potential, presented a range of successful case studies since the region stepped up investments in agricultural development in the wake of the world food crisis in 2007-2008. 

The study revealed to NaijaAgroNet that countries could benefit significantly from policy support that targets broader agricultural development and greater coordination among producers, private industry and the public and financial sectors. 

FAO Senior Economist, Aziz Elbehri, who edited the publication told NaijaAgroNet that although some West African countries are doing better than others, the region has lagged behind other parts of Africa in terms of basic infrastructure, investments, research and development and agricultural processing.

The book reasons, Elbehri said that the region should direct greater efforts to develop its staple food crops, which in the past have been sidelined in favour of a few export commodities. 

NaijaAgroNet  noted that Maize and cassava, which are two of the main pillars of West Africa’s food security, could form the backbone for a thriving agro-industry given their multiple market applications, the publication suggests. 

“There is a huge production deficit in rice in the region, which currently imports an unsustainable 70 per cent of what it consumes,” FAO said, stressing that yields of sorghum and millet which are critically important for the food security of 100 million people in the Sahel, could double or triple with the help of improved seed varieties and fertilizer. Pointing out that providing farmers’ with the means to boost the yields of staple food crops is not enough.


“Farmers have little incentive to increase production if they can’t sell their crops because of cheaper and easily accessible imports. Policy and market incentives are needed to improve the competitiveness of locally grown crops and increase their share in the consumer market,” Elbehri said. 

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the study also underscored the importance of continued investment in export crops such as cotton, coffee and cocoa, which play a significant role in generating income and employment, and flags tropical fruit and vegetables and other emerging niche products like sesame and cashew nuts as another viable area for export growth. 


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Cereal price remain high in Nigeria despite good harvest

Maize Plant

Despite a bountiful harvest in 2011 in Nigeria, the market price of cereal is still on the upward trend.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the forecast for cereals production for 2012 set a new record at 2,371 million tonnes as against 2,344 million tonnes of 2011.

Resources made available to NaijaAgroNet by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed that the growing price of cereal is attributable to the removal of fuel subsidy in the early days of 2012 by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Other factors responsible for the price hike include civil strive and insecurity in the northern part of the country, strong cereal demand from the brewing as well as the huge demand from poultry sector.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that in spite of the huge record forecast, the Sahel belt still has a reduction in cereal production which also affected supplies.

Ironically, FAO affirmed that some sub-regions recorded price reductions during the early period of the harvest season, citing an instance with Damanau International Market in Kano, which recorded the highest decline in the West Africa region within this period.

According the UN agency, Dawanau International Market recorded a 12 per cent and 15 per cent decline in the prices of maize and sorghum respectively compared a month prior to harvest.

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