COP27: African ministers explore ways to scale up food production, feed continent - NaijaAgroNet

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The African agriculture ministers attending the United Nations climate summit in Egypt reiterated a commitment to work with development partners to unlock the continent’s agriculture potential.

During the special ministerial session, there was a strong consensus that Africa can feed itself if supported with green financing and climate-smart technology to boost agriculture productivity, under the conference of party (COP27).

Expert offers media headstarts to explore open data for improved agriculture produce

NaijaAgroNet:

The Executive Director, Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) Mr. Muchiri Nyaggah has urged African media practitioners to explore some headstarts on open data to encourage improvement in agriculture produce of the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the round-up session at the week-long training for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Journalists Network which ended recently in Nairobi, Kenyan capital, Mr. Nyaggah suggested some five headstarts which he believes will motivate the discuss on open data from the African perspective among practitioners.

He listed the potentials to include the possibility of African media practitioners focusing on progress in agricultural productivity, stunting in children under five, domestic food prices, possible advances in agricultural produce and improving capacity to generate agriculture data cum statistics.

Nyaggah also said these outlines are doable and could be explored before the end of this year, mostly working in collaboration with members of the network.

He expressed optimism that the outcome will be memorable as LDRI and partners are on queue to technically support participants in order to improve their deployment of open data in daily newsroom activities.

“LDRI and its partners will provide technical support in finding datasets, identifying visualization options,” he assured.

In addition, Nyaggah said, some of the suggestions will be exposed on TransformAgriculture.org and selected for the CTA magazine.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that within this project, CTA in partnership with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency as facilitated by Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) tend to improve the lots of African media, using open data.

Further, NaijaAgroNet recollects that the training was part of the Global Open Data for Impact and Capacity Development on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODIVAN) scheme, a Department for International Development (DFID) project, implemented under a joint venture of international partners with the aim to increase production of the agricultural sector, improved nutrition for consumers and more evidence-based policy making, in which these desired changes are based on enabling communities practically engage with open data.

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Pix: Muchiri Nyaggah, Executive Director, LDRI Kenya

N8 Research Partnership to explore food security, agritech

NaijaAgroNet:

The Chairman of the N8 Research Partnership and Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of York, Professor Koen Lamberts, has said that the collaboration is a fantastic agrifood opportunity to explore food security, agritech and consumer health, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the recently launched N8 Research Partnership comprising Manchester, Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and York Universities, Prof. Lamberts told NaijaAgroNet in a press statement by Joe Paxton, from the Media Relations Office, The University of Manchester said they will focus on solutions on agritech and food security.

“The launch of N8 AgriFood is a fantastic opportunity to explore new projects and solutions to the main food security, agritech and consumer health issues across the supply chain," Prof. Lamberts said.

He revealed that the N8 would facilitate academics and researchers to collaborate closely with industry, farmers and the government, and aims at solving the global challenge of ensuring sustainable, resilient and healthy food supplies for everyone.

Keynote speakers at the launch held between June 21 and 22 at Manchester, UK, included Professor Ian Noble, Senior R&D Director at PepsiCo; Professor Ian Boyd, Chief Scientific Adviser for Defra; Tim Benton, UK Champion for Global Food Security; Keith Gill, food industry pioneer and founder of Phileas Fogg crisps and Dr Emma Hennessey, Head of the Science and Innovation team at the Foreign Office.

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Pix: Prof. Koen Lamberts