GMB: Encourage youths on agriculture – Unegbu

NaijaAgroNet:

President-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari has been called upon to set up modalities that would encourage effective youth participation in agriculture, NaijaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that this call was made by an economist, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, on Thursday during an interview session with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said that there is much attention given to oil, as such, ignoring other sectors which would have increased the productive economy of the nation.

“This country has so much in terms of solid minerals and agriculture but because oil was bringing in cheap money, we decided to close our eyes to those areas. The government should fashion out a course whereby we will get away from depending sorely on oil.’’

NaijaAgroNet gathered that he further advised the incoming government to speed up actions that would cub corruption in the country. Unegbu noted that corruption was one of the major causes of most of the sufferings faced by Nigerians and should be the main focus of the new government.

Daniel Nsolibe/Ed, Ops.  

 

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Bank Ki-moon, da Silva call for pro-family farming policies

The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, have called on the international community for commitments during International Year of Family Farming, reports NaijaAgroNet.

They made this call while speaking in support of small-scale family farmers, urging governments to boost support to the world’s small-scale family farmers in order to win the fight against hunger.

Mr. Ban said the International Year of Family Farming being celebrated in 2014 called “for commitments” in a message relayed by Graziano da Silva to the Global Forum and Expo on Family Farming in Budapest.

“Governments can empower family farmers, especially women and youth, by creating policies conducive to equitable and sustainable rural development,” Ban said. “This includes better infrastructure to reduce the amount of food lost after harvest when small-scale producers are unable to store, process and transport their goods.”

The UN Secretary-General also encouraged public and private lenders to provide vital financial services such as credit and insurance.

Ban warned that small-scale family farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change events such as extreme weather, droughts and floods.

Pro-family farming policies

In his address to the forum, Graziano da Silva echoed the UN Secretary-General in urging governments to adopt explicitly pro-family farming policies.

He underlined that family farmers, fisher folk, forest-dependent people, pastoralists and traditional and indigenous communities are key for food security in most countries but at the same time are among the world’s most vulnerable populations.

A recent study of 93 countries shows that family farms account for over 90 percent of all farm holdings, he told the forum.

Family farmers also manage most of the world’s farm land, including 63 percent in Europe, he said.

“Apart from producing a high proportion of the food we eat, family farmers are by far the biggest source of employment in the world,” the Director-General stressed, adding that they are also the guardians of the world’s agro-biodiversity and natural resources.

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