NEPAD names Yvonne Chaka Chaka nutrition goodwill ambassador - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Princess of Africa, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, internationally-renowned singer and humanitarian has been appointed as the NEPAD Agency’s Goodwill Ambassador for TB and nutrition, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“I am pleased to confirm your appointment as NEPAD Agency Goodwill Ambassador with effect from 1 August 2018. Your commitment to supporting the NEPAD Agency through advocacy and communicating to a broad public will undoubtedly raise the profile of our continental projects,” Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, NEPAD Agency’s CEO stated in his message to Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

Considered a role model throughout the African continent, Yvonne has demonstrated compassion for others throughout her career. She has promoted literacy, women and children’s rights, and is also a champion in the fight against malaria.

Yvonne established the Princess of Africa Foundation in 2006 to complement her humanitarian work. Through this non-profit organisation, she has continued to advocate for various causes and mobilise resources towards projects for people in need.

As the implementing body of the African Union, the NEPAD Agency’s strategic impact areas are industrialisation and wealth-creation; shared prosperity and transformed livelihoods; human capital development and transformed institutions; and environmental sustainability. Given Yvonne’s strong commitment to the values and principles of the NEPAD Agency, she will be an excellent and eloquent advocate of the continent’s development agenda.

As Goodwill Ambassador for the NEPAD Agency, Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s public policy advocacy focus will especially be the promotion of food security and good nutrition as key response components in the fight against TB, as well as public awareness on the challenges and solutions to ending TB in Africa.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Strengthen family farming, solve global agro puzzle - Sonnleitner

The United Nations (UN) Goodwill Ambassador of the International Year of Family Farming and World Farmers Organisation (WFO) Member, Mr Gerd Sonnleitner, has declared that strengthening family farming is the answer to global challenges in agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He made this known to NaijaAgroNet at the occasion of the 14^th Asian Farmers’ Group for Cooperation (AFGC), saying that as a family farmer himself, “It is a sustainable, flexible and resilient model, especially with regards to achieving food security.”

Sonnleitner said he could understand from his own experience the role family farmers play - not only for the development of domestic markets but also with regards to international trade.

“They need to be adequately supported, as the economic risk and the responsibility lie in their hands – especially through the development of policies which favour them,” he said.

The 2-day-event which ended at Saturday, March 1, 2014 was hosted by the Cooperative League of Thailand (CLT) in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that it is co-organised by the Japanese farmers’ organization JA Zenchu which provides the permanent secretariat of the AFGC, offering opportunity to exchange information and experiences and to promote cooperation amongst the participating member organizations.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that AFGC is a platform for farmers organizations was established in 1999 in Tokyo. Members are national farmer and cooperative organizations from nine countries in the Asian monsoon region (India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam). Small-scale family farming is the main model in agriculture in these countries.

Isaac Oyimah/SA/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, people & technology

'7 ways to promote family farming and rural development'

NaijaAgroNet:

The goodwill ambassador for the International Year of Family Farming for the World Farmers Organisation (WFO), Mr Ger Sonnleitner, has outlined some Seven ways to promote family farming and rural development, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The two day conference on family farming in Brussels, according to NaijaAgroNet reports is on “Regional Dialogue on Family Farming: Working towards a strategic approach to promote food security and nutrition.”

The conference is organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the World Farmer’s Organisation (WFO), the World Rural Forum (WRF), and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).

The event taking place in the framework of the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) NaijaAgroNet gathered is the final conference in a series of five held to increase knowledge on the state of family farming, the challenges and the actions and policies needed.

Additionally, NaijaAgroNet reports that the regional dialogue on family farming is a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at identifying best practices in family farming as well as policies and practices in support of family farming around the world.

The year, NaijaAgroNet gathered will serve as a catalyst in the creation of a multi-stakeholder dialogue that will continue after the IYFF comes to an end in order to keep family farming high on the international agenda.

Mr Gerd Sonnleitner, representative of the World Farmers’ Organisation, spoke at the opening ceremony of the conference, and highlighted seven points that are deemed to be fundamental in order to ensure rural development around the world.

He listed good governance, enabling rural development through capacity development programmes for farmers, pointing out that rural development must be a central point on the international development agenda, just as there must be a specific support measures for small farmers aimed at making their farming activities more profitable.

Equally, he advocated for “economically and politically independent farmers’ organizations” stressing that modernization of farming, and a subsequent increase in production, and positive effects on food insecurity cannot be over-emphasised, just as a local and regional focus of rural development programs, and keeping in mind that one size does not fit all, are imperative.

“In this moment of crisis, family farming represents a flexible model, able to adapt to changing contexts and emerging challenges such as climate change, price volatility, and the marginalization of farmers in the value chain,” he said.

Insisting that if all work together and promote this model of farming, the issue of food security will no longer be a global problem.

Remmy Nweke

... Linking agrobiz, people & technology