Ken Lohento joins 2021 AgriHack judges - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

The Digital Innovation Strategy Consultant with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Mr. Ken Lohento, has been named alongside Ebunoluwa Bolodeoku of Heifer International and six others as confirmed judges for the 2021 Pitch AgriHack, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Ken Lohento

Other members of the judge panel, NaijaAgroNet gathered include Elisee Kamanzi and William Matovu of Heifer International, Nixon Gecheo of AGRA, Barbra Musata of Corteva Agriscience, Grace Vuhya Obeda and Hafou Toure-Samb of African Development Bank.

NDLEA joins ‘Enhanced FOI Hall of Shame’ - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has inducted the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) into its “Enhanced Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame”, saying its attitude towards the FOI Act smacked of arrogance and lawlessness as it has consistently refused to comply with the Act, reports NaijaAgroNet.

MRA told NaijaAgroNet through the Programme Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, that it would take legal action against the agency to compel it to comply with its obligations under the Act.

“It is really quite surprising that the NDLEA, an agency established by Law and given specific responsibilities and powers by the same Act of Parliament, would deliberately decide to disregard another Law validly made by the National Assembly, without recognizing that in so doing, it is in fact depriving itself of the moral right and authority to enforce its own enabling law,” he said.

The NDLEAis tasked with coordinating all drug laws and enforcement functions conferred on any person or authority, including Ministers in the Government of the Federation; enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement to suppress illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; strengthening and enhancing effective legal means for international cooperation in criminal matters for suppressing the international activities of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; and strengthening co-operation with the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the police force, customs agencies, immigration agencies, welfare officials, health officials and other law enforcement agencies in the eradication of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Noting that these are enormous responsibilities placed on the agency by the same type of instrument that is the foundation of the FOI Act, Mr. Longe contended that by treating the Act with disdain and refusing to implement it, the NDLEA was in effect contesting the authority of the Federal Government, including the National Assembly and the President, to make such a Law in total ignorance of the fact that is own existence and legitimacy is dependent on upholding and vindicating the authority of the Government.

He outlined the failings of the agency regarding the implementation of the FOI Act, observing that in total disregard of the mandatory provisions of section 29 of the Act, the agency had neglected to submit to the Attorney-General of the Federation, seven annual reports on its implementation of the Act and make the reports available to the public by different means, as required by the Act.

According to Mr. Longe, between 2011 and 2019, the NDLEA has submitted only one report to the Attorney-General of the Federation for the year 2012, out of the eight reports that it ought to have submitted as at February 1, 2019.

Besides, he said, although Section 13 of the Act requires every public institution to which it applies to ensure the provision of appropriate training for its officials on the public’s right of access to information and records held by it for the effective implementation of the Act, the NDLEA has, for all the eight years that the Act has been in existence failed to comply with this provision.

Mr. Longe noted that that there is no information on the NDLEA’s website or anywhere else about whom has designated as its FOI Desk Officer, as required by the FOI Act while the list of FOI Desk Officers and their contact details for various federal public institutions, compiled by the Attorney General of the Federation, also does not include any official from the NDLEA.

He said the NDLEA had failed to designate such an FOI Desk Officer despite repeated requests and reminders from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to all public institutions for them to appoint such officials and send their names and contact details to the office.

Mr. Longe explained that there are 16 types of information that section 2(3)(a-f) and (4) of the FOI Act requires every public institution to publish proactively and disseminate widely even without anyone applying for such information. But he said the NDLEA has only published one of these categories of information on its website, leaving 15 others unpublished.

According to him, the only class of records that the NDLEA has proactively published is the descriptions of the agency and its responsibilities, including details of the programmes and functions of each of its directorates as well as the addresses of its commands in the 36 states of the federation.

Mr. Longe stressed that the NDLEA had failed to publish a list of all classes of records under its control;a list of manuals used by its employees; documents containing its substantive rules;a list of materials containing information relating to any grant or contract made by or between the NDLEA and any other public institution or private organization; documents containing information relating to its receipt or expenditure of funds, which are among the categories of information that the FOI requires all public institutions, including the NDLEA, to proactively publish and disseminate widely.

He recalled that on October 2, 2018, the same NDLEA was inducted into MRA’s FOI Hall of Shame for these acts of non-compliance with the FOI Act, noting that the agency had nonetheless made no effort to correct these lapses or take necessary steps to enable it comply with its obligations under the Law.

Isaac Oyimah/editor

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Agricultural Research Council joins ‘FOI Hall of Shame’ - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) on Monday named the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) this week’s inductee into the “Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame” for consistently violating the provisions of the FOI Act over the past seven years, thereby denying Nigerians the right to information in the agricultural development sector, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The ARCN was established by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act of 1999 with its functions including preparingannual budgets for agricultural research, training and extension programmes of the institutes under its aegis and receiving grants for allocation to agricultural institutes for the implementation of their annual programmes as well as to universities and other bodies for special research or training projects.

Announcing the induction of the ARCN into the FOI Hall of Shame in a statement in Lagos, MRA’s Programme Officer, Mr. Idowu Adewale, highlighted several failings of the public institution regarding the implementation of the FOI Act which led to its censure by MRA.

He noted that although the ARCN has an active website, it has not taken advantage of this to fulfill its proactive disclosure obligations by publishing on the website the categories of information listed for proactive disclosure under Section 2(3) of the FOI Act.

According to Mr. Adewale, there is no information on ARCN’s website regarding the fund allocations for agricultural research purposes; the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution; the names, salaries, titles, and dates of employment of employees and officers of the institution; the list of files containing applications for contracts, permits, grants, licenses or agreements, among several other categories of  information, records and documents listed in Section 2 (3) of the FOI Act that must be proactively published by every public institution.

He criticized the ARCN for its lack of responsiveness to requests for information from members of the public, citing in particular, its refusal to respond to an application for information dated August 2, 2016, submitted to it by Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), a non-governmental organization based in Abuja, for a list of the contracts awarded by the ARCN in 2015 and its procurement plan for 2016.

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Environmental institute ISPRA joins FAO’s renewed partnership - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Italian Institute for Environmental Research and Protection (ISPRA) has joined FAO and three of Italy's main research institutions - the National Research Council (CNR), the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), and the National Agency for New Technologies,  Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) - in a partnership aimed at enhancing sustainable food production and nutrition in developing countries, reports NaijaAgroNet.

"The world is facing unprecedented global challenges that affect the long-term sustainability of food and agriculture systems, impacting global food security and the livelihoods of millions of family farmers worldwide," said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General and Natural Resources Coordinator.  

With a world population expected to grow to nearly 10 billion people in 2050, , FAO estimates that agricultural output will need to increase by almost 50 percent compared to 2012 to meet projected food demand. Research is going to be crucial to help countries find the right balance between increasing agricultural productivity while sustainably managing valuable natural resources and conserving ecosystems.

"Italy's top research institutions can provide crucial expertise, information and science to move towards sustainable food systems and  the achievement of Zero Hunger by 2030," Semedo added.

"With this wide-ranging cooperation agreement Italy can better support FAO in the field of agriculture innovation for family farmers and smallholders. Together, we can  transform  agriculture and food systems to make them sustainable in innovative ways!" said Ambassador Pierfrancesco Sacco, Permanent Representative of the Italian Republic to the UN Agencies in Rome during the signing of the partnership. 

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Fighting malnutrition: Aliko Dangote Foundation joins global leaders, pledges US$100m for Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

The Global Nutrition Summit 2017 ended in the city of Milan, Italy, with Aliko Dangote Foundation joining global crusade with a pledge of $100m for Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Aliko Dangote Foundation, NaijaAgroNet gathered is on a mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the most needy areas of Nigeria, specifically the North East and North West.

The summit which convened governments, international agencies, foundations, civil society organisations and businesses to accelerate the global response to malnutrition, underlined the cause of nearly half of all global child deaths.

NaijaAgroNet reports that a major highlight of the Summit was the pledge by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to invest US$100 million over five years to tackle malnutrition in the worst-affected parts of Nigeria.

“The Aliko Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic organization of Aliko Dangote, founder and Executive Chairman of the Dangote Group, Africa’s largest homegrown conglomerate.

The Global Nutrition Summit is the global forum of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2026).

This year’s edition, NaijaAgroNet reports was held in close partnership with a number of international stakeholders including the U.K.’s Department for International Development, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Coalition on Advocacy for Nutrition.

The governments of Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Zambia all made commitments to expand their nutrition programmes and the Summit succeeded in galvanizing US3.4 billion according to the organisers.

Malnutrition affects every country in the world in various forms, however Africa is particularly hard hit and Nigeria is home to the highest numbers of malnourished children.

Almost half of the one million children who die before the age of five every year in Nigeria, die of malnutrition as the underlying cause. Without the proper nutrients during the first 1,000 days of life starting from conception up to their second birthday, children are less likely to survive childhood diseases such as malaria and pneumonia, and are less likely to escape poverty as adults.

Experts say, these children become physically and cognitively stunted, a fate that has befallen 11 million of Nigeria’s children under five.

The Aliko Dangote Foundation’s Managing Director and CEO Zouera Youssoufou said: “Nigeria’s high malnutrition rate is undermining progress towards improving child health and survival and putting the brakes on economic development. By investing in nutrition, we aim to directly improve the lives of Nigerian families and to empower our citizens to reach their full potential.”

The Global Nutrition Report 2017, launched at the Summit, showed that, in spite of progress, 155 million children globally are still stunted and the world is off track on meeting internationally agreed nutrition targets. Financing to tackle malnutrition has been alarmingly low. Donors spend about 0.5 percent of overseas aid on nutrition, and countries allocate between one and two percent of their health budgets to the issue.

“The global malnutrition crisis endangers the physical and mental wellbeing of present and future generations” said Kofi Annan, speaking at the summit in his capacity as Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation. “Progress in tackling both undernutrition and obesity is possible with targeted commitments, like those made here today. We need further urgent investments so that people, communities and nations can reach their full potential.”

Through his Foundation, since 1993, Aliko Dangote has made significant social investments in health, education, economic empowerment and disaster relief. He is now becoming the strongest voice for nutritional leadership nationally and on the continent of Africa. By making this unprecedented US$100 Million commitment, the Aliko Dangote Foundation is on a mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the most needy areas of Nigeria, specifically the North East and North West, where malnutrition has affected millions of lives and crippled the local economy.

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Cape Verde battles unregulated fishing, joins Port State Measures Agreement

NaijAgroNet:

An African country of Cape Verde also known as Cabo Verde, has joined the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), as President Jorge Carlos Fonseca personally delivered his country’s ratification papers for the treaty to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as part of efforts at regulating fishing, reports NaijAgroNet.

The FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva who lauded Cape Verde for this step, invited the head of state to a forthcoming event in Rome to celebrate the first international treaty to focus specifically on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

“Cape Verde is acting responsibly and joining the international community’s effort, led by the United Nations and FAO, to combat practices that limit sustainable access to resources that are important not only to the whole world but in particular to our island country,” said Mr. Fonseca.

NaijAgroNet recalls that as many as 60 countries have signed the PSMA will be at the special event when the Committee on Fisheries begins its 32nd session at FAO’s headquarters on July 11.

Although FAO drafted the treaty and began shepherding its adoption in 2009, the PSMA, which requires all fishing vessels to allow inspectors aboard when they stop in foreign ports, went into legal force earlier this month after over 25 countries including Cuba and the United States of America, Mozambique and the European Union acting on behalf of its 28 members deposited their instruments of adherence.

Graziano da Silva signalled FAO’s willingness to support Cape Verde’s fisheries sector, saying the agency’s collaboration with the country is “very progress”. Current projects include initiatives to tackle desertification, bolster reforestation efforts and to promote marine resources management and the Blue Economy.

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