She Leads Africa launches 2017 accelerators for women

NaijaAgroNet:

A social enterprise dedicated to supporting young African women towards professionalism, the She Leads Africa (SLA) has launched its 2017 accelerators programme to last for some 90 days, reports NaijaAgroNet.

SLA, NaijaAgroNet gathered focuses on guiding young African women to success through online content and offline programmes, leveraging on its alliances.

NaijaAgroNet  also reports that the 2017 Accelerator consists of one week residencies in the four locations where entrepreneurs would receive training from the SLA team and business leaders and experts.

The four locations across Nigeria, NaijaAgroNet reports include the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Kaduna.

NaijaAgroNet  further reports that the 3-month programme has been designed to identify, support and fund the next generation of Nigeria’s brightest entrepreneurs.

According to the organisers, during these residencies, entrepreneurs will be focused on business strategy, growth, marketing, finance and distribution.

“They will also receive a host of on and offline training as well as an opportunity to pitch their business to national and international investors,” NaijaAgroNet  was told in a press statement.

This 2017 SLA Accelerator is run in partnership with the Work in Progress! Alliance - a consortium of Oxfam, Butterfly Works and VC4A focused on driving job creation and youth employment in Nigeria. The Kaduna Agribusiness cohort is sponsored by OCP.

Entrepreneurs interested in applying should visit www.SheLeadsAfrica.org/accelerator for more information on or before June 25, 2017.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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From sea to plate: FAO leads tracking fish to keep illegal catches offshore

NaijaAgroNet:

A Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)-led is pushing for the establishment of internationally agreed standards that could guide the development of catch documentation schemes aimed at keeping illegally caught fish off store-shelves and consumers' plates has taken an important step forward, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A set of draft Voluntary Guidelines on Catch Documentation Schemes was last week unanimously adopted by a technical consultation that brought a 5-year negotiation effort to a close, and are now poised for adoption by all FAO Members at the UN agency's upcoming bi-annual governing conference (Rome 3-8 July 2017).

Once approved by the Conference, the guidelines will act as an internationally-recognized "gold standard" reference for governments and businesses looking to establish systems that can trace fish from their point of capture through the entire supply chain - from "sea to plate" - in order to stop illegally caught fish from entering the marketplace.

Globally, some 91-93 million tonnes of fish are captured each year, and seafood products are among the world's most widely traded food commodities, with an export value of $142 billion in 2016.

On top of that, Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to strip as much as 26 million additional tonnes of fish from the oceans annually, damaging marine ecosystems and sabotaging efforts to sustainably manage fisheries.

Catch documentation schemes (CDS) offer a way to cut down on trade in illegal fish. The basic concept: shipments of fish are certified by national authorities as being caught legally and in compliance with best practices; certifying hard-copy documentation then accompanies the fish as they are processed and marketed nationally or internationally. Only fish with valid documentation can be exported or traded to markets where a CDS requirement exists.

Until recently, only a few such schemes had been established, and mostly focusing on high-value species whose overexploitation prompted particular concern, such as Chilean Seabass harvested in Antarctic waters, or Atlantic and Southern Bluefin Tuna.

But with seafood trade at record highs and consumer demand still rising, catch documentation schemes are increasingly seen as a tool that could be more widely applied. Indeed, the EU since 2010 has used a CDS that covers all fish shipments imported into the bloc from overseas; and in 2016, the United States announced its own scheme, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE 

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Aisha Buhari leads walk on malnutrition @IDP camps

NaijaAgroNet:

Nigeria's First Lady, Aisha Buhari has led many Nigerians to a walk to draw attention to the increasing rate of malnutrition in Internally Displaced Persons camps in the North East, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The event, NaijaAgroNet gathered was attended by some victims from selected IDPs camps in Abuja, with the theme: "Charity Walk Against Malnutrition: Serve a meal to save a soul", was jointly organised by Victims of Violence Charity Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation; World Medical Relief, Detroit, USA; Society of Petroleum Engineers and supported by SUNTrust Bank.

Apart from Aisha Buhari, other personalities who participated in the walk include the Managing Director of SUNTrust Bank, Muhammad Jibrin; wife of Governor of Zamfara State, Hajia Asmau Abdullaziz Yari; chairman/CEO of Victims of Violence Charity Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Sulaiman Gumi; West Africa Coordinator, World Medical Relief, Detroit, USA, Dr. Isa Abubakar Saddiq and FCT section chairman, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Salau Tahir. 

The First Lady who was represented by wife of Nasarawa State governor, Hajia Miriam Al-Makura, said the walk would have a great impact on the fight against malnutrition in the country, particularly in the North East.

She said, "This is an awareness walk; for people who don’t know, when they see us walking, they will ask what is happening. And people will tell them this is an awareness walk for people with malnutrition in the IDP camps. I think it  will go a long way in uplifting the life of people living in the IDP camps.

"The First Lady has asked me to represent her in this very laudable project. Like you know she (Aisha Buhari) has a passion for women, children and the youths of this country and her program “Future Assured”, has done a lot in collaboration with other organisations to uplift the living standard of people living in the IDP camps in Maiduguri, Yola and other places. 

"That is why she has asked me personally to be here to represent her and she has asked me to call on well-meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the people living in the IDP camps. That is why we have an organization like this, the Federal Government cannot do it alone. We need people and philanthropists to come out and assist in whichever way they can."

The wife of Governor of Zamfara State, Hajia Asmau Abdullaziz Yari, said anything that has to do with malnutrition campaign for children and the less-privileged would be interesting to wives of Governors.

"Wives of Governors will play a passionate role in that and I think we are all aware of what the First Lady Hajia Aisha Buhari has done about malnutrition and we have all keyed into this programme. As wives of governors, this is something like creating awareness for Nigerians to see where the problem is, how to tackle it and how to go about it. So, really this is charity walk and it is really worth coming out, it is really worth doing. I am proud of the organisers of this walk", she stressed.

According to her, although Zamfara State "is a very conservative state", she would convene a women's forum and other stakeholders that would show them the extent of malnutrition, adding "but not necessary a walk."        

Gumi recalled that before he went to Bama it was between five to six children dying of malnutrition almost everyday, adding that after about two months with intervention from VoVCF and other INGOs, "we stopped seeing death rates and people started recovering."

He said, "The malnutrition is there but it only gets exposed when diseases like cholera and diarrhoea comes into play and start claiming children. At that time, dysentery and was claiming the children but after sometime, it got better. The beauty of what we are trying to advocate for is that we have the local ingredient that was used to solve the issue of malnutrition. 

"We have sava meal which is produced locally, we have been giving the IDPs, we keep it as part of the drugs in all our mobile clinics, we give the child what to eat so the drugs can work and that work wonders. The next step is to teach the IDPs what to use to make the sava meal. It is very easy, you can source it from local ingredients: sorghum, soya beans and groundnut which is readily available instead of feeding the children with rice and spaghetti being donated to them to help the children grow better and survive any kind of disease."

Also speaking, Saddiq suggested the use of local nutrition to check malnutrition in the IDPs camps.

"We can replicate the effects like soya beans. It is not expensive; we have given the formula to victims of violence and they are handling it. When victims of violence went to Bama, the death rate was 40 children per day. But within two to three weeks when they started using local diet as food nutrition, the death rate reduced to zero per cent."

The Vice chairman of Majiji IDPs camp in Abuja, Bello Mohammaed, said VoVCF have been providing all the medical facilities, food items and schools for the camp.

He said, "We have people from Adamawa, Yobe and Borno stated in our camp, I am from Borno state. We are very much eager to go, we are not comfortable, its only NGOs that help us, government does not even recognise us as a camp.

"We are about 250 in Karon Majiji IDPs camp along Airport Road. Apart from malnutrition, we still have issues of food security, beddings, clothing and toiletries. We have about two critical cases of malnutrition but they were able to rescue them. We did not witness food diversion in our camp but there are others who have been complaining of this but things are In order now."

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Njeri Kabeberi leads Greenpeace Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

The Kenyan born Njeri Kabeberi, is to lead the Greenpeace Africa as its has been named as Executive Director, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This, NaijaAgroNet gathered came as the outcome of an extensive search for a combination of skills required to drive the organisation towards a people –powered movement.

According to the Greenpeace Africa Board, Brain Kagoro, Africans are hungry for a new story, one with a better take on nature, on humanity, their livelihoods, their future and their connection to the earth. “It was critical to find someone who embodies passion, activism and understands the context of environmental justice in Africa and we are confident that Njeri represents that” Kagoro said.

Greenpeace currently runs campaigns on four key issues on the continent, to protect the Congo Basin from large scale deforestation, stop overfishing in West Africa, promote ecological farming in the horn of Africa as well as demand a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in South Africa in order to reverse the impacts of climate change.

With a long history in human rights activism, Njeri will be leading Greenpeace Africa into a new wave of environmental justice for Africans by Africans.

“We will continue to work on our flagship campaigns but more so, we shall be working closely with communities to ensure that our campaigns speak to the local realities on the continent and can effect change in the day to day life of our people” said newly appointed Greenpeace Africa Executive Director Njeri Kabeberi.

“Africa has a major role to play in the global efforts to reverse climate change, protecting its vast natural forest and safeguarding its rich ocean resources is centre to the continent’s contribution in averting the catastrophic effects of climate change. It is important that the continent works together to push for an end to illegal logging, unsustainable fishing and a shift from industrial agriculture to ecological farming to ensure that our biodiversity is protected” added Njeri.

Njeri joins Greenpeace after serving as CEO of the Civil Society Reference Group and as the immediate former Executive Director of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy.  She is also a member of the board of advisors of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and chairs the board of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict.

Njeri is passionate about social justice and women’s rights, and in 2010, amongst others, received the ILO Wedge Award.  She also has extensive INGO leadership and management experience and was on the Board of the Kenya Human Rights Commission for many years. 

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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IFAD tasks leaders to break chains of desperation

NaijaAgroNet:

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, has tasked development leaders to break chains of desperation, which often lead to emergencies and humanitarian disasters, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Addressing the 39th Governing Council of IFAD in Rome at the weekend, Dr. Nwanze said this has become necessary given the backdrop of new reports that showed the number of refugees entering Europe has continued to skyrocket.

He told senior government officials attending the final day of the Council session to renew their commitments to invest in smallholder agriculture and reduce poverty in developing countries.

As said by him, rural development plays a fundamental role in stabilizing communities and reducing migration and conflict, and “by working together to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) starting with zero poverty and zero hunger; we can break the chain of desperation” that leads to emergencies and humanitarian disaster.”

He also made urgent calls for action in support of increased investment in smallholder agricultural to ensure food security, climate change adaptation, equitable prosperity and ultimately to remove the root causes that lead to conflict and migration, were shared throughout the two-day conference, held annually in Rome for senior government officials representing IFAD’s 176 member states.

Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Italian Republic, pledged that Italy will continue to play a key role in the eradication of hunger and poverty, conditions he described as "insidious".

Equally, Mattarella brought attention to the increasing number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria and called on leaders of all nations to get involved.

"Saving human lives and reaching out to those fleeing war or misery is a moral duty, a duty for any society that defines itself as free, democratic and truly respectful of human rights," he said.

 
Isaac Oyimah/GEE 
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