Women cornerstone of agricultural production in Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sunny Echono, said women are the cornerstone of agricultural production, processing, marketing and utilisation in the country, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He added that Nigeria’s agriculture could never achieve any meaningful development without mainstreaming concern into the nation’s policy and programme.

“Women supply 70 per cent of agricultural labour; 50 per cent of animal husbandry related activities and 60 per cent of food processing, yet they have access to only 20 per cent of available agricultural resources They play vital roles in the maintenance of our families, investing as much as 90 per cent of their income.”

NaijaAgroNet learnt that Echono was represented by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Extension, Dele Onorunfemi at the launch of African women in agriculture report titled: “Economic empowerment of African women through equitable participation in agricultural value chains’’ on Monday in Abuja.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Nigeria Country Director, African Development Bank, Ousmane Dore, said Nigerian women contribute close to 70 per cent of agricultural workforce yet get less of accruing returns.

He said the report aimed at contributing to the economic empowerment of African women in agriculture, through identification and proffering of possible solutions to hindrances to women’s active participation in agricultural value chains.

 “Lack of ownership of land and other productive assets due to existing social norms has created a significant negative impact on the family income and the nation’s GDP at large,’’ Mr. Dore said.

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Geothermal energy saves cost for sustainable food production

NaijaAgroNet

Geothermal energy which is the heat energy radiating from the earth’s core  has been  discovered to provide  unique opportunities for cost efficient, sustainable food production and processing in developing countries,  according to  information released by FAO and made available to NaijaAgroNet .

According to Carlos da Silva, Senior Agribusiness Economist in FAO, “It’s an energy source that’s renewable, clean and low-cost once you’ve made the initial investment to harness it.”

Da Silva who works in FAO’s Rural Infrastructure and Agribusiness Division said that  “By using a clean energy source, you’re not only addressing cost but also the environmental impacts of food production and processing,” NaijaAgroNet reports.

Agriculture both consumes energy and emits greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Research suggests that using geothermal heating for greenhouses decreases fungus infections and cuts fuel costs by up to 80 per cent, providing significant savings to operating budgets.

In some developing economies, as much as half of all food produced is lost post-harvest – that's due in part to a lack of affordable energy for food processing, according to “Uses of Geothermal Energy in Food and Agriculture.”

“Geothermal energy for agriculture can be done even at small-scales and can significantly contribute to income generation, providing employment and improving food and nutrition security in developing countries,” adds Divine Njie, AGS Deputy Director and co-editor of the report.

Worldwide, 38 countries currently use geothermal energy for direct application in agricultural production and some 24 countries harness it to generate electricity, with Iceland, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Kenya, New Zealand and the Philippines deriving more than 10 per cent of their electricity needs from natural heat sources.

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UN agencies team-up on Swiss funded $2.7m project in 3 African countries

NaijaAgroNet:

Three United Nations (UN) agencies have teamed up on the $2.7 million project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) targeting food losses in developing countries, with capabilities to boost harvesting, processing, transportation and storage as a result of inadequate infrastructure or lack of skills and technology, reports NaijaAgroNet.

These UN agencies, NaijaAgroNet gathered include Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in three countries, namely Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

NaijaAgroNet notes that about one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted each year, which amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes or enough food to feed 2 billion people. 

The three-year project, NaijaAgroNet learnt will focus on reducing losses of grains and pulses such as maize, rice, beans and cow peas, staple foods that play a significant role in global food security and have a major impact on the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. 

According to a 2011 report by the World Bank, FAO and the United Kingdom's Natural Resources Institute, grain losses in sub-Saharan Africa alone are worth potentially $4 billion a year and could meet the minimum annual food requirements of at least 48 million people. 

At a global level, the joint initiative will share knowledge on the most effective ways to reduce post-harvest losses and help countries introduce policies and regulations to cut down on wastage at national and regional level. 

The project will also identify critical points for losses in pulse and grain supply chains in three African pilot countries - Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda - and identify and test potential solutions to issues such as ineffective harvesting and handling, storage moisture levels, attacks by rats, birds and other pests, and insect damage. 

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