Food security: FAO highlights need for strategic cooperation *43.7m undernourished in NENA region

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has highlighted need for strategic regional cooperation in the wake of conflicts, rapid population growth and urbanization, and a heavy reliance on food imports which are posing serious challenges for food security, NaijaAgroNet reports.

A press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet by officials of FAO, indicates that three countries in the region Near East and North Africa (NENA), namely the Algeria, Jordan and Kuwait; have met the hunger component of the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) by halving the proportion of their population experiencing chronic hunger.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that region-wide, the number of undernourished people remains high at nearly 43.7 million, or 10 per cent of the population, while 24.5 per cent of children under five are stunted due to chronic under-nutrition, according to an assessment presented at the start of the organization's  regional conference at the weekend.

Experts also said that micronutrient deficiencies are common in both affluent and less affluent countries, having a number of serious consequences for school enrollment, productivity and public health.

FAO further decried that conflicts and civil strife remained the driving factor for food insecurity in the region in recent years, just as the hotspots include Iraq, Sudan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Yemen.

In Syria alone, an estimated 6.3 million people are in need of sustained food and agricultural assistance.



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Dubai hosts World Food Security Summit

Expecting was high at the commencement of the World Food Security Summit in Dubaia with hundreds of international experts and government in attendance, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking on the summit, the Minister of Water and Environment Development, who will be speaking at the summit. Dr Rashid bin Fahad, confirmed to NaijaAgroNet that

 the region is entering a new period of economic growth, underpinned by a burgeoning population with a high dependence on imported food.

“Food security is an immediate priority,” Fahad said, stressing that execution of a core food security strategy is essential to provide a sustainable growth platform.

“More and more consistently over the last six to seven years, the GCC states are trying to develop a strategic intervention on food security,” said Zahra Babar, the associate director for research at the Centre for International and Regional Studies at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

“Globally, when institutions talk about food security, largely, they’re identifying countries where access to food is something that is difficult. The most insecure part of the world tends to be in sub-Saharan Africa so, traditionally, you don’t think of Gulf states as insecure as they have some of the highest GDPs in the world and they can easily meet their food needs.”

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Africa needs multi-sectoral approaches to address climate change impact - Eriyo

 The Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC), Jesca Eriyo has suggested a multi-sectoral approaches to address climate change impact, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Eriyo, according to NaijaAgroNet reports made this known at a regional workshop on African Agriculture in a changing climate: enhancing the up-take of climate smart agriculture.

The forum, organized by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and East African Community (EAC) brought together climate change and agriculture experts from about 20 African countries.

“As EAC, we’re pleased to collaborate with other African regional economic organizations, research programmes and centers and development partners in finding lasting practical and policy solutions to address agricultural production and food security within the confines of a changing climate,” Eriyo said.

Agriculture, she noted in recent years has overwhelmed the impacts of climate change, which pose a serious concern on food security in the region with more than 130 million people.

Eriyo also said that the trading bloc has the potential and capacity to produce enough food to meet the region’s food demand and produce surplus for export to the world market.

The regional body, as said by her, is one of the implementing partners in the Programme on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Eastern and Southern Africa, just as its focus is on up- scaling climate smart agriculture in the region and promoting Africa’s solution within the ongoing climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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BATN donates motorocycles to Oyo State agric

NaijaAgroNet:

The British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) Foundation, has donated some two motorcycles to the Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture in Ibadan, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Also, it was gathered by NaijaAgroNet that the presentation was made by the foundation led by the General Manager, BATN Abimbola Okoya, to enhance forest protection and deforestation in the state.

The event held at the Ministry of Agriculture in Ibadan, was witnessed by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Mr. Kunle Adeduntan, Head, Leaf Operations, British American Tobacco Iseyin Agronomy, Mr. Thomas Omofoye and General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, Abimbola Okoya.

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Aquaculture to produce 2/3 global food fish supply – Report

NaijaAgroNet:

A joint research by the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPI) have shown that fish farms sub-sector is to produce two-third of the global food fish supply by 2030, reports NaijaAgroNet.

With this, NaijaAgroNet also reports that there are prospects for fisheries and aquaculture globally.

Fish farming, the tripod report equally showed has potential to provide close to two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030 as catches from wild capture fisheries level off and demand from an emerging global middle class, especially in China, substantially increases. 

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the collaboration between the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), highlighted the extent of global trade in seafood which tends to flow heavily from developing to developed countries. 

According to FAO, at present 38 per cent of all fish produced in the world is exported and in value terms, over two thirds of fishery exports by developing countries are directed to developed countries.

The "Fish to 2030" report finds that a major and growing market for fish is coming from China which is projected to account for 38 percent of global consumption of food fish by 2030. 

China and many other nations are increasing their investments in aquaculture to help meet this growing demand. 

The Asia including South Asia, South-East Asia, China and Japan is projected to make up 70 per cent of global fish consumption by 2030.

Sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, is expected to see a per capita fish consumption decline of 1 per cent per year from 2010 to 2030 but, due to rapid population growth of 2.3 per cent in the same period, the region's total fish consumption will grow by 30 percent overall.   

The report further predicted that 62 per cent of food fish will come from aquaculture by 2030 with the fastest supply growth likely to come from tilapia, carp, and catfish. global tilapia production is expected to almost double from 4.3 million tonnes to 7.3 million tons a year between 2010 and 2030. 

One of the report's authors Siwa Msangi of IFPRI, revealed to NaijaAgroNet that the fast-moving nature of aquaculture made this a particularly challenging sector to model and at the same time, embodies the most exciting aspect of it in terms of future prospects for transformation and technological change.

"Comparing this study to a similar study we did in 2003, we can see that growth in aquaculture production has been stronger than what we thought," Msangi said. 

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