Agrotech on edge of second green revolution - Weilbach

NaijaAgroNet:

Agribusiness industry leader at PwC Africa, FransWeilbach, has said that agriculture is currently standing on the edge of a second green revolution with the aid of technology, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Speaking on desperate need for food security, Weilbach said that as the global population is growing rapidly, innovative technology and advancements in productivity are becoming increasingly important as pressure mounts on food systems.

“It is predicted that technological innovation will act as a catalyst in lifting agribusiness to the next level in Africa. The winners will be those agribusinesses that seize the opportunity to create new opportunities through technology – they will be able to reach their strategic goals faster and more efficiently,” he said.

Also commenting, the PwC Director in Kenya, Edward Kerich, said “Kenya relies heavily on the agricultural sector as the mainstay of its economy, with agriculture contributing 29 per cent of GDP. Kenya is SSA’s leading tea exporter and one of the world’s largest black tea producers. A significant development in the agricultural sector is growth in the number of privately owned tea factories outside of those owned by the KTDA and the large multinationals in the country, and the benefits realized is expected to increase as some factories move to cheaper renewable energy such as hydropower production.”

PwC Partner in Nigeria, Rasheed Rahji said “Agriculture contributed 24.18% to real GDP in Nigeria in Q4 2015 and this is mainly due to mechanised farming and to other activities in the agribusiness value chain.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that human resources (HR) models and processes are beginning to evolve, with more emphasis being placed on technology to improve networks and data.

Though industry analysts observed that majority of agribusinesses view climate change as having significant impact on SSA agriculture in the future – 41.2 per cent indicated that there will be a significant impact in the short term, while 35.3 per cent said there will be an impact over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, NaijaAgroNet reports that agribusiness leaders are considering investing in renewable energy, the main forms of energy being considered are solar energy and biogas.

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Rwanda to host 7th AASW, FARA Assembly

NaijaAgroNet:

The city of Kigali in Rwanda would host the7th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW) and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) General Assembly, from June 13- June 16 2016, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The event is the prime forum for stakeholders in African agriculture science, technology and innovation to take stock of their collective achievements over the past three years and chart a common agenda along with modalities for achieving their collective targets over the next three years.
With the theme “Apply Science, Impact Livelihoods,” the event would feature activities such as plenary sessions, an exhibition, the Rwanda day, to showcase its achievements in agricultural research and innovation and a business session.

The Executive Director of FARA, DrYemiAkinbamijo, while briefing journalists in Accra, said that the content of the programme would be organised around five sub-themes: institutional systems and policies for making science work for African agriculture, sustainable productivity growth, value chains and profitable agribusinesses.

DrAkinbamijo explained that FARA is the apex continental organisation responsible for coordinating and advocating agricultural research for development and also serves as the technical arm of the Africa Union Commission on matters concerning agriculture science, technology and innovation. While speaking on the need to embrace technology in order to advance the sector, he added that African countries agriculture production is low because, it depends on old system of farming.

Co-organisers of the event alongside FARA, are: sub-regional Agricultural Research Organisations, African Union Commission and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, Education Networks, The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation and the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture.

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Ghana launches US$113m Agric project

NaijaAgroNet:

A six-year project worth US$113million, about N22.4bn to promote and scale-up agricultural value chains tagged ‘Ghana Sector Investment Programme’ (GASIP) has been launched in Tamale, Ghana, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The project which is being funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) – a United Nations Food Agency – and implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is aimed at supporting infrastructure development, technology transfer, conservation farming and research to ensure the production of quality food crops to meet demands of the market.

GASIP, NaijaAgroNet gathered is anticipated to help about 12,000 rural households, especially women and young people to improve their economic activities and livelihoodsand is a great step towards realising Ghana’s medium-term agricultural sector investment (METASIP).

The implementation of GASIP is intended to drive its policy to enhance the economy and was designed differently from past projects wherein supply-driven projects such as roads, irrigation schemes and warehouses were pre-determined at the design stage — which resulted in several “white elephants” because the project designers assumed they knew what the people wanted.

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FAO names Carlo PetriniSpecial Ambassador Zero Hunger for Europe

NaijaAgroNet:

President of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini has been named FAO Special Ambassador Zero Hunger for Europe, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva praised Petrini's contribution to increasing public awareness on the need to improve agriculture in Europe and ensure a sustainable food supply chain.

He also said that Petrini's nomination and his involvement in FAO's advocacy activities will "send a strong signal to the international community that we can create a world where no one is hungry”, adding that it would contribute towards building the Zero Hunger Generation and ending hunger by 2030.

As a Special Ambassador Zero Hunger, Petrini will help ensure a better understanding of FAO's vision of a world free of hunger and malnutrition in which food and agriculture contribute towards improving livelihoods, particularly those of poor people.

Slow Food is an international, non-profit grassroots organization that aims to promote quality food produced and distributed in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner, having over 100,000 members worldwide and is active in 160 countries.

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Nimbo attack: Police arrests five suspected Fulani herdsmen

NaijaAgroNet:

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) said it has arrested five suspected Fulani herdsmen implicated in the recent invasion of Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area (LGA) in Enugu State, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olabisi Kolawole, in a public statement, said the Police is resolute on ridding Nigerian society of criminals and all forms of criminality.

According to Olabisi, the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) under the office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) based on credible technical intelligence gathered on the attack, swooped in on the suspects and arrested the following people: Mohammed Zurai, Ciroma Musa, Sale Adamu, Suleiman Laute and Haruna Laute.

The Police said it also recovered one Gionee L88 mobile phone with a memory card containing the video recording of the massacre in the community.

Suspected members of Fulani herdsmen who attacked Nimbo community in Enugu State recently.
L-r -R: Mohammed Zurai, Ciroma Musa, Sale Adamu, Suleiman Laute and Haruna Laute. ...
courtesy: TEO

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FAO, WFP require $169m to save CAR from drought

NaijaAgroNet:

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have cried out for lack of $169m funding for the ‘seed protection’ programme going-on in the Central African Republic (CAR) to be successful, reports NaijaAgroNet.

In a joint press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, WFP noted it requires US$83 million to respond to the urgent needs of 1.4 million people in CAR and in neighbouring countries hosting Central African Republic refugees, while the FAO is appealing for US$86 million to support 1.55 million people with inputs to produce crops and keep their livestock healthy, in order to boost food security.

The programme,NaijaAgroNet gathered, is currently being funded by governments of Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and United States, as well as the African Development Bank, the European Union and ECHO, the FondsBêkou, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, the Common Humanitarian Fund for the Central African Republic, UN Women, and World Bank, yet only half of the estimated number of beneficiaries could receive support based on available fund.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that with 75 percent of the population depending on agriculture, FAO, WFP and their partners have been working together since the beginning of the unrest to mitigate negative impacts on agricultural production and food security.

The programme which involves provision of seeds, hand tools and food to nearly 50,000 hungry farming families in the most food-insecure areas of the Central African Republic (CAR) in a bid to make sure families do not survive with the current scarcity by eating the seeds meant for planting.

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Food security: Gambia secures $9m loan from AfDB

NaijaAgroNet:

The Gambian government has signed a USD 9 million loan agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, to finance an agriculture value chains project, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The acting Vice-President, Sector Operations, AfDB, Kapil Kapoor, who signed the agreement for the bank, said that project which involves the production, processing and storage of or rice and livestock, will improve food security and create jobs.

He also said that the project is aligned with the bank’s High-5 priorities, especially the Feed Africa component, stressing that the government would implement the project as quickly as possible in line with the bank's new accelerated projects and programmes delivery approach.

In response, the Gambian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Abdou Kolley, who signed the agreement for his country, thanked the bank for the support, and said the project will go a long way toward the realization of his county's food self-sufficiency goal and promised that the government would work hard to reduce bottlenecks which cause delays in the projects implementation.

The Agriculture Value Chains Development Project (AVCDP) which was approved in March 2016, seeks to increase, on a sustainable basis, the income of rural producers, entrepreneurs engaged in the production, processing, storage and marketing of rice and livestock. It will also create shared wealth and jobs.

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UN agencies provide seeds, tools and food to drought stricken areas

NaijaAgroNet:

Two United Nations (UN) agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have commenced provision of seeds, hand tools and food to nearly 50,000 hungry farming families in the most food-insecure areas of the Central African Republic (CAR), NaijaAgroNet reports.

This, NaijaAgroNet gathered is being done under the ‘seed protection’ initiative of the UN in which FAO uses to provide crop and vegetable seeds, while WFP provides groundnuts, maize, rice, sorghum, and beans to the same families.

The FAO country representative Jean-Alexandre Scaglia, said that “critical we make sure families don't cope with the current scarcity by eating their seeds meant for planting”, while the WFP Central African Republic Country Director, BienvenuDjossa, said that the food provided by WFP ensures that the seeds get planted and families don't go hungry at the same time, saying, "Our support now can help people escape the vicious cycle of hunger."

It was gathered by NaijaAgroNet that the exercise is being funded by governments of Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the African Development Bank, the European Union and ECHO, the FondsBêkou, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, the Common Humanitarian Fund for the Central African Republic, UN Women, and the World Bank.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that another 50,000 families will be supported during the second planting season in August/September, meaning 100,000 families in total (500,000 people) will be supported under the initiative this year, which is not enough as the WFP requires US$83 million to respond to the urgent needs of 1.4 million people until the end of September in CAR and in neighbouring countries hosting Central African Republic refugees, while the FAO is appealing for US$86 million to support 1.55 million people with inputs to produce crops and keep their livestock healthy, and strengthen the government's efforts to boost food security. However, there is a serious funding gap, to date only 8 percent of these requirements have been met.

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Ban on cattle grazing reserves courageous, says Afenifere, backs Fayose

NaijaAgroNet:

A socio-cultural organization for the Yoruba people of Nigeria, otherwise known as Afenifere has described the ban on cattle grazing reserves in Ekiti State as courageous and endorsed the Ayodele Fayose-government in the state over this matter, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Afenifere, NaijaAgroNet recalls was formed with Pa Abraham Adesanya as its pioneer leader and Chief Bola Ige as deputy leader.

The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, their attention has been drawn to the courageous move by the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose to ban cattle grazing in the state.

As said by him, the action of the governor is a timely move to strengthen the civilization that places higher premium on human lives above cows.

“We have sacrificed enough blood in the unending cycle of bloodletting by Fulani herdsmen, the latest being those killed in Ekiti a few days ago,” he said.

Afenifere also said that the responsible action of the governor should jolt the Federal Government that has appeared largely indifferent to the murderous activities of the Fulani herdsmen to act responsibly over this matter.

“We fully endorse this action which is in conformity with the resolution of the 2014 National Conference that cattle breeders must embrace ranching as against grazing reserves being canvassed in certain quarters,” Afenifere insisted.

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240m worldwide face food stress - Report

NaijaAgroNet:

Some 240 million people across 70 countries globally are in a food stress situation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Revelation of this came as part of the Phase 2 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), NaijaAgroNet reports that with the current classification covers 70 countries affected by a food crisis in 2015, including chronically vulnerable countries at or above Phase 2 of the study.

In addition, the report indicated that some 80 million people are in food crisis as at January 2016.

While nearly half of those people are located in countries affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

Speaking at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, the World Food Progamme (WFP) Executive Director Ertharin Cousin, said the initiative will provide the best food security data to stakeholders. 

The summit, NaijaAgroNet reports, came to life as a network to achieve joint global food-security assessments and joint responses to food crises.

These include the phenomena such as El Niño, was launched in Istanbul Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the European Union, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Global Network for Food Insecurity, Risk Reduction and Food Crises Response, NaijaAgroNet gathered, would pave the way for enhancing the impact of future responses to food crises at the global level by regularly producing, in real time, joint reports based on key analyses and containing timely response options.

According to FAO, this will prompt coordination among stakeholders and promote joint planning and joint responses to food crises, in addition, to improving learning from past crises and increase the level of transparency and availability of crucial analysis of global needs. 

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Gov. Ayo Fayose bans cattle rearing in Ekiti state

NaijaAgroNet:

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has banned grazing and rearing of cattle in the state, saying those interested in cattle farming should get their own private cattle ranch, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The governor, disclosed this after visiting some victims of herdsmen attack in Oke-Ako in Ikole Local Government Area (LGA) of Ekiti State, said, a bill to make the movement of cattle from one location to another criminal in the state would soon be sent to the State House of Assembly.

Governor Fayose, lamented the invasion of the community last Friday by Fulani herdsmen which resulted in the two deaths in the community and injured others, warned that government would henceforth confiscate any cattle seen anywhere in the State apart from ranch created for them by their owners.

He described the Fulani herdsmen that attacked Oke-Ako and other communities in the country as “agents of the devil that must be fished out and punished accordingly.”

For him, Ekiti citizens will not leave their lands for Fulani herdsmen and in a system “where the leadership of the country looks the other way while our people are being killed, we will have no option than to defend ourselves by whatever means.

“I have come here to commiserate with the people of Oke-Ako over the murder of two of our people by these evil Fulani herdsmen.  I am also here to assure that this will be the last time your community will be invaded by Fulani herdsmen under whatever guise.

“I have directed that cattle rearing and grazing should stop in Ekiti State and those interested in cattle farming should henceforth do so in their own cattle ranch.

“No more movement of cattle from one location to another in the State and any cattle seen anywhere in Ekiti State apart from the ranch created for them by their owners will be confiscated by the government and their owners will be prosecuted.

“A bill to this effect will be sent to House of Assembly for passage into law to criminalise cattle owners whose cattle are found moving from one location to the other in the State.

"We in Ekiti will no longer harbor herdsmen who go about killing our people, destroying our farmlands and raping our women. It is our duty to protect our people and we are going to do that without fear or favor.

The governor said the activities of Fulani herdsmen was inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country saying, “one wonders how Nigerians can go back to farming when those already in the farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not doing anything about it.”

Governor Fayose, in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, promised to complement the efforts of the local hunters provided a Pick Up Van, raised the sum of N2.5m for them and advice the hunters to work hand-in-hand with the security personnel for the safety of the community. He also raised the sum of N2.5m for the affected families.

“I want to say it very clearly, everything you want me to do towards a safe environment, I will do. Because the moment you are not secured then I had better resigned as a governor.

“If I cannot provide adequate security for you, it is better for me to leave this office. The only reason you voted for me is because you know I am competent to do the needful in circumstances like this. Nobody will take Ekiti away from us.

The governor visited the hospital where some of the injured were receiving treatment and in the course of interacting with the Doctor realize the importance of relocating them to Ekiti State Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti where adequate treatment can be delivered on them and also promised to refer them to OAU Teaching hospital if need be.

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Pix: Gov Fayose with local hunters in Oke-Ako during his visit.

NCF conducts annual water bird census

NaijaAgroNet:

The Nigerian Conservation Foundationhas conducted an annual water bird census at Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands in Yobe and Jigawa States, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This,NaijaAgroNet gathered was done as part of its commitment and dedication to the conservation and management of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) within and outside protected areas reports.

Disclosing this at a capacity building workshop on effective monitoring of IBAs in Cross Rivers State, facilitated by NCF’s Ruth Akagu and Professor Augustine Ezealor, they said the purpose of the Water Bird Census which took place in six communities; Baturia, Nguru Lake, Dagona, Gsahua (new site), Katagum and Marma Chanel, was to ascertain the population of water birds.

The workshop focused on IBAs in unprotected areas and participants acquired skills in basic field techniques on bird sampling and identification, effective utilisation of the IBA form and METT framework and learned about the processes involved in establishing SSGs.

The training was funded by the RSPB (Birdlife in the UK) and facilitated by NCF with support from A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute and National Park Service.

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