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.

Okoli Vincent/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Experts urge Africa to embrace climate-smart agriculture

NaijaAgroNet

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Country Representative, Mr. Massimo Castiello said the climate-smart agriculture concept which tackles climate change in an integrated manner should be embraced by Africa.

NaijaAgroNet reports that climate smart agriculture is an approach to developing the technical policy and investment conditions to achieve sustainable agricultural development for food security under climate change.

The CSA platform was launched in Kampala at a two-day workshop hosted by FAO Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa and the Uganda Climate-Smart Agriculture Task Force with support from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in Kampala.

The Ugandan Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Hon. Tress Bucyanayandi while addressing climate change expert at the occasion, stated that there is need for far-reaching and inventive measures to help the East African countries and Uganda at large to adapt climate change smart Agriculture, NaijaAgroNet gathered.

"Climate change is already affecting food production systems and therefore the livelihoods and food security of millions of people, especially women who depend on agriculture for a living are to suffer the consequences associated with climate change if no Innovation has been developed," he said.

NaijaAgroNet learnt also that the platform will support East African countries to address sub-regional issues related to Climate-smart agriculture scale up and will contribute to continental initiatives such as the Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Alliance and the AU/NEPAD goal of having 25 million farming households in Africa practicing climate-smart agriculture by 2025.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

AUC commends FAO resilience policies on humanity, resources, income

NaijaAgroNet

The African Union Commission (AUC’s) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Ms. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, has commended the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO’s) commitment in promoting resilience policies and strategies, NaijaAgroNET reports.

She said that such policies have the prospect of addressing the different needs and experiences of men, women, boys and girls, and equal access to and control over resources and incomes.

The Commissioner, NaijaAgroNet gathered, was speaking during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and African Union Commission (AUC), on the implementation of the Regional Initiative on Resilience in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

In a statement from the FAO and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the initiative would establish effective knowledge platforms between Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member-states, as well as strengthen the capacity of institutions to scale up proven cost-effective resilience enhancing good practices.

The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a trade bloc in Africa, established in 1986, with a focus on development and environmental control, NaijaAgroNet learnt

It said in the Horn of Africa, the focus would be on supporting IGAD and member-states (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan), to enhance knowledge on practical means for resilience building, as well as heighten the awareness of dynamics of resilience programming.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
 Pix: Ms. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime,

China, others cause food price crash in July---FAO

NaijaAgroNet

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has revealed that in July, the dairy price index dropped 7.2 per cent from the previous month, mainly due to lower import demand from China.

Other regions which contributed to the crash in prices, NaijaAgroNet gathered, include Middle East and North Africa along with abundant European Union (EU) milk production which has resulted in good availability of dairy products for export.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 164.6 points in July, down 1.0 per cent from June, and 19.4 per cent from a year earlier. The trade-weighted index tracks prices on international markets of five major food commodity groups: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

The July, NaijaAgroNet reports, vegetable oil price index was some 5.5 per cent below its June level, reaching its lowest value since July 2009. The recent slide was primarily caused by a fall in international palm oil prices due to increased production in Southeast Asia combined with slower exports especially from Malaysia, and a further weakening of soy oil prices on ample supplies for export in South America and a favourable outlook for global supply in 2015/16.

The cereal price index, NaijaAgroNet reports, rose by 2.0 per cent from June, but was still 10.1 per cent below July last year's level. For the second consecutive month, higher wheat and maize prices, in part due to unfavourable weather in North America and Europe, kept the cereal index rising, but rice prices continued to fall.

In July the meat price index remained nearly unchanged from the previous month. An increase in international prices of bovine meat offset a decline for pig meat and ovine meat, while prices for poultry remained stable. The sugar price index rose by 2.5 per cent from June 2015, largely due to less than ideal harvesting conditions in the main producing region of Brazil, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Farmers, buyers’ partnerships guide in the offing

 NaijaAgroNet

A legal guide to ensure harmonious relationship between farmers and buyers for sustainable agribusiness is being worked out by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), NaijaAgroNet reports.

The arrangement would take the form of an expanding practice in which farmers produce agricultural goods for specific buyers in set quantities at prearranged prices and at the same time getting a new tool to guide growers and buyers in establishing sound contracts and conflict resolution procedures.

Contract farming in principle can improve farmers' access to markets and boost their incomes while ensuring that agribusinesses have a stable supply of produce that meets their quality standards, NaijaAgroNet was informed in a press release by FAO.

But as with any contractual relationship, there are potential pitfalls, and farmers can sometimes find themselves on the losing side of the deal. For example, a company might not pay the agreed price for the produce delivered, asserting that its quality was substandard, while the contract does not include any dispute resolution mechanism.

Changes in the world's agrifood systems and consumer preferences, NaijaAgroNet, have been a key driver of this trend. As food demand has risen both in developed and developing countries, processors and marketers need a steady and high volume stream of supplies, which they are not always able to meet buying on open commodities markets.

In contract farming arrangements help buyers gain a stronger hand in production, quality control and pricing, while farmers benefit from guaranteed income and market access. They may also acquire new productive assets – under some contract types, buyers commit to supporting growers by providing farm inputs, equipment, and technical advice.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

 ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology