Leaders for Rio+20 urge to strengthen local control of natural resources

IIED, Director General, Camilla Toulmin

Government leaders attending the United Nations conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20) have been urged to strengthen local control over natural resources.

The International Institute for Environment and Development  (IIED) made this call ahead of the Rio+20 scheduled for 20-22, June in Brazil where world leaders would meet to conclude on ways to tackle the environment and development challenges facing humanity.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that over 2,000 participants are expected at the forum tagged 'Innovation and Collaboration for the Future we want'

Director of IIED, Camilla Toulmin, was quoted as saying the application of realistic values to the environment and human wellbeing is in a bid to steer societies onto a more secure path.

She noted that expected attendance at the forum ranges from investors, governments, local authorities, civil society as well as United Nations entities.

The Forum’s main objective, she pointed out, is to bring greater scale and quality to corporate sustainability practices as a showcase for innovation and collaboration.

In a publication also made available to NaijaAgroNet, Toulmin revealed that local control of natural assets is the best way in ensuring strong investment in and sustainable use of forests, water, soils and other resources.

"Rio+20 should not be the place for wise leaders to design a global plan that cascades downwards through regional, national and local implementation. Rather, the summit must begin with the wellbeing of ordinary people and judge the effectiveness of actions taken by governments and corporations by the extent to which they provide tangible answers to the needs of the many, not the few," the publication reads in parts.

Pointing out that the world leaders need to discuss relevant issues at the event, Toulmin said that the environmental, social and financial crises that face us are interconnected, and so are their solutions.

Localizing development, investing in resilience and using metrics that provide a realistic valuation of scarce resources are the three clear policy identified by IIED to be realistic, achievable and effective ways to reshape our future and create a fair, greener and more secure world. 

IIED boss said the policy shift came after about four decades of research on the links between the environment and development.

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Southern African states to launch climate change study centre

Southern African Science Centre for Climae Change and Adaptive Land

Five Southern African states have agreed to establish a common monitoring centre for climate change studies for the region, reports TheNewAge.

The study centre, Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management NaijaAgroNet learnt would be launched in Windhoek, Namibia by the five countries, namely South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that German government supported the initiative with 50 million euros, about N10.38 billion aimed at streamlining the regional scientific research about climate change trends and management of natural resources.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that a similar centre was recently launched by 10 West African states, supported and funded by Germany.

John Phiri, Zambian Science minister said, "This initiative will bring knowledge, data, information and services generated by our own scientists with support of their colleagues from Germany." 

The centre would also coordinate research and share information, with a secretariat based in Windhoek.

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Kenya to import 1.05m bags of maize

Kenyan Agricultural ministry has identified the need for Kenya to still import maize to boost stocks of foods to the tonnes of 1.05 million bags of maize, Reuters reports.

Though, the country expects food supplies to be stable till September as a result of improved output of key staple foods, is still necessity to import maize.

NaijaAgroNet ascertains that Kenya already planned to import 1.05 million 90-kg bags of maize from regional and international markets to supplement supplies despite bigger harvests recorded following good rains in its main growing areas.

The ministry also disclosed that national maize stocks stood at 18.61 million bags as at March 31 which is lower than 18.94 million recorded in February. 

"According to latest food security assessment conducted in these areas, most households have stocks enough to last 2 to 3 months," the ministry official said.

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Green ICT tops agenda ITU symposium

The advancement of green Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) agenda through awareness creation is one of the key agenda of the seventh edition of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Symposium on ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change.

The symposium is to raise awareness about the power of Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) in helping to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

ITU in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet revealed that the symposium was jointly organised by ITU and Canadian government, and hosted by Prompt, an R&D partnership developer and scheduled to hold between 29th and 31st May, 2012 at Montreal, Canada.

The symposium, ITU said, would also explore ways in which advance technologies could play a role in improving the environmental sustainability of the ICT sector itself, and how ICTs could help countries better tackle the effects of climate change and new strategies to help tackle e-waste. 

The event would form part of ITU’s activities in the lead up to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), highlighting the key role played by ICTs as enablers in environmentally-sustainable economic development.

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Horn of Africa famine position, still worrisome - UNICEF

A recent report by the United Nations International children Education Fund (UNICEF) made known that the outlook of the drought is still a threat as more than 8 million people are in need of emergency assistance.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that various international institutions, UNICEF included, lend helping hands towards the revival of the Horn of Africa, saving tens of thousands of children's live in 2011 when the region witnesses drought and famine, the worst in decades.

According to the UNICEF report, the outlook of the famine is threatening the tentative gains, the humanitarian support gotten so far, as it is really worrisome.

This was revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement made available by UNICEF, despite supports received since 2011 the prospects for a sustained recovery are increasingly precarious.

UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy said the child survival crisis in the region is far from over, "Millions of children require sustained assistance in the critical months ahead. Otherwise we can easily see a reversal of the hard-won achievements."

Elhadj As Sy, who is also the UNICEF Global Emergency Coordinator for Crisis in the region said the most recent weather outlook in combination with prevailing insecurity and violence in many areas can lead to new shocks and disruptions, "A development which again puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of children at risk," he said.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that almost one-third of Somali, about 2.51million are still in acute humanitarian crisis with over 323, 000 acutely malnourished children. 

Others include 463,000 Somali refugees in the Dadaab camps in north eastern Kenya, 142,000 people in the Dollo Ado camps in Ethiopia as well as 22,000 people in the Ali Addeh camp in Djibouti as well as 1.35 million Somalis displaced within their own country, totally over 8million.

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Less rain may worsen food insecurity in Horn of Africa - FEWS

The US Agency for International Development’s Famine and Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) had warned that food insecurity may worsen in the Horn of Africa as a result of less rain in the key March-to-May season, AfricaPresss reports.

FEWS NET made this known in a report released on April 3, and that rainfall in March-to-May Season would be 60-85 per cent of the long-term average, there was a 30 percent chance of the lower figure materializing.

There will be an expansion in the size of the food insecure population, this NaijaAgroNet gathered and that there is likely an increase in the severity of food insecurity.

Commenting on the issue, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian AID and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva affirmed mobilization of funds to support resilience programmes and the importance of appreciating the need for long-term investments in areas as education, water and others since the problems cannot be solved overnight. Read more

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