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Showing posts with label NEPAD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NEPAD. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

NEPAD names Yvonne Chaka Chaka nutrition goodwill ambassador - NaijaAgroNet

The Princess of Africa, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, internationally-renowned singer and humanitarian has been appointed as the NEPAD Agency’s Goodwill Ambassador for TB and nutrition, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“I am pleased to confirm your appointment as NEPAD Agency Goodwill Ambassador with effect from 1 August 2018. Your commitment to supporting the NEPAD Agency through advocacy and communicating to a broad public will undoubtedly raise the profile of our continental projects,” Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, NEPAD Agency’s CEO stated in his message to Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

Considered a role model throughout the African continent, Yvonne has demonstrated compassion for others throughout her career. She has promoted literacy, women and children’s rights, and is also a champion in the fight against malaria.

Yvonne established the Princess of Africa Foundation in 2006 to complement her humanitarian work. Through this non-profit organisation, she has continued to advocate for various causes and mobilise resources towards projects for people in need.

As the implementing body of the African Union, the NEPAD Agency’s strategic impact areas are industrialisation and wealth-creation; shared prosperity and transformed livelihoods; human capital development and transformed institutions; and environmental sustainability. Given Yvonne’s strong commitment to the values and principles of the NEPAD Agency, she will be an excellent and eloquent advocate of the continent’s development agenda.


As Goodwill Ambassador for the NEPAD Agency, Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s public policy advocacy focus will especially be the promotion of food security and good nutrition as key response components in the fight against TB, as well as public awareness on the challenges and solutions to ending TB in Africa.

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Monday, August 13, 2018

FARA, NEPAD in high level joint advocacy for nutrition in Africa - NaijaAgroNet

As part of efforts to promote Food and Nutrition Security for Sustainable Agriculture on the continent, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), have joined forces in a high level advocacy for nutrition in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

They jointly organised a one-day high level advocacy event during the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in in Cairo, Egypt, which saw notice on increased efforts and support from governments and stakeholders to improve nutrition and food systems are still needed.

The FARA Executive Director, Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim noted that African governments and stakeholders have over the years been implementing several strategic interventions, among which include food fortification, dietary diversification, vitamin and mineral supplementation, public health interventions such as deworming and of late, biofortification.

He also said embracing food-based approaches should encompass biofortification in national and regional agriculture and nutrition policies, strategies, programmes and investment plans,’ was the theme of this event.

Chairperson of the PAP Committee on Agriculture, H.E Hon Kone Gognon, opened the meeting, saying that the theme for the meeting was pertinent, with a focus on ensuring food and nutrition security, pointing out that biofortification was already flagged as crucial in Africa.

Further, Dr. Ibrahim disclosed that FARA recognised the debilitating effects of hidden hunger, and highlighted FARA’s efforts, over the last years, in mainstreaming FNSSA within the National Agricultural and Innovation System (NAIS).

This was echoed by Dr Rose Omari, from FARA’s Building Nutritious Food Basket project, who elucidated the fact that micronutrient deficiency and its consequences are not widely known, as this is ‘hidden hunger.’

“Therefore, enhancing micronutrients content of staple crops during production is a critical intervention,” Dr Omari said.

Senior Advisor on Nutrition, Ms Bibi Giyose, who spoke on behalf of the NEPAD Agency’s CEO, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, brought to the fore the fact that nutrition should not be viewed as a technical issue, as it also has political, structural and numerous other dimensions that dictate the need to find multi-sectorial solutions.

Prof Francis Zotor from the University of Health and Allied Sciences and African Nutrition Society, expressed a similar sentiment with a call to strengthen synergies in moving the nutrition agenda forward on the continent.

Present at the event were legislators from the following countries: Central African Republic; Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

The meeting concluded that while hidden hunger is real, reversing it is also possible to increase micronutrient content of commonly consumed foods through biofortification, especially to improve nutritional status of low income households will go a long way in redressing hidden hunger.

African Parliamentarians were called upon to follow up on declarations made by governments to ensure their implementation.

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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

NEPAD set to launch hunger, nutrition commitment index

The stage is set for the formal launch of the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) for Africa by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and partners, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Senior Communications Officer at the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Ms Mwanja Ng'anjo, disclosed this to NaijaAgroNet, saying that NEPAD is partnership with the Institute of Development Studies on this project.

She also said that HANCI-Africa measures countries’ efforts to deliver on the African Union Malabo Declaration commitments of 2014 and other international commitments.

“It measures the efforts that 45 African governments undertake in terms of law, policy and spending, and identifies what they do well and where they need to go further in addressing hunger and undernutrition,” she said.

As said by her, through publicly available evidence, HANCI-Africa seeks to empower stakeholders to hold one another accountable, stressing that all is set for the launch this Thursday in Midrand, South Africa.

During the launch, Nganjo said, HANCI-Africa will be presented as a tool for advocacy, commitment monitoring and accountability.


In addition, she said, discussions will also centre on how the African Union, NEPAD, national governments, regional authorities and stakeholders can adopt, adapt, own and sustainably use the HANCI-Africa for monitoring the Malabo Declaration and other commitments towards addressing hunger and malnutrition.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

NEPAD says Africa needs transformative adaptation to climate change

For the efforts of most countries in Africa are making to highlight the impacts of climate on agriculture to effectively touch the growth of agriculture on the continent, there should be transformative adaptation to climate change, reports NaijaAgroNet.

NEPAD Agency’s Director of Programme, Mrs Estherine Fotabong, made this call at the 2nd Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance Forum ongoing in Nairobi, Kenya.

She noted that despite these efforts, gaps and disconnects still exist between climate change impacts and adaptation efforts.

These gaps, she told NaijaAgroNet include absence of plans and policies that incorporate climate change issues, education on climate change among communities, and information on outreach programmes.

She highlighted that institutional frameworks for action, drought resistant crop varieties, small holder water harvesting and supply strategies, as well as strategies for alleviating poverty that makes people less resilient to climate variability are also lacking.

“In order to catalyse better adaptation and cope with the impacts of climate change, the various stakeholders such as governments, NGOs and civil society, and private sector should work together with communities proactively. Communities should be fully capacitated in the various areas of crop management, community mobilisation and empowerment, disaster preparedness and have access to robust technologies and information such as new crop varieties that are drought and disease tolerant,” Mrs Fotabong said.

In a related development, a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, the Governor of Nairobi City Council, Dr Evans Kidero, it was revealed that Nairobi makes a profound contribution to urban food consumption in Kenya, if not in the whole of east Africa.


“Therefore, urban farming is highly promoted for sustainably increasing agricultural productivity,” he said.

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Friday, September 16, 2016

NEPAD says support for under-5 children, mothers dynamics to achieving 2025 zero hunger

The Senior Advisor on Programme Development to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Mr. Martin Bwalya, has said that support for under-5 children and mothers as one of the dynamics of achieving zero hunger on the continent by 2025, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Bwalya said this at the formal launch of the Zero Hunger Report 2025 by NEPAD in conjunction with Pardee Center for International Futures in Pretoria, South Africa, outlining some conditions that must be met in order for Africa to realise this goal.

As said by him, the demand side on agriculture produce is increasing access, including incomes, consumer subsidies, prices, school feeding programmes, support to under-5 children and mothers, as well as pregnant women.

This, he said will not happen without the supply side which is productivity and production by way of expansion of cropland, yield increase, livestock heads and reduction of post-harvest losses.

Bwalya pointed out that overall, the food availability needs to be increased by 437 million metric tonnes by 2025 or 47 per cent of current demand.

“To do this requires cropland to increase by 1.5 per cent; crop yields need to increase by 3.2 per cent, and livestock head size needs to increase by 5.8 per cent year,” he said.

Insisting that in order for Africa to attain its goal by 2025, a wide range of actions by different actors to bring about the necessary substantial change in the dynamics of demand and supply is requisite, just as any efforts to eliminate hunger will have to factor in robust risk assessments, including climate change.

Corroborating Bwalya, the Regional Director for World Food Programme in Johannesburg, Chris Nikoi, emphasized that “If we continue on the current trajectory, we will not be able to achieve the Malabo Declaration target of ending hunger by 2025 and eliminating child stunting. Conditions for success include political will, as well as addressing the challenges of the impact of climate change and weather shocks.”


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Pix: Senior Advisor on Programme Development to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Mr. Martin Bwalya

Thursday, September 15, 2016

NEPAD, Pardee: Zero Hunger in Africa by 2025 is possible

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has reiterated determination of Africa Union on the possibility of having zero hunger in the next nine years, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The NEPAD Agency’s CEO, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, gave this indication on the premise of the goals set in the 2014 Malabo Declaration through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), is ending hunger in Africa by 2025.

Speaking in Pretoria, South Africa at the unveiling of the Zero hunger in Africa by 2025 in collaboration Pardee Center for International Futures, he noted that nearly one in five people is hungry, even as hunger has decreased steadily since the mid-1990s, due to population growth, but has actually increased in absolute numbers.

In addition, Mayaki said, net food imports since the early 1990s have grown to about 14 per cent of the total demand, maintaining that one of the goals set in the 2014 Malabo Declaration through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), is ending hunger in Africa by 2025.

He emphasised that success in Africa will therefore be through regional integration, be it in ending hunger, agriculture or infrastructure, highlighting the major levers in policies, investments, technologies as well as human and institutional capacities necessary to sustain desired levels of supply and demand-access to food.

“We cannot continue doing business as we are doing it today, since growth in Africa has not been inclusive enough. We need improved capacity to implement various interventions to do things differently if we are to deliver on Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the goal of eliminating hunger by 2025,” Dr. Mayaki underscored.

Dr Lindiwe Sibanda , CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), noted that hunger affects women and children disproportionately, while women are the backbone of agriculture in Africa.

“The face of hunger in Africa is that 32 percent of under-5 children are stunted – the numbers have stagnated instead of going down. If the cognitive capacity of children in Africa is reduced for life, who are the future leaders for the continent? Agriculture needs to be more nutrition sensitive. Hidden hunger challenges are therefore critical and need to be addressed,” Dr. Sibanda said.

Speaking at the same event, Lynette Chen, CEO of the NEPAD Business Foundation also maintained that food security and the trajectory of economic growth need to be balanced with nutrition sensitive agriculture.

During the launch of the report on ending hunger in Africa, it was recognised that while the goal of eliminating hunger by 2025 might be very ambitious, it is not impossible. Steve Hedden, Research System Developer from Pardee Center maintained that how we define hunger will dictate how we get there and how we reach our targets.

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Monday, September 12, 2016

NEPAD, Pardee Zero Hunger report for launch

The chief executive officer of NEPAD Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, would lead a group of expert speakers to launch the NEPAD PARDEE Zero Hunger study on Tuesday in South Africa, NaijaAgroNet reports.

According to the Senior Communications Officer, NEPAD Agency, Ms Mwanja Ng’anjo, the launch will herald the efforts of agency towards eliminating hunger in Africa by 2025.

Dr. Mayaki would be joined on Tuesday, September 13, at the Conference room, ISS Pretoria, Block C, Brooklyn Court, 361 Veale Street, New Muckleneuk, Pretoria, South Africa, by Dr Jakkie Cilliers , Head, African Futures and Innovation, ISS, Jay Naidoo, GAIN, Dr Lindiwe Sibanda, FARNPAN, and Chris Nikoi, Regional Director, World Food Progrramme (WFP).

She also said that the new report by the NEPAD Agency and the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures analyses the ‘conditions for success’ if Africa is to achieve the target set by African Union in Agenda 2063 and the 2014 Malabo Declaration on agriculture transformation.

The study, she said, puts the magnitude of the task into perspective and highlights the major levers in policy, investment, technology as well as human and institutional capacity needed to sustain access to food.


This launch, NaijaAgroNet gathered, is hosted jointly with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordination Agency (NEPAD Agency) and the Pardee Center for International Futures. 

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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Valuable project delivery key for Africa says NEPAD


The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has said that valuable project delivery is key for the development of the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The NEPAD agency made this call known to NaijaAgroNet at the weekend in Abuja through its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, insisting that efficient project delivery and coordination of United Nations (UN) support as a key success factor to implement agenda 2063 for continent, which is Africa’s long-term development strategy.

NaijaAgroNet recollects that Dr. Mayaki, was speaking in a series of events at the African Union Conference of African Ministers of Economy and Finance (CAMEF) held in Abuja, Nigeria, from March 25 to 30, as affirmed by a press statement made available by Maureen Nkandu of NEPAD Communication.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that over 50 African Ministers of Finance attended the meeting to find alternative ways of financing African development programmes, such as the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

NaijaAgroNet reports that in her remarks, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala applauded the significant role NEPAD has played in the implementation of PIDA as well as achievements in developing Africa’s energy sector.

Industry watchers was quoted as saying that NEPAD has taken the lead in the process of prioritising PIDA projects that will accelerate investment in infrastructure development, so as to better connect and integrate Africa.

Dr Mayaki also gave a presentation on the “Power Africa” initiative, which is a five-year energy plan spearheaded by the United States (US) President, Barack Obama, launched in Tanzania in July 2013 during President Obama’s visit to that country.

The initiative, NaijaAgroNet learnt was aimed at supporting economic growth and development by increasing access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable power in Africa.

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Gender issues: NEPAD v. GIZ mark women day with football match

Two women’s soccer teams from the African Union’s NEPAD Agency and the German Development Agency (GIZ), would clash this afternoon in a special soccer tournmanment aimed at raising awareness of Gender issues.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that former Banyana Banyana star, Keneilwe Mathibela would be at hand to give the women support, in the amateur game which kicks off at 14:00 at the CSIR sports field in Pretoria.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that this is the second time the two teams will meet in a match that was first played last August 9, to mark National Women’s month.
NEPAD says the aim of the tournament in addition to enhancing the partnership between GIZ and NEPAD is to highlight the important work the two organisations are doing to promote women’s empowerment.
Among the several interventions and programmes NEPAD’s involved in, is support through the Gender Spanish Fund which promotes women’s empowerment via partner-led projects in west and southern African regional economic groups, ECOWAS and COMESA regional groups.
On behalf of the German Government, GIZ has been supporting the NEPAD in implementing its agricultural programme CAADP, since 2007. The emphasis of GIZ’s support is on policy advice, agricultural training and on adapting agriculture to the consequences of climate change. Other support to NEPAD is for infrastructure, both development aspects that have a bearing on women’s uplifting

The two teams will compete for a trophy in a match that will be attended by staff from organisations, friends and family as well as the media.
Staff Correspondent/NaijaAgroNet
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Saturday, November 17, 2012

Obasanjo expresses fear over youths’ unemployment in Nigeria

Chief Obasanjo

The former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed fears that a time will come when Nigeria will witness a revolution if government fails to address youths’ unemployment and poverty.
Speaking recently at the West African regional conference on youth employment in Dakar, Senegal the former president said the growing rate of unemployment among youths is alarming that the effects can only be imagined.
He asserted that there is absence of serious, concrete, realistic, short and long term solution to youth unemployment. He revealed that the youth employment rate which was at 72 per cent in 1999 was reduced to 52 per cent in 2004 and as at 2011 was at 71 per cent again.
Incentives to be created by national leaders according to Obasanjo should include a special attention to agriculture business as against mere farming.
Obasanjo said there is need for easy access to land and micro credit, and the need to review the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) in order to accommodate issues around youth unemployment and job creation.
He also advocated the review of school curriculum to enable undergraduates spend additional one year to learn entrepreneurship.


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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

BioFISA records achievement against hunger


An initiative of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), BioFISA after four years of operation can now boost of some achievements in fighting hunger, curing diseases as well as livestock sustainability.
NEPAD revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement that BioFISA over the past four years has made effective progress in the areas of the control of HIV infection, livestock disease and development of plant genetic resources guidelines.
The Director of the NEPAD Southern African Network for Bioscience (SANBio), Prof Luke Mumba attributed the achievements to the use of biosciences at BioFISA's primary strategy and continued support from the governments of the Finland and South Africa.
According to Prof. Mumba, BioFISA has helped small-scale farmers in growing and preserving mushroom, developing fish farming and promoting indigenous knowledge systems and scientific validation of traditional remedies.
“Now that we have started making use of the treasure in Africa, there is an imperative need to now focus on preserving, protecting and responsibly sharing indigenous knowledge within African communities to build synergies,” Prof Mumba added.
Speaking about the achievements of BioFISA, a Senior Coordinator of NEPAD's CEO’s Office, Mr. Abdoul Salam Bello said the programmes has affected over 600 small-scale mushroom growers in Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland, while training more than 100 agriculture extension officers and researchers from Angola, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia in mushroom farming.
NaijaAgroNet further gathered that BioFISA which is a Finland and Southern Africa Partnership Programme to Strengthen NEPAD/SANBio currently covers eight research and development projects in 12 Southern African countries in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe.


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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Bioenergy investors invade Africa, tackles food security

Head of NEPAD Energy Programme, Professor Mosad Elmissiry

A two-day bioenergy symposium brought together the experts and bio-energy investors to Johannesburg city in South Africa to deliberate on exploration of the continent’s resources by bioenergy industry for better energy and food security.
The bioenergy symposium hosted by the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) discussed ways of tapping into Africa’s resources in a bid to produce clean energy fuels.
The Energy Programme Head, at NEPAD, Prof. Mosad Elmissiry said NEPAD’ objective is to drive bioenergy programmatic activities and see real results that NEPAD is a result-oriented organisation.
The symposium also sees to the review of conditions, criteria and operation model to set-up Incubator Fund.
Also speaking about the outcome of the symposium, the Project Team leader of BizClim, Gavin Maxwell said Africa needs a solution that encourages enterprise and rewards work.
“This needs both public and private investment harnessed and distributed through a trusted channel, and that is the idea role for the Bio-Enterprise Incubator Fund,” Gavin explained.
He added that as BizClim is a European Union Project providing technical assistance for improving the business climate in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean, it has the interest of Africa at heart to be part of the symposium.
NEPAD boss, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki told participants to think radically on how to forge strong partnerships which could tackle developmental challenges in the continent as NEPAD’s role is to ensure the implementations of decisions are taken on energy.
Equally commenting, Ms. Nomfundo Mthembu of Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), says “Their approach is commendable as it involves a wide variety of delegates from the Bioenergy community. Unlike other development approaches, this approach is a “bottom-up” approach which is mostly guaranteed to achieve a higher level of success.”


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Thursday, July 5, 2012

NEPAD warns of food shortage


The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has warned of food shortage on the continent, saying Africa is the most prone to food insecurity.
NEPAD revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement that Africa needs energy security in order to get out of poverty and achieve food security.
Speaking at a workshop on linking bioenergy and food security in Africa recently, the chief executive officer, NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki said transformation in energy generation and services is necessary to achieve food security in Africa.
Also, experts at the workshop agreed that African countries have to progressively move away from the use of fossil fuels and increase the share of renewable energy sources in their total energy mix.
Other energy highlighted by the experts include solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal; that bioenergy would play a major role in the coming decades on the continent.
Prof. Emile Van Zyl of the University of Stellenbosch said Africa has the potential to be a major player alongside Brazil in the biofuels trade if it applies modern technology as Africa produces 606 million litres of biofuels equivalent of 2 per cent of the global trade with South Africa alone accounting for more than half of the total output.
 NaijaAgroNet further gathered that the technical arm of the African Union (AU) Commission, the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency has a vision to give 35 per cent of African population access to energy in the next 20 years.

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Africa most prone to food shortage - NEPAD


Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki
Available statistics from the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) show that Africa is the most prone to food insecurity as it affects a larger percentage of the continent's population.
NEPAD revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement that Africa needs energy security in order to get out of poverty and achieve food security.
Speaking at a workshop on linking bioenergy and food security in Africa recently, the chief executive officer, NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki said transformation in energy generation and services is necessary to achieve food security in Africa.
Also, experts at the workshop agreed that African countries have to progressively move away from the use of fossil fuels and increase the share of renewable energy sources in their total energy mix.
Other energy highlighted by the experts include solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal; that bioenergy would play a major role in the coming decades on the continent.
Prof. Emile Van Zyl of the University of Stellenbosch said Africa has the potential to be a major player alongside Brazil in the biofuels trade if it applies modern technology as Africa produces 606 million litres of biofuels equivalent of 2 per cent of the global trade with South Africa alone accounting for more than half of the total output.
 NaijaAgroNet further gathered that the technical arm of the African Union (AU) Commission, the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency has a vision to give 35 per cent of African population access to energy in the next 20 years.
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