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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African agriculture, at mercy of Global South donors

'Agriculture Development and Food Security in Africa,' a new book that addresses the current food insecurity and land issues on the continent would soon debut.

The book which x-rays the effect of donors from the global south on African agricultural development is co-authored by Fantu Cheru, a socio-economist who specializes in rural development, small-scale enterprise environmental planning and resource management, and Renu Modi, a political scientist and senior lecturer of the Centre for African Studies of University of Mumbai.

The Four-section, Eleven-chapter book highlighted roles played by the Global South donors including India, China and Brazil in shaping African agriculture through their increased involvement and investment in the continent. 

The book also presents a critical analysis of the ways in which Chinese, Indian and Brazilian engagement in African agriculture are structured and implemented. More about the book

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12 countries partner EU, FAO on managing obsolete pesticide

European Union

Twelve countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia are to work with the European Union (EU) and UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in order to handle their stocks of obsolete pesticides.

NaijaAgroNet authoritatively gathered that about 200,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides could be found in 12 Soviet Union republics and are kept in tens of thousands of unprotected sites.

EU and FAO are making provisions for the sum of 7 million Euro, about N1.44 billion for the next four years to assist Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The funds will be used in managing obsolete pesticides and to also reduce the risks of current stocks.

A press release made available to NaijaAgroNet indicated that the obsolete pesticides pose a serious threat to the health of the people around them and to the environment.

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

The joint effort will also see to the building of capacity to reduce risks from pesticides used in agriculture and avoid build-up of additional stockpiles in future.

FAO Director-General, Graziano da Silva said that pesticides may be an important input for farming but need to be used responsibly while protecting human health and the environment from their adverse effects.

"In our quest for sustainability and to meet the challenge of feeding a growing population while preserving our environment, we also need to take a good look at the different options we have to protect crops and improve productivity. This includes using natural means to protect and improve crop yields through sustainable crop intensification, or 'save and grow' techniques as we call it at FAO," FAO boss added.

EU Ambassador, Laurence Argimon-Pistre affirmed EU's established policy dialogue and cooperation on environment related issues with its eastern neighbours and Central Asian partners. 

"In its new Neighbourhood Policy, the EU will continue to pursue a higher level of environment protection with its eastern partners and be committed to combat environmental degradation," she added. "This includes obsolete pesticides and other hazardous chemicals, whose environmental and health risks are not only at stake for the region but also for the EU".

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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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Taiwan supports The Gambia's food supplies with N472M

Samuel Chen, Taiwanese Ambassador

Taiwan government made provision for The Gambia the sum of $3 million; about N472 million to enable The Gambia fight food shortage, Observer reports.

The fund will be used to buy 2,300 metric tones of seeds and to also import 1, 360 metric tones of fertilizer in a bid to assist the country out of food shortage.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that last year's crop failure really affected food supply in The Gambia, hence the Taiwan support is appropriate and at the right time.

Samuel Chen, Taiwanese ambassador to The Gambia, announced the support at the opening of a 10-day seminar on crop production with special focus on rice for the Africa region and Haiti held at Bakau.

Ambassador Chen affirmed the need to maintain food security as a crucial policy in The Gambia with rice as one of the most important staple food of its people.

He added that Taiwan is glad to share her knowledge to her friends and diplomatic allies. ReadMore

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