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Showing posts with label People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People. Show all posts

Saturday, June 2, 2012

AATF enters deal with Japan Tobacco on rice varieties



In order to develop varieties of rice in sub-Saharan Africa, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has signed a license agreement with Japan Tobacco (JT), a leading international tobacco product company.

The license, as revealed in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, would enable smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Uganda to use JT's transformation technology to develop new rice varieties.

The project which seeks to address major constraints facing rice production in Sub-Sahara Africa region is tagged 'Nitrogen Use Efficient, Water Use Efficient and Salt Tolerant (NEWEST) Rice Project.' Japan Tobacco would also offer free technology in support of humanitarian aid projects.

Commenting on the agreement, AATF Executive Director, Dr. Denis Kyetere affirmed that slow growth in domestic rice production has contributed to the low output achieved by farmers in the region.

“Several factors are responsible for the low rice production. However, nitrogen deficiency and drought have been cited as leading constraints to upland rice production, while high salinity is increasingly becoming a major problem in many rice growing areas of Africa,” he noted.

NaijaAgroNet recollects that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) once revealed that rice production in the region has stagnated at about 14.5 million tonnes per year, which is against the annual consumption of 21 million tonnes, hence the need to boost production.

The license, JT’s Chief Strategy Officer, Mr. Masamichi Terabatake said would also enable the use of JT's plant transformation technology for monocot species, PureIntro; developing and deploying the nitrogen efficient, water efficient, and salt tolerant rice products, free of royalties.

PureIntro is an agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation technology that is recognized worldwide as de facto standard for monocot transformation, which reduces development costs and time.

Additionally, PureIntro has been licensed by JT to more than 50 private and public entities worldwide for numerous monocots including maize, rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, sugarcane, switchgrass, miscanthus, forage and turf.

JT’s plant biotechnology is independently managed from its core businesses including its tobacco business and food business, thus not applied to its product development conducted within those businesses.

AATF launched the NEWEST Rice for Africa Project in 2008 with the objective to transform some varieties of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) to improve their productivity in nitrogen-poor soils.

Experts say, provision of smallholder rice famers with higher yielding varieties are well adapted to the upland and lowland rice-growing areas in Africa, which also is another goal for establishing NEWEST.

Other partners in this private public partnership include Arcadia Biosciences who are providing access to traits that confer nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency and salt tolerance. The University of California is donating required plant transformation technologies. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the national agricultural research institutes of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda will conduct the necessary field trials to test the performance of the new varieties.
The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), and will initially be implemented over a 10-year period.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Football star calls for funding to prevent food crisis in Sahel



FAO Goodwill Ambassador, Raúl González
Goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Raúl González has called for support towards prevention of nutrition crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa.

The Spanish football star, González visited Chad recently where more than 17 million people are at risk of hunger with over 1 million children under five, facing acute hunger.

FAO revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement that the European Commission had increased their support to FAO in Chad by $1.3 million, about N208.3 million bringing its total support for the region to be $355 million, about N56.88 billion in 2012.

Identifying the fact that supporting local farmers and herders as priorities before and during the next planting season, Raúl said "If we want to help people grow their own food, funds are needed now."

The total amount needed by FAO in order to assist Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal is estimated at $97 million.

Director General, FOA, José Graziano da Silva said the funds would be used for seed distribution, small-scale irrigations schemes, fodder production and vaccination campaigns.

Director General, FOA, José Graziano da Silva
The major causes of the drought in the region, NaijaAgroNet recalls, have been as a result of chronic poverty, high food prices, conflict and the last year's drop in cereal production.

"We are losing the opportunity to give local communities the means to stop jumping from crisis to crisis," FAO boss, José Graziano warns, urging coordinated action that builds up their resilience and links relief with development.

Raúl's visitation to Chad, FAO noted, is part of "Professional Football Against Hunger," a campaign launched in 2008 by the European Football League which represents 30 largest professional football leagues and almost 800 clubs across Europe, stressing that the campaign is also FAO's leading international efforts to defeat hunger.

Sir David Richards, Chairman of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), said they are partnering with European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and FAO on this project.
"We are proud to use the power and popularity of football," he said, pointing out that European professional football is providing a megaphone to raise awareness for their work, so that the right help could get to the people in need as soon as possible.
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Monday, May 28, 2012

Farmers call for involvement in cassava action plan


Pastor Segun Adewunmi
Nigerian farmers have call on the federal government to involved farmers in the cassava and other agricultural transformation agenda action plan for implementation purposes.
The national president of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, Pastor Segun Adewunmi made the call recently at the ‘This Morning’ talk show on Television Continental.
The NCGAN president also commended the Lagos State government for its concern in the cassava sector with about 40 per cent subsidy on cassava input and 50 per cent off price of tractors used on cassava farms, stressing these are initiatives to encourage cassava producing in the state.
While applauding the federal government for the Cassava Transformation Agenda Action Plan which he said was organized in such a way that every farmer would be a beneficiary, asserting “The policy has to involve the farmers.”
The transformation agenda action plan during the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, he said gave room for more use to cassava products for industrial uses as against the usual garri and starch only.
Pastor Adewunmi further said his association is working towards the eradication of unemployment among youths in the nation, which includes the recruitment of about 5 youths from each local government to be trained on agriculture extension services.
Over 5,000 youths, he said, are also to be involved monitor cassava growing in the nation with about one million farmers to grow cassava.
Women taking part in processing Garri
NaijaAgroNet learnt that cassava production cost in Nigeria surpasses any other cost of producing cassava anywhere in the world; hence this necessitated the proposal by the federal government to establish 18 large scale processing cassava plants for flour.
N300bn, Pastor Adewunmi said has been saved from flour importation as a result of the Cassava Transformation Agenda Action Plan which sees to the production of cassava flour. And increase of agricultural loan from about 1.03 per cent to about 3 per cent.
Part of the strategies by the association to improve cassava production, NaijaAgroNet further gathered is to ensure that every local government authority has a minimum of five extension officers who will supply agricultural inputs for their respective local government authority.
Uzo, a caller from Lagos affirmed that funds do not get to the right farmers as they are not part of the action plan, hence they cannot monitor the implementation process of the action plan.
Speaking in the same vein, the publicity secretary of Agbekoya Farmers Association, Chief Olatunji Bamidele affirmed the greatest challenge facing farmers in the nation to be lack of funds. The Agbekoya Farmers Association, he said had requested for loan from the federal government for months back which they are yet to receive any response as regards the loan. 
Chief Bamidele said any agricultural transformation agenda that excludes the farmers in the process have a very little chance of seeing the light of the day.
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Friday, May 25, 2012

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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Monday, May 14, 2012

FG targets 3.5m jobs in agric sector



Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has said the Federal Government has plans to create about 3.5million jobs in the agricultural sectors by 2015.
He revealed at a convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, that an initiative would be put in place to enable existing Universities of Agriculture in the country to establish Departments of Transfer and Acquisition.
NaijaAgroNet learnt that the president was represented by the Minister of Education, Mrs. Rukkayatu Rufai, who said the initiative would facilitate the development of appropriate technologies for eventual transfer to the farming communities of the nation.
“The federal government is putting an initiative in place to enable the three existing Universities of Agriculture in the country establish Departments of Technology Transfer and Acquisition as part of the curricula in their respective institutions,” she said, stressing that her ministry expects the university management and faculties to embark on innovative and creative means of complementing government are funding efforts. 
Source: ThisDay.
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