Global trading in herbal products estimated at N19. 9trn

NaijaAgroNet:

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Winifred Oyo-Ita, has said that trading in herbal products worldwide is estimated at $100 billion, about N19. 9 trillion,  NaijaAgroNet reports.

She said herbal products have become a great source of job and wealth creation worldwide even as she urged African countries to exploit their natural resources.

“I understand that Nigeria, like most other African countries presently, is yet to play very significant roles in this business. With our vast bio-resources, biodiversity and investment opportunities coupled with our competitive national advantage in this area and activities such as this, we should rapidly start to reserve this trend.”

“Given the important contribution that trade makes to economic growth and poverty reduction, we must strive to sustain Africa’s bio-resources and biodiversity to exploit her abundant natural resources.”

Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita was speaking at the 2015 HERBFEST workshop with the theme “Food as medicine: utilisation and sustainable exploitation of African medicinal plants and natural products” which was jointly organised by the Bio-Resources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP), Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) and Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA).

According to The Nation report, she recognized science and technology as a veritable tool to drive the economy towards growth and sustainable development, adding the ministry has the critical and strategic mandate to boost the sector.

“For the nation’s bio-business to thrive and be sustained, her medicinal, aromatic and pesticidal plants (MAPPs), animals/animal parts and other raw materials used for herbal medicine, species, cosmetics and other products development need to be properly identified, made readily available and backed with scientific evidence based information and technological infrastructure to enable their cultivation and conservation,” she advocated.

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WFC to launch five-year forests, water action plan

NaijaAgroNet:

The World Forestry Congress (WFC) has said it will launch a five-year forest and water action plan to tackle rise in global demand for fresh and access to safe drinking water, and call for action in areas of science, policy, economics and forest practices,  NaijaAgroNet.

This, NaijaAgroNet gathered, will form part of the programmes for the XIV World Forestry Congress slated to hold in Durban, South Africa from September 7 to 11, 2015. The congress will also highlight the need for governments, civil society and the private sector to boost investment in forests as a key element for sustainable development.

Themed  “Forests and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future”, participants will discuss ways to unleash the full potential of forests to lift rural populations out of poverty, act as buffers against climate change and inspire new technologies and renewable products, NaijaAgroNet gathered.

Being the first time the congress will be hosted on African soil, about 20 ministers and deputy ministers from around the world will join heads of international and national agencies and several thousand delegates gathering for the Congress, which takes place every six years. The Congress proceedings will be in English, French and Spanish and will be webcast

Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, Prince Laurent of Belgium, Special Ambassador to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for Forests and the Environment, and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, are among speakers who will open the Congress.

The winner of the Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award 2015, NaijaAgroNet learnt, will be announced at a special ceremony. The USD 20,000 prize was established by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests in 2012 and recognizes extraordinary efforts by an individual to improve and sustain forests and the people who depend on them.

At the opening ceremony, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva will launch FAO’s latest Global Forest Resources Assessment, which reveals how the world’s forests have changed over the last 25 years and provides the latest information on the state of sustainable forest management.

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Investing in science can reduce water risks – study

Recent study on water-related project has revealed that investment in science could help to reduce risks associated with water resources.

The study was conducted by the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment and promote sustainable development, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the partnership of the United Nations University and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

About 200 major international water-related projects over the past two decades were studied which gave room for the identification of existing as well as emerging challenges and how science could offer solutions.
A press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet revealed that the study extracted lessons from a portfolio of major transboundary water projects involving investments of more than US$7 billion, about N1,1 billion.

It is also revealed that river basins in particular are set to experience growing pressures as a result of urbanization, rising water scarcity and poor water quality.

GEF warns that the linkage between science and policymaking needs strengthening, and that the consequences of poor decision-making are dire leading to water-bankruptcy in some regions in the world with their adverse effects on food and energy security.

The study showed a significant drop in the level of dissolved oxygen levels in marine areas which is a critical ecological indicator. A major increase of stored heat in oceans was also highlighted in the report.

The director, United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health, Zafar Adeel said the study underscores how often early 'alarm bells' with respect to emerging issues can be heard and must be heeded.

"The report offers helpful recommendations to the GEF to foster this process," he said.
Also commenting, the GEF's International Waters Focal Area Coordinator, Ivan Zavadsky said that over 20 years GEF has catalyzed the largest investment of its kind in human history.

“GEF's $1.3 billion catalyzed a total of $7 billion of investment in managing shared waters - fresh and marine - in almost every part of the planet, above and below its surface," Ivan said.

"World leaders agreed at the Rio+20 summit in June to strengthen the science-policy interface and to foster international research collaboration on sustainable development. This is especially important in respect to water resources at a point in time of unprecedented pressures from climate change and urbanization to pollution and over extraction," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

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