UN prospects raise in crop production, utilization, trade and stocks - NaijaAgroNet

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The United Nations (UN) is seeing prospects for crop production, utilisation, trade and stocks, especially in the area of cereal supplies, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This was made known through its agency, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its recent sectoral brief made available to NaijaAgroNet.

5th UN Conference: Chief Economist raps LDCs ministers in Doha - NaijaAgroNet

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The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) stand to benefit from strong partnerships with their Global South counterparts when it comes to making their agrifood systems more efficient, more inclusive, more sustainable and more resilient, the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Maximo Torero, said in Doha.

"Strong global partnerships, including South-South and Triangular Cooperation, provide key support for agrifood systems transformation, and an open exchange of knowledge and expertise around this important topic," Torero said in an FAO address to a ministerial meeting on South-South Cooperation in the Qatari capital.

UN global migration pact to avert suffering, chaos - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The United Nations (UN) has commended the global adoption of migration pact, saying it will avert suffering, chaos, especially in developing countries, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Secretary General of UN, Mr. António Guterres, said this in reaction to the adoption of the pact in Marrakesh, Morocco on Monday, describing it as a “roadmap to prevent suffering and chaos”.

Addressing the opening intergovernmental session at the event, Mr. Guterres, said that the compact provides a platform for “humane, sensible, mutually beneficial action” resting on two “simple ideas”.

“Firstly, that migration has always been with us but should be managed and safe; second, that national policies are far more likely to succeed with international cooperation.”

The UN chief said that in recent months there had been “many falsehoods” uttered about the agreement and “the overall issue of migration”. In order to dispel the “myths”, he said that the Compact did not allow the UN to impose migration policies on the Member States, and neither was the pact a formal treaty.

“Moreover, it is not legally binding. It is a framework for international cooperation, rooted in an inter-governmental process of negotiation in good faith,” he told delegates in Marrakech.

The pact would not give migrants rights to go anywhere, reaffirming only the fundamental human rights, he said.

Acknowledging that some States decided not to take part in the conference, or adopt the Compact, the UN Chief expressed his wish that they will come to recognize its value for their societies and join in “this common venture.”

The United States did not endorse the Compact, and more than a dozen other countries either chose not to sign the accord or are still undecided.

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Pix: Secretary General of UN, Mr. António Guterres

Sahel’s hunger attracts UN Food chiefs head to Niger in support - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Three heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are headed to Niger on a three-day working visit between 15-18 August 2018, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This visit, NaijaAgroNet gathered will see these chiefs highlighting regional efforts to address the critical food and nutrition security situation in the Sahel.

The trio including FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo, and WFP Executive Director David Beasley, will meet Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou as well as Prime Minister Brigi Rafini and other members of the country’s government.

They will also visit several projects where collaboration among FAO, IFAD  WFP, the Government of Niger and other partners, is providing people with new opportunities to feed their families, earn an income and build more resilient livelihoods through agricultural activities.

These initiatives illustrate the need to closely link humanitarian and development assistance within the context of building peace in the region. Similarly, FAO, IFAD and WFP are supporting the Government of Niger’s “les nigériens nourissent les nigériens” (Nigeriens feed Nigieriens) initiative which aims to reduce poverty and build resilience to food crises.

In Niger, as in many parts of the Sahel, climate shocks have resulted in recurring droughts with devastating impacts on the region’s already vulnerable populations, particularly those relying on crop and livestock production for their livelihoods and survival.

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Pix: FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva

UN agencies enter MoU to close SDG gaps - NaijaAgroNet

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The two of United Nation's agencies, namely the  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have renewed their partnership to boost efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including the goal of Zero Hunger, reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay today signed a new Memorandum of Understanding in Paris. It comes more than 70 years after the first partnership signing between the agencies.

"This new agreement opens a new chapter in the relationship between our two organizations," said FAO's Graziano da Silva. "We need to work closer together to accelerate our efforts towards the goals set out under Agenda 2030."

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay welcomed reinforced collaboration between UNESCO and FAO as two key Specialized Agencies of the UN system. "The nexus between education, culture, food and health is at the center of many of the challenges faced in this century", she highlighted. "We are committed to strengthening our collaboration in these areas to create sustainable futures for societies."

Under the partnership, FAO and UNESCO have agreed to support the development of learning modules, teaching aids and practical sessions for agricultural secondary schools, universities and farmer field schools on food security and sustainable food systems. The agencies will also explore opportunities for nutrition education and healthy nutrition in schools.

This builds on the joint work already being carried out in South Sudan's cattle camps, where literacy and numeracy training by UNESCO is incorporated into FAO's Pastoral Field School approach. This means young people can access a formal school curriculum as well as topics on livestock management and livelihoods' diversification.

FAO and UNESCO will also develop a joint knowledge-sharing platform on the nexus between food, culture and peace, and develop special education projects in poor, rural conflict-affected areas.

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UN Report demands proactive shift in drought management - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The latest United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has called for a fundamental shift in the way drought is perceived and managed in the Near East and North Africa region, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The agency said in a new report issued today that a more pro-active approach based on the principles of risk reduction is needed to build greater resilience to droughts.

Even though drought is a familiar phenomenon in the region, over the past four decades, droughts have become more widespread, prolonged and frequent - likely due to climate change.

The region is not only highly prone to drought, but also one of the world's most water-scarce areas, with desert making up three quarters of its territory.

The FAO's Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, Rene Castro, was quoted as saying that the Near East and North Africa's technical, administrative, and financial capacities to deal with drought are inadequate, rendering farmers and herders - the first and worst hit when drought strikes - even more vulnerable.

Farmers and herders, UN reported, face mounting challenges as water becomes scarcer, land more degraded and eroded, and soils more fragile.

It lamented that there is still too much focus on recovering from drought rather than being less susceptible to it, with insufficient funding, preparedness, and coordination remaining significant constraints, warns the report.

"We need to perceive and manage droughts differently, and shift from emergency response to more pro-active policy and long-term planning to reduce risks and build greater resilience," Castro said, pointing out that "The report assesses gaps in current drought management and provides a solid base to help governments rethink policies and reformulate preparedness and response plans by offering solutions that take into account each country's specific context."

Launched ahead of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the report was developed by FAO and theWater for Food Daugherty Global Institute at the University of Nebraska.

It covers 20 countries in the region - Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen.

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Investing in school meals ‘win-win’ for West African nations – UN

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The United Nations food relief agency has urged governments in West Africa subregion to spend more money on school meal programmes as these investments not only contribute to children’s better future but also create local jobs around agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“It is a win-win opportunity which governments must seize,” said Abdou Dieng, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “Children enjoy healthy meals that make it more likely that they will stay in school and learn for a better future, while jobs are created and businesses develop.”

The call was made on African Day of School Feeding, annually observed on 1 March.

Increasingly, the food for the meals is sourced from smallholder farmers within the community. The idea is that home-grown school meals provide local farmers and businesses with a predictable outlet for their products, leading to more stable incomes, more investment, higher productivity and the creation of jobs for youth and women in the communities concerned.

In Burkina Faso, the introduction of yoghurt in school meals has had multiple benefits – a women’s group that collects milk locally has recently set up a processing plant for yoghurt that is now delivered to schools by young people on motorcycles.

Some governments in the region are showing a growing interest in investing more in national school meals programmes. The Government of Benin has allotted $47 million to feed 400,000 children over the course of five years in partnership with WFP, using a home-grown school meals model.

WFP’s regional school meals programme, which aims to assist about 2.7 million children this year, faces a $60 million funding gap. Without proper financing, the programme will fall short, leave many vulnerable students hungry and at risk of dropping out of school.

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Tutu fellows write AU, UN against Libya slave exploit

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The Archbishop Tutu Fellows have written to the African Heads of State and the international private sector, Civil Society and multilateral organisations on its stand against the Libyan slave exploits, describing it as the ”great stain’ on African soil, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Mimi Kalinda of the African Communications Group of African Leadership Institute (AFLI) called on the leaders of private sector and civil society organisations, policy makers at the United Nations and the African Union and fellow Africans, saying that slavery in Libya is a crime against humanity.

They also said immediate action is required by all stakeholders, including African governments, to put an end to this outrageous practice and hold responsible parties accountable.

AFLI equally said that there are three great stains on humanity; war, genocide and slavery.

They are the great stains not only because they are the fertile soil for many other debasing evils; they are Great Stains because they are assaults and crimes against humanity.

The prevalence of war, genocide and slavery historically, they said, is by no means the measure by which “we as humanity can accept such behavior as normative, then or now.”

Slavery, AFLI said, has spawned intergenerational social and economic disruption to the Continent of Africa and other areas; and has stolen the liberties and lives of people for the commoditization of their bodies against their will.

Further, they said, the slave trade is a crime against humanity, saying in part, “It is abhorrent to humanity. It is monstrous. It is an assault on the dignity of all. Slavery can and must be stopped.”

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'The Future of Everything is here @SDG'

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The joint meeting of the United Nations General Assembly Second Committee and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will have a special focus on “The Future of Everything—Sustainable Development in the Age of Rapid Technological Change” reports NaijaAgroNet.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also called artificial intelligence “a new frontier” with “advances moving at warp speed.

He pointed out that nowadays, driverless cars, advanced medical diagnosis, 3D printing, artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in the economy today, and it can fundamentally reshape global and local economies in the years to come. The impacts on communities and societies could be profound.

To place the issue of artificial intelligence on the international agenda, experts from Governments, academia, business and civil society, will gather at UN Headquarters in New York on 11 October, to identify options to harness the potential of rapid technological change and innovation towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The life-like robot “Sophia,” he noted has made many public appearances, and will also participate in the event.

“Artificial Intelligence has the potential to accelerate progress towards a dignified life, in peace and prosperity, for all people,” said Mr. Guterres. “The time has arrived for all of us – governments, industry and civil society – to consider how artificial intelligence will affect our future.”

The UN discussion is intended to identify options on how the potential of technological change can be harnessed to achieve sustainable development. The experts, covering a range of areas, will discuss the key trends in technology and innovation in recent years, and how they have had differential impacts on people and prosperity.

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Five UN agencies to unveil first-ever consolidated report on malnutrition

NaijaAgroNet:

Five United Nations (UN) agencies have concluded plans to unveil the first-ever consolidated UN report on progress towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030, reports NaijaAgroNet.

These agencies include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the UN World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the unveiling slated for FAO headquarters on Friday, September 15, this year, would see the new edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World with updated estimates of the number and proportion of hungry people on the planet and includes data for the global, regional, and national levels.

“It offers a significant update on the shifting global milieu that is today affecting people's food security and nutrition, in all corners of the globe,” a source at UN disclosed to NaijaAgroNet.

This, NaijaAgroNet further gathered is the first time that UNICEF and WHO join FAO, IFAD and WFP in preparing the annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.

 

NaijaAgroNet reports that this change reflects the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) broader view on hunger and all forms of malnutrition. Stressing the report would include enhanced metrics for quantifying and assessing hunger, including two indicators on food insecurity and six indicators on nutrition.

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Biological Diversity: UN says tourists must protect nature

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The United Nations has said that tourism must not undermine the nature that attracts tourists in the first place, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a United Nations-backed treaty on biological diversity, Cristiana Pasca Palmer, made this call at marking International Day for Biological Diversity.

“Tourism grows, so does the risk of harming the environment […] It will be important therefore such developments do not undermine the very natural beauty that draws tourists in the first place,” said Cristiana Pasca Palmer, in her message for the Day, which this year is celebrated under the theme Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism.

Many natural areas with rich biodiversity, such as beaches, coasts and islands, mountains, rivers and lakes, are popular tourism destinations. Roughly half of the leisure trips taken globally are to natural areas, she noted.

It is therefore important to understand that the way tourism is managed will impact biodiversity and conversely, the way ecosystems are managed will impact the sustainability of tourism, as tourists will not come to polluted or degraded destinations.

The Convention was adopted on 22 May 1992 as the international legal instrument for “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources” that has since been ratified by 196 nations.

In 2010, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 22 May as the International Day for Biological Diversity.

In his message for the Day, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General Taleb Rifai said: “Together we can make tourism an ally in fighting loss of biodiversity and achieving the Global Goals for a better world.”

In that regard, UNWTO is encouraging more destinations to set up sustainable tourism observatories, he said.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also been working with all its partners to explore pathways for ensuring the long-term sustainability of tourism while also ensuring that it contributes positively to biodiversity.

“Biodiversity is as necessary for nature and humankind as cultural diversity, to build stronger, more resilient societies, equipped with the tools they need to respond to the challenges of today and tomorrow,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova in her message for the Day.

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3,900 Nigerian children killed in armed conflict violations - UN

NaijaAgroNet:

An estimated 3,900 children were killed and 7,300 others maimed as a result of Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North-East Nigeria, says the United Nations (UN), reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations, Virginia Gamba disclosed this in the report on “Nigeria: First Report on Children and Armed Conflict Details Violations Suffered by Children as a Result of Boko Haram’s Insurgency and Ensuing Conflict.”

According to Gamba, this figure stems from suicide attacks which became the second leading cause of child casualties, accounting for over one thousand deaths and 2,100 injuries during the reporting period.

The Secretary-General’s report strongly condemns grave violations against children committed by Boko Haram and urges the group to cease all such violations immediately.

Also, the report showed that boys and girls in north-east Nigeria continued to be brutalized as a result of Boko Haram’s insurgency in the region and the ensuing conflict.

This, NaijaAgroNet gathered was the conclusion of the first “Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Nigeria” which documented the impact on children of the severe deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the country between January 2013 and December 2016.

“With tactics including widespread recruitment and use, abductions, sexual violence, attacks on schools and the increasing use of children in so-called “suicide” attacks, Boko Haram has inflicted unspeakable horror upon the children of Nigeria’s north-east and neighbouring countries,“ declared Gamba.

The Special Representative commends the Government of Nigeria for the measures already adopted and their collaboration with the UN to improve the protection of children. She calls upon the authorities to ensure that all boys and girls are provided with the necessary support and services to facilitate their reintegration into their communities.

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Malala honoured as youngest UN Messenger of Peace

NaijaAgroNet:

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, has designated children’s rights activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai as a UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“You have been to the most difficult places […] visited several refugee camps. Your foundation has schools in Lebanon, in the Beka’a Valley,” said Mr. Guterres at a ceremony in the Trusteeship Council chamber at UN Headquarters, in New York.

“[You are a] symbol of perhaps the most important thing in the world, education for all,” he highlighted.

Ms. Yousafzai, who was shot in 2012 by the Taliban for attending classes, is the youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace and the first one to be designated by Secretary-General Guterres since he assumed office in January this year.

Accepting the accolade, Ms. Yousafzai underscored the importance of education, especially education of girls, for advancing communities and societies.

“[Bringing change] starts with us and it should start now,” she said, adding: “If you want to see your future bright, you have to start working now [and] not wait for anyone else.”

UN Messengers of Peace are distinguished individuals, carefully selected from the fields of art, literature, science, entertainment, sports or other fields of public life, who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the global Organization.

Backed by the highest honour bestowed by the Secretary-General on a global citizen, these prominent personalities volunteer their time, talent and passion to raise awareness of UN’s efforts to improve the lives of billions of people everywhere.

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Diarrhoea kills 800 children daily - UN

NaijaAgroNet:

Over 800 children under five years die every day around the world from diarrhoea linked to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene, reports NaijaAgroNet.

With the population growth, increased water consumption, and higher demand for water largely due to industrialization and urbanization, NaijaAgroNet gathered have gravely paved the way to draining of water resources worldwide, in addition to conflicts in many parts of the world also threaten children’s access to safe water.

As said by UNICEF in its Thirsting for a Future: Water and children in a changing climate, the above factors force children to use unsafe water, which exposes them to potentially deadly diseases like cholera and diarrhoea.

“Many children in drought-affected areas spend hours every day collecting water, missing out on a chance to go to school. Girls are especially vulnerable to attack during these times,” UNICEF official said in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet.

The poorest and most vulnerable children, NaijaAgroNet reports, will be most impacted by an increase in water stress, as millions of them already live in areas with low access to safe water and sanitation.

The report also noted among others that globally, women and girls spend 200 million hours collecting water every day.

UNICEF further said that the impact of climate change on water sources is not inevitable, UNICEF says. The report concludes with a series of recommendations that can help curb the impact of climate change on the lives of children.

For UNICEF Executive Director, Mr. Anthony Lake, such measures should include governments need to plan for changes in water availability and demand in the coming years; Above all, it means prioritizing the most vulnerable children’s access to safe water above other water needs to maximize social and health outcomes.

Climate risks, he said, should be integrated into all water and sanitation-related policies and services, and investments should to target high-risk populations; Stressing that businesses need to work with communities to prevent contamination and depletion of safe water sources.

Lake equally charged communities to explore ways to diversify water sources and to increase their capacity to store water safely.

“In a changing climate, we must change the way we work to reach those who are most vulnerable. One of the most effective ways we can do that is safeguarding their access to safe water,” Lake said.

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UN cautions on why hunger may not end by 2030

NaijaAgroNet:

The latest study by the United Nations (UN) agency, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has cautioned on why hunger may not end by 2030 after all, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The study entitled “The Future of Food and Agriculture: Trends and Challenges” the UN agency noted that mankind's future ability to feed itself is in jeopardy due to intensifying pressures on natural resources, mounting inequality, and the fallout from a changing climate.

Pointed out though that very real and significant progress in reducing global hunger has been achieved over the past 30 years, "expanding food production and economic growth have often come at a heavy cost to the natural environment."

Emphasising that "Almost one half of the forests that once covered the Earth are now gone. Groundwater sources are being depleted rapidly. Biodiversity has been deeply eroded," it notes.

Sounding the cautions, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in his introduction to the report, noted that as a result, "planetary boundaries may well be surpassed, if current trends continue."

By 2050, NaijaAgroNet gathered, humanity ranking is expected to likely have grown to nearly 10 billion people.

FAO further said that in a scenario with moderate economic growth, this population increase will push up global demand for agricultural products by 50 per cent over present levels projects, noting that  ‘The Future of Food and Agriculture,’ intensifying pressures on already-strained natural resources.

At the same time, greater numbers of people will be eating fewer cereals and larger amounts of meat, fruits, vegetables and processed food — a result of an ongoing global dietary transition that will further add to those pressures, driving more deforestation, land degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Alongside these trends, the planet's changing climate will throw up additional hurdles. "Climate change will affect every aspect of food production," the report says. These include greater variability of precipitation and increases in the frequency of droughts and floods.

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UN says South Sudan is in Famine

NaijaAgroNet:

Some three agencies of the United Nations (UN) have warned that almost 5 million people urgently need food, agriculture and nutrition assistance in the Southern Sudan city of Juba, reports NaijaAgroNet.

These agencies told NaijaAgroNet that the war and a collapsing economy have left some 100,000 people facing starvation in parts of South Sudan where famine was declared on Monday, just as a further 1 million people are classified as being on the brink of famine. 

The trio agencies, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) equally, warned that urgent action is needed to prevent more people from dying of hunger. If sustained and adequate assistance is delivered urgently, the hunger situation can be improved in the coming months and further suffering mitigated. 

The total number of food insecure people is expected to rise to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update released today by the government, the three agencies and other humanitarian partners, 4.9 million people - more than 40 percent of South Sudan's population - are in need of urgent food, agriculture and nutrition assistance.

In addition, the agencies said there is need for humanitarian access, maintaining that unimpeded humanitarian access to everyone facing famine, or at risk of famine, is urgently needed to reverse the escalating catastrophe.

As said by the UN agencies urged, further spread of famine could only be prevented if humanitarian assistance is scaled up and reaches the most vulnerable.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that famine is currently affecting parts of Unity State in the northern-central part of the country, and formal famine declaration means people have already started dying of hunger.

“The situation is the worst hunger catastrophe since fighting erupted more than three years ago,” UN said.

For FAO Representative in South Sudan Serge Tissot, famine has become a tragic reality in parts of South Sudan and the worst fears have been realized, as many families have exhausted every means they have to survive.

"The people are predominantly farmers and war has disrupted agriculture. They've lost their livestock, even their farming tools. For months there has been a total reliance on whatever plants they can find and fish they can catch," Tissot said.

UN further described malnutrition as a major public health emergency, exacerbated by the widespread fighting, displacement, poor access to health services and low coverage of sanitation facilities.

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Canada rejoins UN convention to combat desertification

NaijaAgroNet:

The Canadian government has formally delivered its documentation to re-accede to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), reports NaijaAgroNet.

Canada in an official press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, Tuesday, said this step is to further demonstrate its commitment to joining world action to slow land degradation and desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought.

According to the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, Ambassador Marc-André Blanchard, the link between land degradation and climate change is undeniable.

Canada, Blanchard said, is committed to working with its partners to improve the resilience of developing countries to climate change and environmental degradation, which disproportionately affects women and girls.

Blanchard further said that Canada will work closely with multilateral partners to address poverty, fight inequality and promote sustainable land and resource management.

“The UNCCD is an inclusive body that brings together many diverse voices to tackle complex global issues. In re-acceding to the convention, Canada is taking concrete action to work with multilateral partners on these important challenges,” Ambassador Blanchard said.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Canada first acceded to the UNCCD in 1995 and formally withdrew in 2014, becoming the only UN member state not party to the convention.

Just as Canada is the sixth-largest contributor to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which, as the financial mechanism of the UNCCD, currently allocates less than 10 per cent of its $4.43-billion budget to support efforts to combat land degradation.

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UN stresses need to eradicate poverty

NaijaAgroNet:

In marking the 24th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP), the United Nations has underscored the need to recognize and address the humiliation and exclusion endured by many people living in poverty, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, noted that as the world work together to honour the pledge to build a life of peace, prosperity and dignity for all, the world must recognize that prejudice and discrimination seriously impede efforts.

“To end poverty, we must commit to respect and defend the human rights of all people and end the humiliation and social exclusion that the poor face every day,” he said.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that this year marks the first commemoration of IDEP since the launch of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals in January 2016. Recent estimates show that despite significant gains since 2002 – the number of people living below the poverty line dropped by half – 1 in 8 people still live in extreme poverty, including 800 million people who do not have enough to eat.

Equally, NaijaAgroNet gathered that an estimated 2.4 billion people have no access to improved sanitation, 1.1 billion people have no access to electricity and 880 million people live in urban slums. Opportunities continue to remain scarce for the world’s most vulnerable people – 59 million children of primary school age are out of school and the youth unemployment rate is 15 per cent, more than three times the rate of adults.

“With its central pledge to leave no one behind, the historic and ambitious new 2030 Agenda recognises that development will only be sustainable if it is inclusive,” said the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo.

“We need to change the course of human development from one characterized by exclusion, inequalities, conflict, and unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, to one that is more inclusive, equitable and sustainable,” Hongbo said.

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FAO wants UN member states to take concrete action on malnutrition

NaijaAgroNet:

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has called on the government across the world to take concrete action on malnutrition in all its forms, reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva also said that the United Nations (UN) Decade of Nutrition offers a critical window for advances.

He also pointed out that the 10 years running until 2025, will be a critical time for action to build healthy and sustainable food systems and end malnutrition in all its forms, stressed at the just ended United Nations General Assembly celebrating the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition.

"The purpose of the Decade of Action on Nutrition is to continue to draw the world`s attention to the importance of combatting malnutrition," he said, reminding governments of their commitments made at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) in 2014 and called on them to transform those commitments into action through national policies and programmes.

Better governance on nutrition globally, he said, "starts at country level" emphasizing that nowadays, one in three people worldwide, pointing out that nearly 2.5 billion people suffer from at least one form of malnutrition, ranging from hunger to obesity to a lack of critical nutrients.

"FAO has maintained a great synergy with WHO in leading the efforts in the fight against all forms of malnutrition. WHO is the lead in nutrition and FAO is here to complement that work. FAO has developed a work plan focused on the promotion of healthy food and healthy diets through nutritional education and the transformation of food systems," said Graziano da Silva.

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UN warns of looming La Niña

NaijaAgroNet

The United Nations (UN) has warned of new phase of drought and flood known as La Nina in the Ethiopia’s region of Oromia and Somali, according to meteorological notice made available to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

As said by exprts, a La Niña event is 55 per cent likely for October to November and will have two major impacts on Ethiopia: flooding in the dominantly highland areas and additional drought in the lowland livestock-dependent areas of Oromia and Somali regions. FAO is supporting the Government to prepare a contingency plan to address the upcoming needs.

FAO said that with resources available, the organization has already provided agricultural inputs to 127 000 households (635 000 people) in drought-affected regions including Amhara, Afar, Oromia, Tigray, Somali and SNNP.

“So far, nearly 3 700 metric tons of seed and 5.8  million potato cuttings have been delivered to affected communities. Additional vegetable and late season crop seed are being purchased and will be distributed between August and September 2016,” FAO said.

The agency also said it has provided critical support to livestock-owning families, provided livestock feed, fodder seed to rejuvenate pasture, and rehabilitated water points for livestock.

FAO says it has supported the government to vaccinate and treat some 1.4 million animals, decrying that large numbers of animals has been weakened by the drought and are exposed to diseases as the result of the recent floods.

The UN organization revealed its planning to expand the vaccinations and treatment campaigns.

In order to increase the coverage of both on farmers and livestock keepers affected by the drought and current floods, FAO says it requires $10 million by the end of September 2016.  

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