Lagos State commits ₦100M to boost child nutrition - NaijaAgroNet

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The Lagos State Government (LSG) has re-approved a ₦100 million fund for child nutrition, a development praised by health advocates as a major win for public health and food security, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The approval, which was announced during a recent breakfast meeting on the adoption of the Child Nutrition Fund, follows advocacy efforts by organizations like the Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN). 

GE’s healthymagination, Miller Centre, graduate second cohort on maternal, child health

NaijaAgroNet:

GE’s healthymagination Mother and Child Programme has graduated its second cohort of social entrepreneurs who completed training and mentorship that is designed to scale impact, thereby improving maternal and child health outcomes in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The graduation of the second cohort, NaijaAgroNet gathered, builds on the success of the 1st group of entrepreneurs, all of whom have reported a notable impact of the programme on their businesses.

One such entrepreneur, NaijaAgroNet reports, is Dr. Steve Adudans whose HewaTele has attracted over 2 Million USD in additional investment since completing the programme in March 2017.

“The skills and practical knowledge we received has enabled us to transform our business model for greater impact. Thanks to the programme, we managed to secure investment from global development partners for the expansion of 2 additional oxygen plants which will increase access to affordable, safe and quality life-saving medical oxygen in Kenya” Dr. Adudans said.

The Executive Director, New Growth Markets, Business Innovations at GE, Robert Wells said they are proud of the major strides that the first cohort of enterprises have made since they graduated, and are thrilled that a second stellar group of passionate entrepreneurs is now better equipped to expand their reach and save the lives of more mothers and children across the continent.

“GE is committed to continue partnering with Social Entrepreneurs to support sustainable healthcare development especially through capacity building and skills transfer” he said.

NaijaAgroNet notes that after a rigorous evaluation process, the social enterprises selected to feature in the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme attended a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa followed by a six-month online accelerator program that included weekly in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Preventive measures to check child labour in agriculture

 NaijaAgroNet

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has designed new measures to checkmate the preponderance of child labour in agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Rob Vos, Director of FAO's Social Protection Division, in a press release in Rome said, "In recent years, we have seen an increase in awareness of child labour and its role in producing export crops such as cocoa, coffee and cotton." The implication of this, he said, “we see much more effective action to prevent child labour in these value chains. However, child labour on family farms not connected to international commodity markets has remained largely untouched. The new guide tries to fill this void”

The new guide, NaijaAgroNet gathered, is intended for use by agricultural organizations, NGOs, international organizations, agricultural ministries, policy-makers, and other actors involved in agricultural programmes, be they related to crop production, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry or livestock-raising.

Worldwide, large numbers of children are involved in agricultural work. This is normal on family farms and - provided it stays within acceptable boundaries -- is not only beneficial for the farm but also allows children to acquire valuable knowledge and skills.

For about 100 million children, however, such work goes beyond what is acceptable - interfering with schooling or involving them in work that is hazardous and damaging to their development, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

The new guide highlights the need to address child labour in family farming in an appropriate and context-sensitive way that respects local values and family circumstances. Social protection and poverty reduction programmes can be particularly effective in helping poor families to send their children to school and to avoid exposing them to hazardous work on the farm.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

 
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