Sudan food crisis enters dire situation says FAO - NaijaAgroNet

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The current crisis in Sudan has worsened an already dire food insecurity situation, with hunger expected to increase substantially across the country as it heads into the typical lean season period from June to September, reports NaijaAgroNet.

In 2022, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the number of people at crisis or worse levels (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC] Phase 3+) during the lean season was estimated at 11.7 million.

Novartis enters 5-year partnership on malaria elimination, votes USD100m

NaijaAgroNet:

A five-year commitment to the fight against malaria has been entered by Novartis in conjunction with the 7th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Conference and the Malaria Summit of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The company, NaijaAgroNet gathered, also released new African research on progress and remaining challenges toward the 2030 malaria elimination targets, together with Elimination 8 and the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust program.

Over the next five years, as part of its commitment, Novartis will invest more than USD 100 million to advance research and development of next-generation treatments to combat emerging resistance to artemisinin and other currently used antimalarials. The company will also implement an equitable pricing strategy to maximize patient access in malaria-endemic countries when these new treatments become available. In order to contribute to the WHO’s target of reducing malaria-related child mortality by at least 90% by 2030, Novartis will further help expand access to pediatric antimalarials and implement healthcare system strengthening programs in 4 sub-Saharan countries.

“Resistance to treatment presents the biggest threat to the incredible progress that has been made in the fight against malaria in the past 20 years. We cannot afford to wait; this is why we are committing to advance the research and development of next-generation treatments,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. “At the same time, we need to work to ensure that our innovation reaches those most in need, even those in the most remote locations.”

The R&D investment is meant to advance the Novartis malaria pipeline through 2023 and to complete a comprehensive global clinical trial program for our novel antimalarial drug candidates KAF156 and KAE609 (currently in Phase IIb and Phase IIa respectively ^[1]). Both are from new classes of medicines that were selected for their ability to treat malaria in different ways from current therapies. The investment also includes new uses of technology to identify areas where the malaria burden is greatest. This information could then be used to support capability- and capacity-building to establish future clinical trial sites, so the medicines can be evaluated in the populations where they are most needed.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Indonesia’s first certified timber enters Europe

NaijaAgroNet:

Indonesia and the European Union (EU) have signed a agreement to issue the world's first Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) timber licence as a major achievement in the fight against illegal logging, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has given its support to the initiative to combat illegal logging and boosts sustainable livelihoods.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that as of 15 November, the FLEGT licence could accompany shipments of timber exported from Indonesia to EU member states to certify that the timber has been harvested, transported, processed and traded according to Indonesian law.

"Indonesia has taken important steps to strengthen forest governance, combat illegal logging, modernize its forest sector, and improve business practices," said Robert Simpson of FAO's FLEGT Programme, which supports tropical timber-producing countries engaged in FLEGT initiatives.

"In addition to helping to limit the environmental damage caused by illegal logging, demonstrating timber legality opens the door to promoting the sustainable livelihoods of forest communities and increasing access to international wood markets," he said.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Indonesia supplies one third of tropical timber imports by value to the EU, one of the world's largest consumers of timber products. Since 2013, the EU Timber Regulation has prohibited European companies from placing illegal timber and timber products on the EU market.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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