Search NaijaAgroNet

Showing posts with label impact. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impact. Show all posts

Monday, December 12, 2022

How LAPO is making great impact in Nigerian agriculture - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology


Agriculture is deeply woven into the fabric of Nigeria’s history and culture and it remains a central pillar of the economy. A dominant sector in Nigeria, it consistently contributes (specific figure) to Nigeria’s GDP, and accounting for the livelihoods of almost 84 percent of households in rural communities.
However, despite recent gains, the vast majority of farmers practice subsistence farming characterized by lack of modern implements and low yields. Sadly, farming is still largely defined by the poverty of practitioners, rather than its great potentials, although an emerging generation of young farmers are trying to change the narrative of Nigerian agriculture through a focus on new techniques and technology.

Monday, April 30, 2018

Family planning: Media executive, Fanimo warns on population explosion impact

Media executive and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Leadership Newspapers, Mr Dele Fanimo, has warned on population explosion impact on family planning, urging Nigerians to ensure they have family they can cater for comfortably, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking during an advocacy visit to his office by members of the Family Planning Media Advocacy Working Group (FPMAWG) in Lagos, Fanimo dispelled myths and misconceptions around family planning in the country.

According to him, Nigerians must learn to plan their lives especially families so as to make certain they enjoy family lives to its fullest.

He also bemoaned the recent revelation by the National Bureau of Statistics indicating that the country now has some 198 population, describing it as a time bomb.

“The Nigerian population is 198 million and this figure has an implication on the country in all aspects of the economy. A quarter of this population is almost twice the population of Republic of Benin. The central of this is uncontrolled birth,” he said.

The COO said the implication of the Nigerian huge population can lead to increase in crime and prostitution, adding that with social dislocation, what a country gets is underdevelopment and a failed nation.

“Uncontrolled birth is unacceptable because when a man has a big family he cannot cater for, he will have to deny child A to send child B to school, leading to more miscreants, thieves, thugs and hoodlums on our streets, and the vicious circle continues.

“This is a huge problem, if we want to help the country, we must promote FP. Churches need to do more. Some of these things should form part of the Sunday sermon and mosque service.

“They need to demystify the myths and misconceptions to their members. Imagine a woman attaching child birth to inheritance. Some will say, if you live in a man’s house and no son, you will suffer when the man dies.

“Not able to cater for a large family can also lead to corruption because when you have more than you can care for, you would be force to steal,” he said.

He however called on traditional leaders, religious leaders and political leaders to help and demystify the myths and misconceptions of FP as the media cannot do it alone.

As part of contributing its quarter in creating more awareness on FP, Fanimo assured FPMAWG that Leadership Newspaper is ready to work with them.

He however urged the FPMAWG to see beyond newspaper publications but go to the rural communities, community leaders and other stakeholders to sensitize them on the importance of FP, they in turn will now be an advocate of FP.

Earlier in her address, the working group chairperson, Mrs. Umeha, noted that Family Planning (FP) has been a worldwide issue, hence the reason why world leaders, local and international donors and advocates from around the world gathered at an FP Summit in London on July 11, 2017 to discuss efforts to reach the FP 2020 goals and ensure that more women and girls around the world are able to plan their families and their future.

Nigerian government, she pointed out, made a commitment to increase the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) from 15 percent to 27 percent by 2020 at that meeting, stressing that government at both the Federal and State have shown commitment to the provision of free FP services to the entire women of child-bearing age in the country.

The reason for this is not far-fetched as different statistics and surveys conducted around the world, have revealed that FP program when effectively done, can lead to a reduction of maternal deaths by up to 34 percent and newborn death by about 15 per cent.

The chairperson was accompanied during the advocacy visit by some members of FP Media Working Group, including Chioma Obinna of Vanguard Newspapers, and Remmy Nweke of DigitalSENSE Africa Media, publishers of NaijaAgroNet and Pastor Olusegun Omotayo Adeboye as well as Mrs Shotomiwa Olubunmi, both of Lagos Advocacy Working Group (LAWG) and Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative(PHSAI), while the acting General Manager, Southern Operation at Leadership, Mrs. Angela Tony Iji, was also on attendance.


Isaac Oyimah/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Monday, February 19, 2018

Energy impact investor All On seals 3 off-grid investments for Niger Delta

The Nigerian off-grid energy investment company, All On, has closed a financial deal with three firms for accelerated access to affordable and sustainable energy sources in the Niger Delta, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Chief Executive Officer of All On, Dr. Boer Wiebe, made this known to NaijaAgroNet at the weekend, saying it follows the equity investment made in 2017 to Nigeria Solar Home System market leader, Lumos Global BV, in the form of a debt facility to facilitate a quick rollout in the Niger Delta. 

"All On is also providing equity and debt to Port Harcourt based Green Village Electricity (GVE), Nigeria’s leading mini-grid player, for expansion in the Niger Delta and across Nigeria, while ColdHubs is receiving a convertible debt facility to expand its solar-powered marketplace cold storage business to new markets in the region," Wiebe said.

These developments, NaijaAgroNet gathered are coming barely three months after All-On announced its first set of transactions in Nigeria’s off-grid market, and two months after the firm and U.S. Africa Development Foundation (USADF) announced a $3 million partnership to expand access to energy for underserved and unserved markets in Nigeria.

“The investments made in these energy solution providers further demonstrate our firm belief that off-grid energy is indispensable in the improvement of Nigeria’s energy narrative. It therefore deserves adequate attention and financial backing from both the public and private sectors.” Dr. Boer said.

Commenting, Lumos’s CEO Davidi Vortman, said: “This debt facility from All On both cements the strategic relationship between our two companies and goes a long way towards significantly accelerating the speed of penetration of Lumos Solar Home Systems in the Niger Delta region. All On has established itself as a leader in off grid energy in Nigeria and we are therefore excited to work with All On to enhance energy access for Nigerians in the Niger Delta and across the country.”

ColdHubs CEO, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, described the investment as a demonstration of All On’s commitment beyond simply addressing the access to energy gap, to harnessing innovative renewable energy solutions for the preservation of perishable foods. “This support by All On will enable Cold Hubs to further refine its business model to help improve the livelihoods of people and enhance food security in the Niger Delta,” he said.

In his reaction to the financial close, Managing Director of GVE, Ifeanyi Orajaka, said: "We at GVE are excited about this relationship with All On. An investment from a world-class organisation such as All On further validates our position as one of the leading and most innovative indigenous clean energy solutions providers in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

All On, an independent impact investing company, was seeded with funding from Shell, and works with partners to increase access to commercial energy products and services for under-served and un-served off-grid energy markets in Nigeria, with a special focus on the Niger Delta.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
.
.. Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

FAO, IFAD, WFP host joint high-level meeting on El Nino impact

The rise on impact of El Niño climate devastation on agriculture in the Central America’s Dry Corridor has forced the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to organize a high-level meeting in Rome, tomorrow, June 30, 2016, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Central America, NaijaAgroNet gathered has become one of the worst droughts zones in decades leaving some 3.5 million people food insecure, with most affected countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras having estimated 2.8 million people who are dependent on food aid.

The high-level meeting in Rome, NaijaAgroNet reports, would focus on the urgent need for long-term action to address the impact of El Niño, including building resilience for food security and nutrition for the most vulnerable populations in the affected countries.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that El Niño and its counterpart La Niña occur cyclically, but in recent years, mainly due to the effects of global climate change, extreme weather events associated with these phenomena, such as droughts and floods, have increased in frequency and severity.

As said by FAO’s Peter Mayer, IFAD’s Joanne Levitan, and WFP’s Frances Kennedy, in a joint press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, this situation has put at risk the livelihoods of millions of small-scale family farmers in the Dry Corridor, many of whom are heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture.

The trio equally clarified that the aim of the high-level meeting is to increase awareness of and the response to, this protracted and recurrent crisis, and to mobilize the international community to support the efforts of governments, UN agencies and other partners.

This includes strengthening of early warning systems, disaster risk management, and improving preparedness and coordination for emergency responses at national and regional levels.

In addition to relief work, they said, responding to the impacts of El Niño requires investing in improving poor rural communities’ ability to access land, credit and other resources while also ensuring they are provided with basic services like water, sanitation, health, education, transport infrastructure and electricity.  


Just as the FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze, and World Food Programme Executive Director Ertharin Cousin, would deliver the opening remarks, while the meeting would include a roundtable session with ministers from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Cousin wants increase support for smallholder farmers



NaijaAgroNet

 
 The Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme,Mrs Ertharin Cousin, has decried the impact of climate change and called for increased incentive for smallholder farmers to scale up yields, reports NaijaAgroNet.


Cousin, a former supermarket executive and diplomat, in an interview monitored by NaijaAgroNet,said the damage caused by climate change, coupled with a lack of development both in agricultural and economics perpetually keep small-scale farmers on the edge.

She noted for instance that in woefully underdeveloped nations like four-year-old South Sudan, conflict feeds into that downward spiral.

"The global community is well aware that climate change is impacting sub-Saharan Africa. Erratic rains have become more of a reality for across the entire continent... The vulnerable people around the world need a strong global response to address the issues of climate change to ensure that we can minimize the impacts in the future. But today, what we must do is implement disaster risk mitigation strategies that will support vulnerable populations…” she said.

70 per cent of the people who are food insecure in the world today, she said, live in rural areas, noting that if this is not addressed the challenges of unproductive agriculture, then, the issue of food security or the issue of hunger cannot be overcome.

“So we must increase the ability of smallholder farmers to scale up their agricultural yields and provide markets for them to sell those yields to ensure that we can create sustainable and durable agricultural value chains that support the food security of families, as well as the economic viability of those families. That is the only way that we are going to make progress," Cousin said.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology