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Showing posts with label improves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label improves. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Wheat harvest improves in Syria

Syria is likely to witness an improved wheat harvest this year, says the latest Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM), reports NaijaAgroNet.

CFSAM is a joint effort of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

According to two agencies, food security in parts of Syria is slightly better than the same time last year due to an improved security situation and enhanced access to humanitarian assistance, but the overall situation remains far worse than before the war, two UN agencies warned. 

CFSAM estimates a total wheat production at 1.8 million tonnes - 12 per cent more than last year's record low but still less than half of the pre-conflict ten-year average.

The mission's report released today estimates that 6.9 million Syrians are still food insecure while an additional 5.6 million people are likely to become food insecure without the regular food assistance they receive every month.

Adam Yao, Acting FAO Representative in Syria, said that for some Syrian families, there is a small shaft of light in the darkness, despite the immense challenges, agriculture continues to provide food for the country.

“With the evolving security situation, more farmers are expected to have access to cultivate their land again. Now is the time to step up our support, as agriculture is more important than ever for the livelihoods of many," Yao said.  

For WFP Representative and Country Director in Syria, Jakob Kern, "The small improvement in the availability of food for Syrians is promising, but the needs remain high. More must be done to provide food for families affected by the crisis, WFP and FAO are working together to make food security a reality for the people of Syria."

Access by humanitarian organizations to some besieged areas has improved compared to last year. Yet access continues to be heavily constrained in Deir-ez-Zor, where life-saving air-drops of food and other supplies continue, and in Ar-Raqqa where the situation has become critical due to continued fighting. In Ar-Raqqa, shops are destroyed and the cost of the standard food basket has jumped by 42 percent between May and June this year.


Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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Pix: David Beasley, Executive Director, WFP

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Tsetse fly: Senegal advances battle, improves livestock sector


The West African country of Senegal may have advanced battle over Tsetse fly in the country, just as a foundation plan has been put in place to improve livestock sector, NaijaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNet gathers that a campaign against the tsetse fly, a pest that transmits a disease that devastates livestock in the Niayes area near the capital Dakar has radically reduced the fly population and is paving the way for complete eradication. 

Project manager and Head, Animal Health Section in the Senegalese Ministry of Livestock, Baba Sall, confirmed this development to NaijaAgroNet, saying that since the project started, there is already less disease.

“It has not only reduced the tsetse but also ticks, which cause lots of other diseases in the area. We have noticed over all better health of the herds," he said

NaijaAgroNet pointed out that a multi-year programme of the Government of Senegal, with financial help from the United States and technical support from the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, is slowly eradicating the tsetse fly using a method called the Sterile Insect Technique.

The programme, he said, is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) through its joint division with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

The Niayes area has a coastal micro-climate suitable for exotic breeds of cattle, the kind that produces more milk and meat than domestic stock.

Unfortunately, the area is also home to the tsetse fly, which transmits trypanosomosis. Often lethal, the disease reduces fertility, weight gain, meat and milk production and makes the cattle too weak to be used for ploughing or transport.

A government study estimates that when the tsetse fly is completely eradicated in the Niayes farmers will earn €1.2 million ($1.6 million) more per year because they will spend less on treating animals and earning more profit from selling milk and meat.


NaijaAgroNet further gathered that the government has an ambitious plan to introduce exotic livestock breeds and create a modern meat and dairy sector in the area, which is near the capital Dakar.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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