FOA set to launch Status of Women in Agrifood System - NaijaAgroNet

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The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has advanced plans to launch a new report entitled the Status of Women in Agrifood Systems, reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol gave this at an event, co-hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), in commemoration of the 2023 International Women's Day in Rome.

Hichilema officiates launch of Zambia Water Investment - NaijaAgroNet

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The President of the Republic of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, has officiated the launch of the Zambia Water Investment Programme and stressed that, “Social economic development cannot be achieved without attaining water security on the African Continent.”

The Government of Zambia in collaboration with the International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa launched the Zambia Water Investment Programme on the margins of the of the African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Lusaka, which was presided over by Mr Alex Simalabwi, Executive Secretary of the Global Water Partnership, Southern Africa.

2018 State of Food, Agriculture report for launch - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

As part of the World Food Week starting today, Monday, 15 October, the report on State of Food and Agriculture is set for launch, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A series of events, NaijaAgroNet gathered, have been lined up including World Food Day on 16 October to explore the actions needed to put achieving Zero Hunger back on track.  

NaijaAgroNet recalled that World Food Day is marked each year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of FAO in 1945.

A package of multimedia feature stories depicting real people’s actions towards Zero Hunger is available for media use, including accompanying photos and video, and a brochure about the day is available.

The launch of the State of Food and Agriculture report 2018, slated for Sheikh Zayed Centre, FAO.

This year’s edition explores how migration is linked to food security, agriculture and rural development. 

The report will be presented at a press conference with FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Assistant Director-General for Economic and Social Development Kostas Stamoulis.  

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African leaders unite against malaria, launch ‘Zero Malaria Starts with Me’ - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

African leaders have launched the Zero MalariaStarts with Me, a continent-wide campaign co-led by the African Union Commission and the Roll-Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria, to see more people involved in the fight against the disease that kills over 400,000 Africans every year, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Following reports that malaria cases have increased for the first time in more than a decade, Zero Malaria Starts with Me seeks to reignite a society-wide movement to get back on track efforts that contributed to a 60% decline in cases and saved an estimated 7 million lives since 2000, and to help meet the goal of eliminating malaria across Africa by 2030.

The campaign, unveiled Sunday during the AIDS Watch Africa Meeting at the 31st African Union Summit by President Macky Sall of Senegal and King Mswati III of Eswatini and endorsed by 55 (TBC) African Heads of State and Government today, empowers communities to take greater ownership of malaria prevention and care, and to mobilise additional resources for the effort.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Chair of the African Union, says: “The African continent accounts for over 90% of the global malaria burden. It is in this context that we have launched the “Zero Malaria Starts with Me” campaign, a continent-wide public-facing campaign for a malaria-free Africa. The campaign will reignite grassroot movements in which individuals, families, communities, religious leaders, private sector, political leaders, and other members of society pledge to take responsibility in the fight against malaria.”

Inspired by Senegal’s nationwide campaign of the same name launched in 2014, Zero Malaria Starts with Me is now being rolled out across the African continent to encourage all citizens – political, business, community and religious leaders, as well as individuals, families and communities – to make a personal commitment to ending malaria for good.

To date, over 20 African nations have committed to join in supporting the campaign, with presidents of Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique already launching nationwide campaigns that include large-scale bed net distribution drives to establishing high-level national End Malaria Councils and parliamentary groups on malaria. Others, including the First Ladies of Ghana and Niger, have pledged to do more to engage leaders and communities to fight malaria in their countries.

President Macky Sall of Senegal comments: “In my country, malaria has long been a major public health concern threatening the socio-economic development and structural transformation trajectory that has put our country on a firm path to sustainable development. It is through national ownership, shared responsibility and global solidarity that we can defeat malaria for good.”

HM King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Chair of the African Leaders’ Malaria Alliance, says: “This campaign further reinvigorates our commitment to eliminate malaria in Africa as we now call upon all our people at all levels to work with us in ridding our continent of this scourge. I urge all governments to invest more in fighting the disease, however the success of this campaign will depend on partnerships and on collaboration across sectors and amongst our population, for as government, we cannot win this fight against malaria alone.”

The campaign offers simple tools to increase community participation in malaria elimination efforts, keep pressure up on leaders to stay committed to ending the disease, and forge new partnerships that can contribute additional funding that will increase access to treatment, improve diagnosis and prevention against the deadly disease. Campaign resources are provided via a Zero Malaria Starts with Me toolkit available at www.zeromalaria.africa.

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GE, Miller Center launch second cohort healthymagination

NaijaAgroNet:

The General Electric (GE) and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship has launched the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme in effort to accelerate health innovations in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This programme, NaijaAgroNet reports selected 14 African social entrepreneurs who will benefit from training and mentorship aimed at improving maternal and/or child health outcomes.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme would avail selected enterprises to receive training and mentorship aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and/or child health outcomes in Africa.

According to the Executive Director, healthymagination, Mr. Robert Wells, the winners emerged after a rigorous application and evaluation process, and accelerate maternal health outcomes across Africa with impact areas including, Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and more.

The second cohort of entrepreneurs, he said, are currently attending a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The workshop, NaijaAgroNet gathered is packed with core business principles into a powerful forum facilitated by senior-level Miller Center mentors and GE business leaders.

Mr. Wells also said that the programme is designed to help the organizations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

“Solving local health challenges calls for locally-adapted interventions and innovations, and Social Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing a major role in this regard. The healthymagination Mother and Child programme will continue to provide them with mentorship and in-depth training, accelerating health innovation and furthering our goal to increase the quality, access and affordability of maternal and child health,” he said.

Executive Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Dr. Thane Kreiner, said “GE’s mission to work on better health for more people is evidenced by our continuing partnership to help social enterprises scale their impact. This cohort’s impact aligns with the target indicators for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3. Miller Center is honored such amazing social enterprises applied to this Mother & Child accelerator program.”

The kick-off workshop will be followed by a six-month, online accelerator programme with in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders. The accelerator and mentorship programme will culminate in a “Premier Pitch” event in Africa where the 14 organizations will present their respective enterprises to an audience of potential investors.

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NEPAD, Pardee Zero Hunger report for launch

NaijaAgroNet:

The chief executive officer of NEPAD Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, would lead a group of expert speakers to launch the NEPAD PARDEE Zero Hunger study on Tuesday in South Africa, NaijaAgroNet reports.

According to the Senior Communications Officer, NEPAD Agency, Ms Mwanja Ng’anjo, the launch will herald the efforts of agency towards eliminating hunger in Africa by 2025.

Dr. Mayaki would be joined on Tuesday, September 13, at the Conference room, ISS Pretoria, Block C, Brooklyn Court, 361 Veale Street, New Muckleneuk, Pretoria, South Africa, by Dr Jakkie Cilliers , Head, African Futures and Innovation, ISS, Jay Naidoo, GAIN, Dr Lindiwe Sibanda, FARNPAN, and Chris Nikoi, Regional Director, World Food Progrramme (WFP).

She also said that the new report by the NEPAD Agency and the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures analyses the ‘conditions for success’ if Africa is to achieve the target set by African Union in Agenda 2063 and the 2014 Malabo Declaration on agriculture transformation.

The study, she said, puts the magnitude of the task into perspective and highlights the major levers in policy, investment, technology as well as human and institutional capacity needed to sustain access to food.

This launch, NaijaAgroNet gathered, is hosted jointly with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordination Agency (NEPAD Agency) and the Pardee Center for International Futures. 

Remmy Nweke/ED, Ops

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FMARD, IWMI launch ‘Wetin App’ for flood forecast, control

NaijaAgroNet:

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have launched a smart phone application tagged “Wetin App” for flood forecast and control, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The app, NaijaAgroNet gathered is available on Google App Store, and would be focusing on forecasting flood reports especially along the Niger and Benue rivers.

FMARD officials informed NaijaAgroNet that the application, would assist Nigeria in management of flood and its associated exigencies.

Speaking at the launch in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Shehu Ahmed, represented by the Director of Agricultural Businesses, Processing and Marketing, Alhaji Azeez M. Olumuyiwa said Nigeria sought the help of the IWMI to develop the application following the devastating flood of 2012, which led to huge destruction of farms, houses and human lives.

He also said the country had decided to turn that bitter experience into a blessing by looking at the various ways farmers and government could take advantage of technology.

In his remark, the Regional Director for Africa at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Professor Timothy Olalekan Williams, said the application was developed using data from the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency (NHSA), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NMA) and the satellite.

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SUN Movement Strategic roadmap 2020 for launch in September

NaijaAgroNet:

The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement has advanced plans to launch its strategic roadmap 2020 in the month of September, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The launch, NaijaAgroNet gathered would form part of the inauguration of the SUN Movement’s new Lead Group at the UN General Assembly in New York on Assembly in New York on 22 September, 2016.

Disclosing this, the interim coordinator, SUN Movement, Mr. Tom Arnold, told NaijaAgroNet, pointed out that it would be a moment members strive to connect all every member to join the event and engage with the Lead Group via webinar.

According to him, the SUN Business Network, for instance, is also organising an event in New York on August 20 to highlight business commitments to nutrition.

This meeting, he revealed will be a prelude to Ministers of Finance from partnering countries, presenting their scale up plans to accelerate actions on early child development and stunting reduction will be held during the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington in October.

Arnold further said that the SUN Movement Lead Group, Networks and Secretariat will support SUN country stakeholders in efforts to engage with Ministries of Finance ahead of this important meeting and in follow-up initiatives focusing on resource mobilization.

Just as he said, the 43rd session of the Committee for World Food Security will take place in Rome between October 17 and 21 with a focus on “Making a difference in Food Security and Nutrition.”

All SUN Countries and SUN Stakeholders, he said, are encouraged to participate to share their experience and to contribute to defining policy guidance which promotes convergence for food security and nutrition.

The Micronutrient Forum, Arnold said will be held in Cancun during the month of October from 24 through 28, where there will be an opportunity to convene SUN stakeholders, especially those from Latin America, for experience sharing.

With the SUN Movement Secretariat, we are dedicated to ensuring that you and your countries can make the most of these significant opportunities to bring political attention to nutrition, and galvanise finance for effective action.

“Given this busy agenda for nutrition actors across the Movement, in order to maximise attendance at the SUN Movement Global Gathering and offer an innovative and content rich opportunity for sharing and learning, the SUN Movement Secretariat will organise the Global Gathering in late February 2017,” he submitted, assuring that information to this effect will follow shortly on its location and logistical aspects of the event.

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