Cape Verde battles unregulated fishing, joins Port State Measures Agreement

NaijAgroNet:

An African country of Cape Verde also known as Cabo Verde, has joined the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), as President Jorge Carlos Fonseca personally delivered his country’s ratification papers for the treaty to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as part of efforts at regulating fishing, reports NaijAgroNet.

The FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva who lauded Cape Verde for this step, invited the head of state to a forthcoming event in Rome to celebrate the first international treaty to focus specifically on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

“Cape Verde is acting responsibly and joining the international community’s effort, led by the United Nations and FAO, to combat practices that limit sustainable access to resources that are important not only to the whole world but in particular to our island country,” said Mr. Fonseca.

NaijAgroNet recalls that as many as 60 countries have signed the PSMA will be at the special event when the Committee on Fisheries begins its 32nd session at FAO’s headquarters on July 11.

Although FAO drafted the treaty and began shepherding its adoption in 2009, the PSMA, which requires all fishing vessels to allow inspectors aboard when they stop in foreign ports, went into legal force earlier this month after over 25 countries including Cuba and the United States of America, Mozambique and the European Union acting on behalf of its 28 members deposited their instruments of adherence.

Graziano da Silva signalled FAO’s willingness to support Cape Verde’s fisheries sector, saying the agency’s collaboration with the country is “very progress”. Current projects include initiatives to tackle desertification, bolster reforestation efforts and to promote marine resources management and the Blue Economy.

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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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