5th UN Conference: Chief Economist raps LDCs ministers in Doha - NaijaAgroNet

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The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) stand to benefit from strong partnerships with their Global South counterparts when it comes to making their agrifood systems more efficient, more inclusive, more sustainable and more resilient, the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Maximo Torero, said in Doha.

"Strong global partnerships, including South-South and Triangular Cooperation, provide key support for agrifood systems transformation, and an open exchange of knowledge and expertise around this important topic," Torero said in an FAO address to a ministerial meeting on South-South Cooperation in the Qatari capital.

COP27: African ministers explore ways to scale up food production, feed continent - NaijaAgroNet

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The African agriculture ministers attending the United Nations climate summit in Egypt reiterated a commitment to work with development partners to unlock the continent’s agriculture potential.

During the special ministerial session, there was a strong consensus that Africa can feed itself if supported with green financing and climate-smart technology to boost agriculture productivity, under the conference of party (COP27).

G20 Ministers of agriculture affirm importance of ICT

NaijaAgroNet:

The G20 Ministers of Agriculture have affirmed the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the end of their meeting, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A communique from the meeting made available to NaijaAgroNet, the ministers affirmed the importance of ICT in agriculture, calling it “essential to human, social and economic development,” and stressing “the potential to reach farmers --including smallholders and family farmers-- with timely and accessible content on markets, sustainable and efficient farming practices and new technologies

The partnership structured at the G20 meeting, NaijaAgroNet gathered is part of a larger digital strategy Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is developing  to integrate a wide range of technologies, ranging from satellite data to mobile phones and social platforms, with the agency’s work to support the most vulnerable with access to information and bottom-up learning.

“We have to bear in mind that small farmers in developing countries are often constrained in their access to inputs, technology, and markets. In order to ensure that farmers fully leverage the ICT opportunities, it is essential to provide digital tailored access, foster capacity development and facilitate the exchange of experiences,” he said.

The FAO Director-General, José Graziano da, highlighted joint work between FAO and G20 countries on such projects as the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) and the G20 Technical Platform for the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste.

He also underlined the ongoing international efforts to address Antimicrobial Resistance in partnership with the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health and called on G20 countries to support FAO in this endeavour. 

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200 dead as late rains, floods threaten food security – SADC

NaijaAgroNet

Executive Secretary, Southern African development Community, (SADC) Dr. Lawrence Stergomena Tax, has at a recent SADC Council of Ministers meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe confirmed that late last year’s floods and rains of early this year, has threatened food security in the Southern Africa region, NaijaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that the food security situation in the region is expected to be less than satisfactory during the 2015/16 marketing year as a result of poor rains in most parts of the region, dry spells in some areas, and floods in other areas.

Dr Tax, NaijaAgroNet learnt, expressed dissatisfaction over the situation, noting that SADC would continue to monitor the situation and support early warning for food security and vulnerability assessments in the member states.

In a report on food security assessment presented at the 34th SADC Summit held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in August last year, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the region had recorded a cereal surplus of more than 670 000 metric tonnes during the previous agricultural marketing season year.

This, according to the report, was mainly attributed to good rainfall, better access to inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, as well as credit facilities and extension services.

NaijaAgroNet also learnt that the floods of which affected parts of Southern Africa between late last year and early this year, left 200 people dead and 500,000 displaced in Malawi, while in Mozambique, about 27, 838 households suffered losses in cash crops.

Meanwhile SADC during the council meeting, deliberated on innovative ways of dealing with problems associated with changes in weather patterns, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, said it was now time for the region to seek ways to curb increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods which adversely affects key sectors of the regional economy including agriculture.

Mumbengegwi, who is also Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Minister, told NaijaAgroNet that SADC to help deal with poor rains, would invest more in regional water infrastructure development such as irrigation, allowing the region to farm all year around and not only depend on climatic conditions to deal with poor rains.

As agriculture is the backbone of most economies in southern Africa, and more than 62 percent of the SADC region’s 277 million people are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the Council of Ministers, would canvass for an increased budget allocations to agriculture as well as targeted subsidy programmes that would result in farmers accessing agricultural inputs and farm implements at cheaper rates.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE 

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Convention tasks environment ministers on illegal wildlife trade

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THE Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has called on environment ministers to support the war against illegal wildlife trade, NaijaAgronet gathered.

The call was made in a statement issued by the secretariat of the ongoing UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, and made available to NaijaAgroNet.

According to the statement, the ministers should be at the fore front of addressing the ecosystem which is under threat from illegal wildlife trade.

The statement stressed that illegal wildlife trade had been an issue of priority in international conferences for the past three years.

``From the UN Security Council to the World Heritage Committee, there is recognition at the highest political levels of the economic, social, environmental and security impacts of this highly destructive criminal activity. The focus now has to be on the front line. This means even stronger law enforcement and demand-reduction efforts across multiple countries, to reverse the current dangerous trends. CITES decisions and compliance processes underpin the global effort.”

Secretary-General of CITES, John Scanlon was quoted as saying that, ``Ultimately, this fight will be won or lost on the front lines, whether in the field, the courtroom, or the market place but not in a conference room. We have had a lot of important high-level events over the past three years and we must now better focus our collective efforts on local, national and regional actions.

``The effects of illegal wildlife trade on natural assets were highlighted earlier this month when the World Heritage Committee added Selous Reserve in Tanzania to the `in danger’ list under the World Heritage Convention due to the impacts of poaching for illegal trade. Illegal logging, poaching and wildlife crimes have an impact on over 50 per cent of the Natural World Heritage Sites”.

According the statement, the effects of illegal wildlife trade on natural assets were highlighted earlier this month at the 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in Doha.

The statement further quoted Scanlon, as saying: ``We cannot allow poaching for the illegal trade in wildlife and the global crime syndicates behind it to destroy entire species.

``The world is losing the building blocks of our ecosystems that we all rely upon. ‘Africa’s elephants are also known as the ‘ecological engineers’ they disperse the seeds of the food they eat and are an essential part of healthy and diverse ecosystems.

``Healthy ecosystems also provide essential services for people from the provision of fresh water to wildlife-based tourism.’’

The statement, noted that both UNESCO and CITES had expressed concern over World Heritage sites across Africa that were suffering from a surge in poaching.

It said the organisations had expressed concern for poaching, especially for elephants, which is diminishing their natural heritage value and appeal as wildlife tourism destinations, which can have severe economic consequences.

``Half of the 14 African World Heritage sites monitored under the CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme are now on the `in danger’ list.

``The CITES Secretariat is working with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to better protect these iconic sites.

``The degradation of World Heritage sites through poaching for illegal trade is destroying these beautiful wildlife-based tourism assets impoverishing local people and national economies as well as the world’s natural heritage,” the statement added.

Chukwudi Obi
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