Senator Mustapha advocates for National Summit on Agriculture - NaijaAgroNet

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

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agricultural Production, Services & Rural Development, Senator Saliu Mustapha has advocated for a National Summit on Agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Senator Mustapha, who represents Kwara Central Senatorial zone at the National Assembly, made this declaration at the opening ceremony of a two-day Parliamentary Retreat on Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) cum Biennial Review (BR) and Food Systems Transformation in Nigeria on Tuesday at Radisson Blu Ikeja, Lagos.

ActionAid to host national NSAs on dissemination strategies for 3rd CAADP BR report - NaijaAgroNet

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

The ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with stakeholders is set to host the Non-State Actors (NSA) to a two-day review session on adequate dissemination of the third CAADP Biennial Review (BR), reports NaijaAgroNet.

Sources close to ActionAid office in Nigeria revealed the advanced plans to host a two-day national session for the dissemination workshop slated to hold between May 18 and 19 at Hawthorn Suites, Garki, Abuja.

Presidency explains private sector role in National Food Security Council

NaijaAgroNet:

The Presidency has explained the role of private sector in the recently inaugurated presidential national food security council, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, informed NaijaAgroNet that the private sector will play an advisory role in the National Food Security Council recently by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The President, he said, is aware of the huge interest indicated by the private sector since the composition of the Council was announced, as well as the reservations expressed by groups that felt left out.

“We wish to emphasise that the Council constituted by the President was more of a think tank that would focus mainly on policy, while various groups from the private sector would be called upon to make sectoral presentations from time to time,” he said.

The presidency further assured that everybody will be carried along as the Council will work closely with all stakeholders.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the Council will be inaugurated by President Buhari on Monday, March 26.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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

Adopt Forest and Land-use policies to alleviate global hunger – IUFRO

NaijaAgroNet

International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), at a United Nations Forum on Forests in New York, called on countries with big forest-dependent population to adopt national policies and land-use strategies that support the planting of multi-functional trees to provide food, timber, fuel wood, medicine and a host of environmental services that could access safe nutritious food for all, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The Union, NaijaAgroNet gathered, estimates that some 805 million people – one in nine citizens of Earth – are undernourished, primarily in Africa and Asia. At the same time, between 1.2 and 1.5 billion people worldwide depend on forests for all or most of their diet and livelihood.  

Stepha Mcmullin, social scientist and member of the Union report’s Authors, also concurred that forests and tree-based farming systems such as agroforestry can complement agricultural production to ensure greater food security and better nutrition for some of the world's most vulnerable communities.

“If you're familiar with shade-grown coffee, then you have an idea of what agroforestry is all about. By planting fruit trees and other useful species, selectively weeding and otherwise managing the forests as intensively as any farmer might tend their fields and rotate their crops; people all over the world have created gardens that resemble natural forests in many ways, including providing suitable habitat for a diverse array of flora and fauna.” He said.

McMullin who, NaijaAgroNet gathered, advocated that forests and tree-based systems also benefit people indirectly, sited an instance in the Sahel region of Africa, noting that by planting trees, poor farmers have turned millions of acres of what had become semi-desert by the 1980s into more productive land, where trees now account for 80 per cent of average household incomes in the region, largely through shea-nut production.

Coordinator of IUFRO’s Global Forest Expert Panels initiative, Christoph Wildburger, told NaijaAgroNet that tree-based farming can help prevent climate change calamities, which is also a threat, not just to the productivity of agroforests but to conventional agricultural operations, as well.

“Large-scale crop production is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, which may occur more frequently under climate change. Science shows that tree-based farming can adapt far more better to such calamities. We know that forest already play a key role in mitigating the effects of climate change. It should also be made very clear that they also play a key role in alleviating hunger and improving nutrition.” He said.

Ultimately, lack of community control over forests and, of course, deforestation could limit the abilities of forests to enhance food security. Forest management in most countries is fragmented across different governmental agencies and administrative jurisdictions.

Daniel Nsolibe /Ed, Ops.

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