African governments should come together for water resources management - Minister

Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe, Nigeria's Minister for Water Resources affirmed the need for African governments to combine their efforts and resources in order to face challenges in the water resources management, AfricaSTI reports.

In her words, the continent will not be able to overcome the challenges if resources and efforts are not pull together.

This NaijaAgroNet gathered was said at the launch of the 4th edition of the United Nations Water Development report held recently at World Water Forum in Marseille, France.

“In most parts of Africa, the main problem is not lack or inadequacy of water resources but the capacity and capability to exploit and manage it," she asserted.

The Nigerian Minister also highlighted the need for the Africa Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), which is the highest political body in the continent to ensure a coordinated approach to managing and allocating water across competing sectors to meet multiple goals and ensure balanced progress in all the sectors. 

"We are also mindful of the fact that strong institutions, political will and stakeholder involvement are necessary to achieve the set objectives," she said. Read more

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No single govt can fight hunger - FAO boss

The 32nd meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO’s) Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean ended in Buenos Aires, with the Director-General of FAO, Mr. Graziano da Silva asserting that no single government can fight hunger alone.

The fight against hunger, FAO boss noted, should not be the commitment of a single government but a decision of the entire society.

He also said the initiative against food insecurity is for every country and urged governments to embrace the initiative alongside parliaments, civil society, private and academic sectors.

As revealed to NaijaAgroNet in press statement made available by FAO, some of the issues top on the agenda during the meeting included the challenges of food and agriculture, defined priorities for FAO's regional work for the next two years.

Equally, FAO said, food security, climate change adaptation, smallholder agriculture and food safety were deliberated upon.

"The challenges the world faces today are increasingly interconnected. You cannot talk about food security without talking about climate change, or about development without talking about sustainability or social inclusion; not to mention food prices. Nor can we think that we can respond to the challenges we are facing as individuals", said Graziano da Silva. 

NaijaAgroNet recalled that the conference witnessed renewal of commitments by governments for Latin America and the Caribbean without Hunger in 2025.

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Feed-the-Future, others to help goat producers

Feed the Future, an initiative of the United State government to fight global hunger with the partnership of scientific organisations in order to help U.S. and African goat producers enhance breeding and productivity, reports USDA. 

The goat project is being funded by USAID’s Norman Borlaug Commemorative Research Initiative, African research partners and others.

NaijaAgroNet also gathered that goat DNA and performance measures will be collected from more than 20 distinct goat populations from Africa, the United States, the Middle East and some portion of Asia and Brazil.

Researchers, NaijaAgroNet further learnt will identify unique genes in each population and develop genetic preservation plans.

Also, researchers will consider how breeds differ in performance traits like milk yield and parasite resistance. 

According to the report, the project will associate those differences with the DNA, enabling farmers to more quickly breed healthier, more productive goats than with observing performance traits alone. Read more

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Incorporate science in fight to boost food security - Expert

Following a recent study that revealed a yearly loss of about 1.3 billion tonnes of food, an expert has called for the incorporation of science in order to boost food security, reports Trust.

Carlos Nobre, national secretary of Research and Development Policies and Programmes in Brazil's ministry of Science and Technology made the call as the global population is expected to reach nine billion by 2050.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that he affirmed science as having a fundamental role to play, hence agriculture must become more resilient and the development of scientific knowledge must bolster sustainability and food security.

Nobre who is also a member of the Independent Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, comprising prominent scientists from 13 countries also made known that one-third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. Read more

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Sahel region in dire need of action to avert humanitarian disaster - Group

In order to avert the impending food crisis in the Sahel region of Africa, a campaign, "Professional Football Against Hunger" hits hundreds of European football stadium with the main message that action is needed to avert a humanitarian disaster in the region as soon as possible.

Professional Football Against Hunger as revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement made available by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is being promoted by the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), the European Commission and FAO.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the campaign, Match Day Against Hunger was launched in 2008, which its third edition this year and the biggest-ever match started on March 30 to spread the call for urgent action.

Commenting on the issue, The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva affirmed that football is the perfect vehicle for highlighting the plight of the people in the Sahel region.

"To respond properly to this emergency, governments, donors and aid agencies need to be united. Together, we can save lives," said Kristalina Georgieva.

"At the same time, we need to build resilience in local communities to stop jumping from crisis to crisis, and to prevent droughts from leading inevitably to famine," said José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of FAO. "We must act now to help people help themselves."

FAO Goodwill Ambassador and Spanish football star Raúl González Blanco said, "We need public support for food crises like this one. No one knows like footballers how crucial it is to have the stadium on your side to win the match."

"We are all diminished when somebody, in any part of the globe, dies from hunger," said Roberto Carlos, a Brazilian star player.

Spanish international and campaign's ambassador from the Spanish professional football league, Roberto Soldado also said, "Together we can prevent this crisis from turning into a full scale catastrophe." 

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that other football ambassadors of the campaign include Felix Magath, a former footballer and active coach in the German Bundesliga; Herbert Prohaska, appointed by the Österreichische Fußball Bundesliga - Austria; Steffen Freund, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH, Germany; Vidar Riseth, Norsk Toppfotball, Norway; Jerzy Dudek, Polish Professional Football League and Alexey Medvedev, Football National League of the Russian Federation.

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Tens of thousands fled Syria for food security

Due to the increasing inaccessibility of food and water in Syria, people in tens of thousands are fleeing Syria for neighboring countries.

As revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a special alert by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there is also fuel shortages which in turn have a great effect on transportation costs.

FAO made the alert as there has been civil unrest in Syria since March 2011.

The World Food Programme (WFP) of United Nations affirmed an estimation of about 1.4 million food insecure living in areas which have now become conflicts hotspot in 2010.

WFP lists Homs, Hama, rural Damascus, Daraa and Idleb as areas which are vulnerable in 2010 and are now more vulnerable as a result of conflicts.

FAO and WFP are currently running an emergency operation providing food aid and vouchers to 100 000 people in the country.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that some 300,000 small farmers and herders in the north-eastern provinces had already suffered four consecutive seasons of drought, and they are also affected by loss of opportunities from seasonal labour migration within the country.

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