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The trio of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP) have jointly pushed to enhance rural women and girls digital capacity to unleash women's potential in agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.
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Showing posts with label potential. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potential. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
FAO DG hails partnership potential with civil society -NaijaAgroNet
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Multiple level partnerships have been described as critical to
achieving a world without hunger, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said Saturday
at a meeting with leading exponents of civil society and indigenous peoples
representing small scale food producers and family farmers.
"We need all of civil society to play an active role",
the Director-General said in wide-ranging remarks underscoring the need to
improve global food systems. "FAO is here to help you."
He addressed the annual Forum of the Civil Society and
Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism (CSM), a vehicle for the participation
of non-governmental actors in policy formulation at the Committee on World Food
Security (CFS), itself a multistakeholder platform.
Today's event focused on how to strengthen commitments to achieving Sustainable
Development Goal 2, also known as Zero Hunger.
A cornerstone of effective action means making sure "family
farmers are the final beneficiaries," Qu added, noting that the UN Decade of Family Farming offers
a great opportunity to implement and leverage ideas and recommendations made by
CFS.
He emphasized the importance of learning and working together
for concrete solutions with "interaction, brainstorming and open
minds." In this context, digital solutions can play a decisive role in
improving the livelihoods of small scale and vulnerable food producers,
particularly in relation to the impacts of climate change, according to the
Director-General.
Qu also emphasized that FAO would pioneer youth and women
engagement initiatives at all levels and highlighted the positive way that
FAO's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)
helps generate economic value, knowledge and rural-development solutions.
"We need to defeat hunger and poverty, which are
inextricably linked," said CFS Chair Mario Arvelo. "We need to use
every tool in the toolbox, as the Director-General said."
CFS itself needs to continually expand its inclusiveness, Arvelo
said.
The CSM is a self-organized body designed to give smallholder
family farmers, non-governmental organizations, Indigenous Peoples,
fisherfolks, herders, youth, consumers and other global citizens a voice in the
work of the upcoming session of CFS, which starts on 14 October and lasts
throughout the week.
The CSM's main message to the
upcoming CFS session, which starts on Monday 15 October, is that "the
possibility of attaining zero hunger is becoming more and more unlikely"
and that policy initiatives need not just to be accelerated but to change
direction.
The group noted with approval CFS progress in thematic areas
such youth employment in agriculture and food systems and reiterated its
priorities in the ongoing process of developing Voluntary Guidelines on Food
Systems and Nutrition, an exercise expected to be completed in 2020.
Among the panelists alongside FAO's Director-General at
Saturday's event were Silvia Dywilli from the World March of Women, Nettie Wiebe of La
Via Campesina, Azra Sayeed of the International Women's Alliance and
Musa Sowe of ROPPA, organizations representing a broad
array of global regions.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Unlocking Africa’s earth observation potential @1st GMES Africa - NaijaAgroNet
NaijaAgroNet:
The first Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa) Forum of the GMES and Africa has kicked off in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, with some 400 delegates, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The delegates, NaijaAgroNet gathered were drawn from Africa, Europe and other parts of the world have gathered to discuss new and innovative Earth Observation technologies supporting Africa’s socio-economic development.
Organized jointly by the African Union Commission and the government of Gabon, the Forum is the first gathering of all stakeholders involved in the GMES and Africa programme. The programme was jointly launched in 2016 by the African Union and the European Union to strengthen Africa's capacity for the optimal exploitation of Earth Observation systems, data and technologies.
Africa has significant aptitude to utilize the opportunities provided by Earth Observation, through satellites and other applications that improve environmental management, agricultural productivity, climate change mitigation, food security, health, and disaster risk reduction, among many of its developmental priorities. Limited investments and a fragmented approach has constrained the continent’s ability to mobilize funding, develop local capacities, and provide the necessary infrastructure for a robust Earth Observation industry.
The African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, H.E Professor Sarah Anyang Agbor said the Forum will evoke the aspirations envisioned by the people of Africa in Agenda 2063 for a prosperous continent with the means to harness its resources to drive its own development on a sustainable basis. She pointed out the pressing imperative for Africa to invest in technological innovation and harness its existing human capital for better health, education and infrastructure systems.
The Head of the European Union delegation to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tomé-et-Principe and CEEAC, H.E. Ambassador Helmut Rudolf KULITZ, stated that "GMES and Africa and its predecessor programmes represent more than 15 years of fruitful cooperation with Africa on Earth Observation and a European contribution of more than €100 million.
The 1st GMES and Africa Forum is centred on the theme “Unlocking the Potential of Earth Observation as a Key Driver of Africa’s Sustainable Development”, a reference to the existing imbalance between the continent’s potential and the actual benefits it derives from Earth Observation dividend. The theme addresses the means of harnessing opportunities offered by Earth Observation to leverage Africa’s socio-economic development.
‘By putting end users at the heart of product and service development, GMES and Africa has become a vision for the sustainable and efficient management of natural resources and security in Africa’, remarked Guy Bertrand Mapangou, Gabon’s Minister of Digital Economy, Communication and Post Office, who is also the government spokesperson.
Forum delegates comprise African end users of Earth Observation services, policy makers, scientists, businesses and academia, who will use the five-day conference to discuss the challenges undermining the growth and expansion of the sector in Africa. They will devise strategies for closer communication, collaboration and engagement among industry experts and users of Earth Observation services. They will further explore the building of stronger partnerships and the deeper involvement of players especially from the private sector and academic institutions.
The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa) is a flagship programme of the African Union under the African Space Policy and Strategy. It prescribes a pathway for the continent to be globally competitive in space activities, including Earth Observation, and to develop a viable continental space programme. With continent-wide coverage, the programme is implemented through grants to African institutions under the banners of regional consortia. 13 consortia representing a total of 72 African institutions have been awarded grants through open competitive bidding to implement projects in water, natural resources, marine and coastal areas management.
GMES and Africa is supported by the European Union through its Pan-African Programme. It is also supported by the European Commission (EC) "COPERNICUS" Earth Monitoring Programme, which provides satellite data and products from the services through the satellite EUMETCAST system of EUMETSAT. Today, more than 300 users in Africa can directly receive Sentinel 3 data and Global Land products. A collaboration arrangement was also signed in June 2018 between the AUC and the EC for Copernicus information and data exchange with Africa. GMES and Africa Programme is another example of the long-standing partnership between the European Union and the African Union.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
The delegates, NaijaAgroNet gathered were drawn from Africa, Europe and other parts of the world have gathered to discuss new and innovative Earth Observation technologies supporting Africa’s socio-economic development.
Organized jointly by the African Union Commission and the government of Gabon, the Forum is the first gathering of all stakeholders involved in the GMES and Africa programme. The programme was jointly launched in 2016 by the African Union and the European Union to strengthen Africa's capacity for the optimal exploitation of Earth Observation systems, data and technologies.
Africa has significant aptitude to utilize the opportunities provided by Earth Observation, through satellites and other applications that improve environmental management, agricultural productivity, climate change mitigation, food security, health, and disaster risk reduction, among many of its developmental priorities. Limited investments and a fragmented approach has constrained the continent’s ability to mobilize funding, develop local capacities, and provide the necessary infrastructure for a robust Earth Observation industry.
The African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, H.E Professor Sarah Anyang Agbor said the Forum will evoke the aspirations envisioned by the people of Africa in Agenda 2063 for a prosperous continent with the means to harness its resources to drive its own development on a sustainable basis. She pointed out the pressing imperative for Africa to invest in technological innovation and harness its existing human capital for better health, education and infrastructure systems.
The Head of the European Union delegation to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tomé-et-Principe and CEEAC, H.E. Ambassador Helmut Rudolf KULITZ, stated that "GMES and Africa and its predecessor programmes represent more than 15 years of fruitful cooperation with Africa on Earth Observation and a European contribution of more than €100 million.
The 1st GMES and Africa Forum is centred on the theme “Unlocking the Potential of Earth Observation as a Key Driver of Africa’s Sustainable Development”, a reference to the existing imbalance between the continent’s potential and the actual benefits it derives from Earth Observation dividend. The theme addresses the means of harnessing opportunities offered by Earth Observation to leverage Africa’s socio-economic development.
‘By putting end users at the heart of product and service development, GMES and Africa has become a vision for the sustainable and efficient management of natural resources and security in Africa’, remarked Guy Bertrand Mapangou, Gabon’s Minister of Digital Economy, Communication and Post Office, who is also the government spokesperson.
Forum delegates comprise African end users of Earth Observation services, policy makers, scientists, businesses and academia, who will use the five-day conference to discuss the challenges undermining the growth and expansion of the sector in Africa. They will devise strategies for closer communication, collaboration and engagement among industry experts and users of Earth Observation services. They will further explore the building of stronger partnerships and the deeper involvement of players especially from the private sector and academic institutions.
The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa) is a flagship programme of the African Union under the African Space Policy and Strategy. It prescribes a pathway for the continent to be globally competitive in space activities, including Earth Observation, and to develop a viable continental space programme. With continent-wide coverage, the programme is implemented through grants to African institutions under the banners of regional consortia. 13 consortia representing a total of 72 African institutions have been awarded grants through open competitive bidding to implement projects in water, natural resources, marine and coastal areas management.
GMES and Africa is supported by the European Union through its Pan-African Programme. It is also supported by the European Commission (EC) "COPERNICUS" Earth Monitoring Programme, which provides satellite data and products from the services through the satellite EUMETCAST system of EUMETSAT. Today, more than 300 users in Africa can directly receive Sentinel 3 data and Global Land products. A collaboration arrangement was also signed in June 2018 between the AUC and the EC for Copernicus information and data exchange with Africa. GMES and Africa Programme is another example of the long-standing partnership between the European Union and the African Union.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Friday, March 17, 2017
Nigeria’s steady progress in agriculture, a potential history
Viewed from the
historian’s perspective, a significant advance in a nation’s fortunes can seem
to occur almost overnight and be driven by destiny. The reality of course is
quite different. Meaningful change is most often the long-term product of
a series of small, connected, deliberate actions whose importance may not be
immediately apparent.
One of those low-key
events that one day could be endowed with historical significance took place in
Nigeria last month, when senior officials from the national government and the
African Union Commission, joined by agriculture experts from across the
continent, gathered in Abuja to consolidate Nigeria’s National Agriculture
Investment Plan (NAIP). Similar blueprints are being drawn-up across
sub-Saharan Africa to ensure countries stay focused on the African Union’s
Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and their
commitments, re-enforced
in the 2014 Malabo Declaration, to place African
farmers and agriculture businesses at the center of the continent’s economic
development.
If there is anywhere
in Africa where a surge of agriculture investments could change the fortunes of
an entire country, it is here. Moreover, success in Nigeria would send a strong
signal to the rest of the continent that agriculture offers our most promising
path to sustainable and equitable economic growth.
Agriculture’s
emergence as Nigeria’s number one economic opportunity comes as falling oil
prices are taking their toll on this oil-rich country. Nigeria urgently needs a
more stable foundation for providing income and employment for a fast growing
population that, by 2050, is
likely to be larger than that of the United States.
Agriculture already
accounts for 70 per cent of employment in Nigeria, but only 40 per cent of
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an indicator that the sector is underperforming.
Every year, Nigerians still spend billions of dollars on food imports, a huge
economic opportunity forfeited to farmers and food companies outside of the
country.
Part of the reason for
the shortfall is that Nigeria has 84 million hectares of land suitable for
farming, but less than half of this area is planted with crops and most
of the farming is accomplished with inefficient, outdated methods and without basic
inputs. Irrigation, which is becoming more important as climate change disrupts
rainfall patterns across the country, is available on only 220,000 hectares,
when there are enough water resources in the country to supply three million.
But if the recent
meeting is any indication, agriculture may finally be getting the attention it
deserves in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Chief Audu Ogbeh and his
predecessor, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who went on to become president of the
African Development Bank, over the last few years, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development has pushed through several ambitious
initiatives.
For example, Nigeria
is the world’s largest cassava producer. And there are now a number of new
income opportunities for poor smallholder farmers and local agriculture
entrepreneurs around producing and processing this hardy root crop. Cassava is
now being processed into high quality flour that can be used as a substitute
for expensive wheat imports. It’s providing a source of fish feed for Nigeria’s
rapidly growing aquaculture industry. Cassava can also provide an industrial
starch with surprising usefulness in areas like paperboard and plywood
manufacturing.
Similar efforts are
underway to bring jobs to rural areas by attracting investments in maize, rice,
sorghum and livestock production. For example, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk
Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has generated US$273 million
in loans for some 454 projects. They include a new rail-shipping venture that
is connecting struggling livestock producers in the north to consumer
markets in the south.
Despite the promising
progress, agriculture in Nigeria still needs far more investment. For example,
a lack of storage and processing options causes many poor farmers to lose
nearly half of their harvest to rot or pests. Also, while fertilizer
usage is up and local seed production is rising, many farmers in Nigeria still
lack access to improved crop varieties and basic inputs.
That’s why it’s so
critical to develop a new agriculture investment plan that shows Nigeria is
committed to ensuring agriculture can flourish as a business. Numerous studies
have shown that, along with increasing food security, economic growth driven by
the agriculture sector is far more effective at pulling people out of poverty
than growth in any other sector.
If Nigeria ultimately
realizes its ambitions for agriculture, historians of the future may point to
an investment meeting that occurred in Abuja in February of 2017 as the
juncture when farming and food production became an engine of opportunity for
Nigeria and helped rally similar efforts across the continent. And those
falling oil prices that capture the headlines of today? Maybe they will be
relegated to a footnote.
*Contributed by Kehinde
Makinde is the country lead for Nigeria at the Alliance for Green Revolution in
Africa (AGRA).
Pix: Dr. Agnes Kalibata, AGRA president
Monday, February 13, 2017
Oil-producing communities, potential hubs for refineries - Osinbajo
Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has stressed
the potentials to transform oil bearing communities in the Niger Delta into
hubs for refining petrochemicals and related activities, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Speaking during his visit to the Bayelsa State, at the
weekend as part of his consultative and confidence building tour of the Niger
Delta states as mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari, Osinbajo said the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources in collaboration with the oil companies are
working on a 40-point agenda and other initiatives for the oil producing
communities.
Osinbajo challenged youths of the region to set up a Niger
Delta Chamber of Commerce and Entreprenuer Council to attract local and foreign
partnerships, stressing that part of the agenda was to build modular refineries
and acknowledged the need to make Bayelsa a hub for power generation as it is a
nutural location of gas deposits.
In his remarks, Governor Seriake Dickson called for synergy
between the state and federal governments on the development of critical
infrastructure, such as the three senatorial roads, airport and other projects
for rapid development to take place.
Governor Dickson, who aligned his administration's position
with the 16 point agenda of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), reaffirmed his
earlier call on the federal government and stakeholders of the region to
embrace dialogue rather than confrontation in resolving issues.
Commending Prof Osinbajo for facilitating the meeting
between the oil multinationals and the state government, the Governor urged the
federal government to prevail on the oil companies to comply with the tax laws
of the state.
In their separate presentations, the PANDEF and the Ijaw
National Congress, urged the federal government to urgently address the evident
socio-economic imbalances and inadequacies for the attainment of sustainable
peace and development.
President of the Ijaw Youth Council, Comrade Udengs Eradiri
highlighted some projects that could create massive job opportunities in the
state to include, Brass Fertilizer, Brass LNG,
Agge deep sea port, Pipe Mill and power projects in Gbarain and urged
the federal government to make them come on stream.
Speaking through its representative, King Frank Okoroakpor,
the Traditional Rulers of Oil and Mineral Producing Communities of Nigeria,
TROMPCON called for the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.
Others who made presentations at the town hall meeting
include, Minister of State for Agriculture,
Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Petroleum Resources Minister, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, Environmental Rights Action
group, Host Communities of oil and gas, HOSTCOM.
Dignitaries, who attended the event include members of te
National Assembly from the State, former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief
Timipre Sylva, former NDDC Managing Director, Chief Timi Alaibe, Alaowei
Brodericks Bozimo, who represented Chief Edwin Clark, former Military Governor
of old Bendel State, Gen. John Yeri and an elder ststesman, Prof. Ebiegberi Alagoa.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Youth in agriculture’ll Boost Mass Job Creation in Nigeria
With the recent focus on youths in agriculture, experts have
agreed that the huge potential in agriculture will boost mass job creation in
Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This was the position of South West Regional Director, Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) Dr Lekan Quadri at the
three-day business training for young entrepreneurs in agriculture, held at the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan.
Lekan who stood in for the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, made inferences to the links between youth unemployment and the
opportunities of an agrarian economy, which he said, could provide the biggest
potential for mass job creation, NaijaAgroNet learnt.
Over the years, he said, getting youths in Nigeria to engage in agriculture has been an uphill task. The reasons, NaijaAgroNet gathered, are obvious, stressing that farming, as it is practised in the country, has not been seen as an attractive venture, just as the condition of those who engage in it has been most discouraging.
“However, the tide is changing. It has become obvious that the youths must be given a pride of place if Nigeria and Africa want to create business opportunities for the unemployed,” he said.
NaijaAgroNet further gathered that over 60 youth from six countries across Africa attended the business training aimed at empowering agripreneurs on “Agripreneural and Business Management.”
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Sunday, January 5, 2014
C.A.R: FAO warns on potential food security crisis
The
continuous security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) is giving
the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) some nightmares, hence it warned on
the potential food security crisis in the country.
NaijaAgroNet reports that FAO says
that despite security challenges in half of the prefectures, farmers in the
Central African Republic are counting on the next agriculture season to restore
their food production capacity to avoid risks of famine and malnutrition.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that since last
year when they had to flee the violence, farming communities had to abandon
their fields along the main roads to replant deep in the bush.
This
disruption, experts say has led them to produce much less than previous years
with a major impact on their food reserves that will last till February instead
of July 2014.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that FAO of
the United Nations is already working to provide farmers with seeds and tools
for the next campaign however more funds are needed for the food security
component of the 100-day response plan.
According
to NaijaAgroNet, the initial
assessments conducted in the past weeks indicated a deteriorating situation in
terms of low food stocks, widespread disruption to village food markets and a
lack of purchasing power overall among other issues.
Acting
FAO Representative in the Central African Republic, Alexis Bonte, who recently
visited Bossangoa revealed to NaijaAgroNet
that the combination of food shortages and poor sanitary conditions in the
camps and deep in the bush, as well as extreme poverty, risk triggering serious
malnutrition.
The
success of the next planting season Bonte noted is crucially hinging on the
return of farming families to the fields, stressing that families who are
unable to plant in March will have to wait one whole year before they could
hope to harvest again.
“Failure
to help these families will have dramatic consequences on the food security for
a quarter of the Central African population. The low production perceived from
the last harvest coupled with a prevailing situation of chronic country-wide
malnutrition is setting the stage for a full scale food and nutrition security
crisis should the next planting season fail, reports the Organization today,”
FAO official said.
Ayo Omidele/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
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