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Showing posts with label reduce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reduce. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

New African Union-FAO framework to create jobs, reduce manual labor - NaijaAgroNet

The newly launched African Union-Food and Agriculture Organisation framework document is aimed at increasing agricultural efficiency and reducing drudgery by helping countries in Africa to develop strategies for sustainable farm mechanization, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa (SAMA) launched on October 5, NaijaAgroNet reports is the result of discussions with policy makers from AU member states, the AU Commission, FAO and key partners. It offers a detailed look at the history of machinery in Africa, and points the way towards addressing challenges and creating new opportunities to assure the successful adoption of mechanization.
"Doubling agricultural productivity and eliminating hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025 will be no more than a mirage unless mechanization is accorded utmost importance," AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Sacko, said at the launch of the framework at FAO.
Remarkably more than three-fourths of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa prepare their lands using only hand tools, a practice that entails poor productivity, repels youth and is incompatible with the continent's Zero Hunger goal.
"Farmers in Africa should be able to use modern agricultural technology, both digital and mechanical, to boost the agricultural sector in a sustainable way," said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo.
The new framework identifies 10 priorities for AU member states to include in their national plans, ranging from the need for a stable supply of machine spare parts and innovative financing mechanisms, and the importance of regional collaborations that allow for cross-border hiring services.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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Thursday, March 16, 2017

Oily diets: How technologies can reduce health risks

It is a well-known fact that too many fats and oils in your diet can increase one’s risk for a number of potential health challenges including obesity, heart disease or cancer.
In continuation with its knowledge-sharing series, Yudala – the largest online and offline retail chain examines these health risks and identifies how new technology is helping a lot of people reduce the risks associated with excess oil in food.

Oils in the food we eat – or what is often referred to as dietary lipids – play a very important role in maintaining general body health. This is true especially for the oils that provide essential fatty acids.

Fats and oils provide energy, absorb certain nutrients and maintain core body temperature. Furthermore, they serve as a back-up source of energy to fuel one’s workout when carbohydrates are not available.

However, large amounts of fats and oils in our diet can prove detrimental to health. In addition, the types of fats and oils you take in each day can ultimately affect your health status. Three areas of particular concern in regard to this are obesity, cardiovascular disease and several types of cancer.

Food-based fats and oils are predominantly triglycerides, that is, three fatty acids attached to a glycerol backbone. The chemical structure of the fatty acids determine whether the fat is monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated or trans.
The more saturated a fat is, the worse it can be for your health. However, eating too much of any kind of fat can still be bad for you, as they can lead

Obesity
Obesity often refers to a state in which your percentage of body fat is abnormally high. When you consume more calories than you can readily burn, the body stores the excess as adipose tissue or fat. If this situation extends over a period of time, you can become overweight and eventually obese. Dietary fat supplies more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates. It is, therefore, easier to become obese when you eat large amounts of fats and oils. Obesity itself can be dangerous to your health, as it is a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, gall bladder disease and hypertension.

Heart Disease
Fatty foods often contain cholesterol. Admittedly, we all require some cholesterol in the body for optimal health. Nevertheless, too much of it can cause problems. Excess cholesterol in your blood can lead to heart disease as this type of fat can get deposited along the walls of your arteries. As cholesterol builds up in the blood vessels, there is less room for blood to pass and this makes the heart to pump blood harder. Saturated fats, often found in the same foods with cholesterol, increase your levels of Low Density Lipo-protein (LDL) or what is commonly known as bad cholesterol, while unsaturated fats have the opposite effect. The more saturated fats and cholesterol you consume, the greater your risk for developing cardiovascular disease.

Cancer
Excess oil consumption of oils has been identified as a risk factor for breast cancer, colon cancer or lung cancer. Although the exact mechanism of this relationship is still under investigation, diets that derive more than 30 percent of daily calories from lipids, particularly those containing high levels of saturated fats, might increase your cancer risk.

The foregoing makes the coming of new technologies such as Air-Fryers which address this particular issue a welcome development for many.

A revolutionary kitchen appliance, the Air Fryer uses heated hot air technology to not only fry food but grill, roast and bake them as well using less than 1 tablespoon of oil. Widely considered as the healthiest cooking appliance, Air Fryers have the ability to deliver perfect results, i.e. the appropriate amount crunchiness and crispness without using a lot of oil.

The hot air technology in Air Fryers work in such a way that food is not only cooked without oil, it also expels excess oil from the food itself. Meat ingredients, for instance, end up with less of their original fat inside the food. This technology makes sure the hot air released from the appliance is equally distributed to each and every part of the food. So, the meal prepared by a fryer will be perfectly cooked and allow you to eat a healthy delicious meal. Interestingly, Air Fryers can also heat up frozen meals or reheat left-over foods to its original

If you are looking for an air fryer, then you need to first set up your budget and keep important factors in mind before making a purchase such as the features, specifications, price, and other important aspects before finalizing any model.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends minimizing or completely eliminating trans fats from the foods you eat in order to reduce your cancer risk.
Getting an Air Fryer today may be a brilliant step in achieving this…


*Contributed by Gideon Ayogu/GEE 
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Monday, June 20, 2016

LDRI supports AU efforts to end hunger, poverty, reduce inequality – Nyaggah

The Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) has asserted support for the African Union (AU) member states in their efforts to end hunger, poverty and reduce inequality, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Executive Director, LDRI, Mr. Muchiri Nyaggah made this known in Abidjan, Cote D’Iviore in a chat with NaijaAgroNet during a three-day workshop hosted by the Africa Media Initiative (AMI) in collaboration with World Bank.

He said that LDRI, which commenced operation in 2015, is an action-oriented think-tank whose work contributes to the efforts of African governments to end extreme poverty, end hunger and reduce inequalities.  

According to him, with 65 per cent of Africa’s labour force employed in the agriculture sector with estimation of contributing approximately 30 per cent of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), coupled with the increasing need to achieve food sufficiency for some 1.5 billion people by 2020, it is certain that agriculture will be pivotal to achieving these objectives.

LDRI, he said, focuses on the role of agricultural transformation in ending hunger, poverty and inequality especially the capability of states to have and use data/statistics in decision-making on the continent.

The strategic objectives of LDRI for the next four years, Nyaggah said, strengthening the Africa data ecosystem for planning, monitoring and review of interventions to drive agriculture transformation in Africa.


Also, he said, LDRI supports inclusive processes for evidence-driven policy on agriculture transformation in Africa and tend to build capacity of stakeholders to make their data openly accessible to others.

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Sunday, April 24, 2016

'Ghost fishing’ technologies to reduce environmental damage

New technologies to facilitate easier recovery of lost fishing gear are giving a boost to efforts to reduce so-called "ghost fishing" and its harmful impacts on fish stocks and endangered species, reports NaijaAgroNet.

These technologies include, coded wire tags (CWTs), Satellite buoys with solar power, Active pingers, passive sonar reflectors and LED.

NaijaAgroNet reports that advances in marking technology are offering new possibilities for efficient tracking and recovery of lost gear and are changing the way the problem is being tackled, citing for instance, the Coded Wire Tags (CWTs) are being tested as a potential tool for reducing entanglements of marine mammals, turtles and other large marine animals. The nano-sized, laser-etched CTWs are implanted in fishing ropes with no effect on fishing performance but making them detectable to special sensors.

Also, NaijaAgroNet learnt that satellite buoys with solar power are now commonly used in industrial purse seine operations, providing unlimited range and extra-long operating time. While other sensors, like Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, could be attached to a radio buoy and used to transmit data.

Acoustic technology is equally another add-on, which takes advantage of the sound transmission properties of seawater, also has applications in locating lost gear. Whereas the Active pingers emit sounds at certain frequencies once in the water, the passive sonar reflectors capture and reflect sound energy back to its source.

Just as the lights have long been an integral part of fishing gear markers for the night but today energy-efficient Light-Emitting Diode (LEDs) are being fitted with solar panels, amplifying their effectiveness.

This follows growing concern over this problem, coupled with the increasing availability of these technologies, NaijaAgroNet reports, led FAO to begin developing international guidelines on the effective tagging of fishing gear as a way to cut down levels of troublesome sea trash.

Known as the abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), NaijaAgroNet reports that abandoned fishing gear makes up a significant portion of all marine debris, a growing problem in marine ecosystems.

Levels of ALDFG, NaijaAgroNet reports, have gone up significantly in recent decades as a result of increases in the scale of fishing operations and the extensive use of long-lasting synthetic materials. At present, it accounts for about one-tenth of all marine litter, translating into hundreds of thousands of tonnes annually.

This abandoned gear is one of the most problematic types of marine debris, since it can remain in the oceans for years, often continuing to carry out the capture process it was designed for, entangling fish and other marine animals in its nets and killing them - a phenomenon known as ghost fishing.

"The effective marking of fishing gear in busy multi-user sea areas is key to preventing its loss and protecting marine ecosystems," according to FAO Fishery Industry Officer Petri Suuronen. "Fishers can also benefit from the use of new gear tagging technologies which will allow them to minimise loss of potential catch and expensive equipment, and save time searching for lost gear," he said.

Abandoned and lost gears are also a hazard to safe navigation due to fouling of ship propulsion systems and propellers, and marking can help prevent accidents and fatalities.
It can also be a tool in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, allowing control authorities to monitor how fishing gear is being used in their waters and who is using it.


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