Food security: How tech can tackle challenges in Nigeria - NaijaAgroNet

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Nigeria's agricultural sector has long been a significant contributor to national growth, with the potential to further reduce poverty. This sector, encompassing crop production, livestock, forestry, and fishing, has the potential to hold export opportunities and can strategically become the engine for economic prosperity, given Nigeria's large population.

Undoubtedly, agriculture remains a top contributor to Nigeria's GDP. Statistics show it contributed around 23.69% in 2022, ranking behind the industry (30.78%) and services (22.04%) sectors. However, the sector's contribution has declined.

Sweden partners FAO to tackle dignity preservation @EMC

NaijaAgroNet:

The Government of Sweden is partnering the Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO) and The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as well as Arab Republic of Egypt to tackle issues on “Preserving Dignity and Sharing Responsibility: Mobilizing Collective Action for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Extra-ordinary Ministerial Conference slated for March 15 at the FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, NaijaAgroNet gathered, will afford UNRWA to host the event on the oldest and largest UN humanitarian and human development programme in the Middle East, serving over five million Palestine refugees.

NaijaAgroNet equally gathered that UNRWA is experiencing the worst financial crisis in its 70 year history and may be forced to suspend services.

The Foreign Ministers of Jordan, Sweden and Egypt will co-chair the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference in support of UNRWA, which the aim to actively support a collective response by the international community to protect the rights and dignity of Palestinian Refugees and ensure that UNRWA’s unprecedented funding crisis of US$ 446 million is urgently resolved.

NaijaAgroNet the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference will include special attendance of the UN Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms Federica Mogherini.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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UN study says digitizing Kenyan farmers' payment helps tackle poverty

NaijaAgroNet:

The United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance has concluded a study which showed how agriculture nonprofit organization One Acre Fund in partnership with Citi Inclusive Finance, successfully digitized loan repayments for farmers in Kenya, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This move significantly boosted transparency and efficiency, driving economic opportunity and financial inclusion for thousands of smallholder farmers and their families.

Head, Communication at Better Than Cash Alliance, Angela Corbalan, said the study by One Acre Fund was supported by Citi, and enabled farmers to easily make loan repayments via mobile money instead of cash, reducing the uncertainty, inefficiency, insecurity and high costs previously caused by cash transactions.

NaijaAgroNet reports that with this digitization, One Acre Fund could now reach more farmers with greater reliability, and staff can spend almost half as much time collecting payments in cash, using that extra time to help farmers increase their incomes through training and educational programs.

“With One Acre Fund’s package of services, including training and inputs like seed and fertilizer, the average farmer participating in the program earned nearly 50 per cent more than peer farmers who do not participate,” she said.

In addition, she listed some of the findings to include that there has been increased participant satisfaction due to transparency and convenience; 85 per cent decrease in instances of repayment fraud as well as reduction in processing time for each repayment from 12-16 days to 2-4 days.

“… Farmers now know immediately when their payment is received, eliminating the worry about whether it arrived,” she said.

Further, NaijaAgroNet reports that study found out that Eighty per cent decrease in repayment processing costs, while 46 per cent of time reduced for staff working on collections, allowing for more time helping farmers to improve agricultural practices.

Just as women farmers benefited especially, because they now feel safer about payment deliveries.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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