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Monday, May 9, 2016

Canada denounces attack on Syrian displaced persons camp

The Government of Canada has condemned attack on Syrian displaced persons camp, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, in a press statement available to NaijaAgroNet on the airstrike on the Kamouna camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Syria, strongly condemned the attack.

Part of the statement read:
“Canada strongly condemns the bombing of the Kamouna IDP camp in the Syrian province of Idlib. The death and destruction is heartbreaking. On behalf of all Canadians, we are deeply saddened by the loss of life and hope for a speedy recovery for those injured.

“If this was a deliberate attack targeting civilians, then it was a war crime and the perpetrators must be held accountable. This incident follows the recent escalation of violence, particularly against hospitals and clinics in Aleppo, and further undermines the efforts of the international community to resolve the conflict peacefully.


“Canada calls on all parties to immediately adhere to the Terms for Cessation of Hostilities in Syria agreement and to return to the negotiating table in good faith. The people of Syria deserve a future that has hope and is free from violence. It is up to the parties to work toward that.”

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Friday, May 6, 2016

Farmers, backbone for food, nutrition security – Gornass

The Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), Ambassador Amira Gornass has described farmers as the backbone of any efforts for food and nutrition security, report NaijaAgroNet.

Ambassador Gornass gave this description in her video message to the opening ceremony of the 2016 General Assembly of the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) holding in Livingstone, Zambia on the theme, Partnership for Growth.

“Farmers are the backbone of any efforts for food and nutrition security” she declared.

Gornass who also is the Permanent Representative of the Sudan to FAO noted that the role of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of food security and nutrition (VGGT) cannot be over-emphasised.

She pointed out that the guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security in 2012 serves as a reference to improve the governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests with the overarching goal of achieving food security for all and supporting the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.

“An effective implementation of this instrument will be achieved only if also farmers will advocate for the application of the guidelines at the country level,” she said.

WFC, Gornass said, should never forget that according the recently released figures, in the middle of the 21st century, 793 million is still going to bed hungry.

“The challenges to ensure their rights to adequate food are huge,” she said, maintaining that farmers are the most powerful solution to global hunger and malnutrition.


“Farmers are responsible for providing the food we all need,” she said, encourage adequate management of farm lands.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Pix: Ambassador Amira Gornass

SOS: Ethiopia farmers need $10m to provide seeds

In less than five weeks to the main cropping season in Ethiopia, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for urgent funding to the tune of $10 million, to help farmers sow their fields and prevent drought-hit areas of the country from falling deeper into hunger and food insecurity, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to FAO, if seeds are not delivered in time, help will be too late to secure a decent harvest from the imminent meher season, which produces 85 per cent of the nation's food supply.

FAO also said that while the food security situation is worsening, the overall funding response to the crisis has so far been disappointing, with just 15 percent of FAO's 2016 appeal for Ethiopia covered.

"The meher season will be critical to improving families' food security and self-sufficiency in 2016. Seed distributions allowing farmers to plant crops and produce food must be a humanitarian priority," said the agency's country representative Amadou Allahoury Diallo, stressing that decreasing dependence on external humanitarian assistance will diminish the costs of food aid.

Therefore, FAO said, some $10 million is needed within the next two weeks to distribute seeds to Ethiopian families at risk of hunger and losing their livelihoods.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that about 10.2 million people in Ethiopia are food insecure following successive crop failures and widespread livestock deaths caused by the El Niño-induced drought since early 2015. With this year's delayed and erratic spring rains, the situation may become worse in the most affected areas, particularly in the north.


Even as Ethiopia's government has already dedicated considerable resources to the El Niño response and is working closely with FAO to help ramp up joint efforts.

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Outlook for cereals output improves slightly

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its latest Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, has raised the forecast for world cereal production in 2016 slightly to nearly 2,526 million tonnes, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This figure, NaijaAgroNet notes is virtually the same as in 2015 and potentially on course to be the second-largest global harvest ever.

According to FAO, the larger figure results almost entirely from improved prospects for wheat production, as winter weather conditions have been favourable for prospective yields in the European Union, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

“At 717 million tonnes, the 2016 wheat output forecast remains 16 million tonnes short of last year's record,” experts at FAO said.

The Cereal Supply and Demand Brief made available to NaijaAgroNet, FAO says new production forecast for global coarse grains including barley, maize, millet, oats, rye and sorghum stands at 1,314 million tonnes, about one per cent below the 2015 output.

FAO, NaijaAgroNet gathered, left unchanged its worldwide rice production forecast at 495 million tonnes, about one per cent higher than the previous year, although the full impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon will not be clear for a few more months.

“World cereal utilization in the season ahead is expected to rise by only 1.1 percent due to slower growth in the use of cereals - especially wheat and barley - as livestock feed,” FAO said.

As a result, the world body also said that cereal stocks are likely to drop by 3.3 per cent or 21 million tonnes over the course of the new season, while stocks are forecast to drop most in Brazil, Thailand, India, China, Morocco, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Argentina and South Africa.

As said by FAO world trade in cereals is expected to decline slightly to 367 million tonnes with sharp drops in China's imports of barley and sorghum as well as EU imports of maize, more than offsetting soaring imports of maize by drought-stricken countries in southern Africa.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE


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Thursday, May 5, 2016

World Farmers lights up Zambia with ‘Partnership for growth’

The sixth session of the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) General Assembly 2016 commenced in the city of Livingstone, Zambia on Wednesday will last till Saturday, with main theme on ‘Partnership for Growth’ reports NaijaAgroNet.

The theme, NaijaAgroNet also reports was in view to promote the importance of a farmer-centric approach of the sector-lead to the work programme of WFO.

The Secretary General of WFO, Marco Marzano de Marinis, opened the event at the AVANI Victoria Falls Resort, Livingstone, Zambia, bringing together WFO members and non member farmers’ organizations from about 60 countries worldwide, ministers, key government representatives as well as UN officials, academia and research institutions.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that WFO General Assembly built momentum on the status of arts of the organization as well as to set goals and achievements and also to focus on innovative solutions for the upcoming years.

Marinis also noted that last year represented a crucial year for the international community works towards the achievement of a global sustainability, pointing out that the WFO has been very much involved in the overall negotiation process for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including representing the voice of farmers in the six interactive dialogues organised in 2015, in consultation with the United Nations Member States.

WFO further commended the farmers’ advocacy work, stressing that an entire goal number 2 is dedicated to food security and agriculture.

NaijaAgroNet reports that in recognition of the central role played by the WFO during the negotiations for the SDGs and Agenda 2030, as well as, its active participation in ECOSOC work, the WFO was invited to address the plenary session of the 2015 United Nations General Assembly in New York, on 26th September 2015.

At COP21, WFO, as leader of the farmers’ constituency, attended with a huge delegation and was actively engaged in a series of activities to raise awareness of the critical role agriculture plays in climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.

For WFO President, Evelyn Nguleka said that the 2016 General Assembly of the WFO held under the overarching theme of Partnership for Growth, with a view to promote the importance of a holistic approach to the agricultural sector, where different actors stand together for the same goal implementing sustainable food systems; ensure that farmers of the world gain an effective position in the food chain; look after the environment; implement together the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030.


“Establishing effective partnership is and remains a great priority of the WFO” she said.

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Palm oil keeps global food price trending in April

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that its latest founding shows that palm oil keeps global food price trending in the month of April 2016, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Just as NaijaAgroNet gathered that its updated global cereal harvest forecast points to stable markets for key staples, which also rose in April, marking its third consecutive monthly increase after four years of decline.

Also, NaijaAgroNet reports that the FAO Food Price Index averaged 151.8 points in April, a 0.7 per cent increase from March, which is about 10 per cent below its level a year ago and more than a third off its 2011 highs.

The gradual increase, FAO said, is far from even across the board, adding that April's increase was driven by palm oil prices and, in a minor key, cereals, while sugar prices tapered down after a strong increase in March.

The FAO Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index tracking international market prices for five key commodity groups, namely the major cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar. Its decline over the past year reflects ample food supplies, a slowing global economy and a stronger U.S. dollar.

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price index rose 4.1 per cent, due largely to a grim 2016 production outlook for palm oil coupled with a growing worldwide demand.

NaijaAgroNet equally reports that the FAO Cereal Price Index rose 1.5 per cent on the month, due primarily to international maize quotations, themselves influenced by a weaker United States dollar and spillover from the oilseeds complex.


However, rice prices declined marginally, while wheat markets posted limited gains amid expectations of large supplies in the new season for the crop.

Remmy Nweke
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Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Exclusive: Truly, there is no grazing reserve bill before NASS

The Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, was at the weekend quoted as saying there is no such bill on national grazing reserve before the National Assembly and if there is, NASS will not support it, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported Ekweremadu as saying that this is a hoax, while addressing newsmen on Sunday after a meeting of the South East governors and stakeholders in Enugu.

Ekweremadu had insisted that there was no bill on the creation of grazing reserves before the National Assembly.

He therefore said that the purported bill for the creation of grazing reserves was a “hoax”, adding that the press should strive to stop such rumours.

“There is no such proposal or bill on the creation of grazing reserves either in the Senate or House of Representatives. Nobody is considering it; not even at the executive level. I do not think they are considering it but we will not support it even if it has been considered,” he said.

Investigations by NaijaAgroNet showed that truly there is no such bill listed before the 8th Senate.

According to NaijaAgroNet findings, the purported bill for National Grazing Reserve Bill was initially presented to the National Assembly in 2008 sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure.

The bill sought to become an Act to provide for the establishment of the National Grazing Reserve (Establishment and Development) Commission for the Preservation and Control of National Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes and for other Matters Connected Therewith.

NaijaAgroNet further discovered that the Bill has submitted bill number 114 tagged C1681.

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Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Drones assist Philippine farmers prepare for climate disasters

The government of the Philippines in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has started using unmanned aerial drones to assess where farmlands are most at risk from natural disasters and quickly assess damages after they strike, NaijaAgroNet reports.

This, NaijaAgroNet also reports is in a bid to stay ahead of the negative impacts of climate change, floods and typhoons on food security, especially in the Philippines.

In addition, under a pilot phase of the still-fledgling project funded by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Philippines and the FAO, two drones have already been sent soaring over the Philippines provinces that have been affected by the current El Niño.

NaijaAgroNet equally reports that some 25 FAO and government technical experts are ready to be deployed across the archipelago to support drone missions. They were recently trained over three weeks on how to fly the drones and learned a range of remote aerial assessment methods.

The drones, NaijaAgroNet reports, are equipped with navigation and photogrammetric equipment that could generate detailed and data rich maps from aerial photographs including Normalized Difference Vegetation Index or NDVIa formula used for assessing vegetation and plant health.

Data gathered, NaijaAgroNet gathered, could be used to see where agricultural systems are at particular risk from natural disasters and identify ways through which such risks can be countered, for example, through ground contouring, building retaining walls, or planting protective vegetation.

Capable of covering up to 600 hectares a day, the drones should significantly accelerate the process of risk analysis, according to Christopher Morales, Director of Field Operations for the Philippines Department of Agriculture.

"It is efficient, it saves time and we will be using a reliable source of data so that we can plan and provide appropriate interventions and responses for our farmers in times of disasters and calamities," he said.

"Additionally, imagery generated from drone flights can reveal where agricultural infrastructure projects and service facilities like irrigation or storage facilities could be sited to best serve local farmers. The technology can also potentially support in the assessment of coastal and forest areas." said Jose Luiz Fernandez, FAO Representative in the Philippines.


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Grazing reserves: Yoruba youths ask southerners ‘Go and defend your lands’

A socio-political organisation, Yoruba Youth Council, has rejected the agitation for grazing reserves for Fulani cattle rearers across the country, with a call on Southerners to go and defend their lands against external aggressors, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The group also condemned the recent atrocities of Fulani herdsmen in some parts of the South West and Enugu State, warning that it was an ominous signal that Fulani want to declare war against Southern Nigeria.

The position of YYC was contained in a communique signed by its President, Eric Oluwole and Publicity Secretary, Oladeinde 'Dare, after its emergency meeting held in Lagos but distributed to political correspondents on Monday in Abuja.

The group specifically called on "all members of the National Assembly representing the Yoruba people to ensure that the bill on grassing reserve die on its arrival."

The communique reads:
"We considered the position of the Northern governors and their leaders on the criminal display of their Fulani Herdsmen as an attestation to the colonisation agenda of the Fulani people on the southerners.

"The violent activities of the Fulani herdsmen that had led to the kidnap of notable Yoruba leaders like chief Olu Falae and their previous attack of Yoruba communities in Oke Ogun, Oyo state and the Imeko/Ipokai in Ogun state, without a feasible solution from government is a pointer that the Hausa/Fulani are momentrically mongering for war against the southerners as it was manifested in the recent attack of innocent and armless citizens in Enugu state.

"The planned grassing reserves by the Federal Government is a poly to impose the Fulani oligarchy agenda on the entire nation which aims at taking over our land through back door to further empower the Fulanis. If not, why is it that their echo is loudest when President Muhammadu Buhari, their kinsman is enthroned in the country?

"We state that we shall resist any incursion or attempt by the Fulani herdsmen and their sponsors to forcefully rear their cattle in any part of Yoruba speaking states including the territorial boundaries, if adequate and workable measures are not given.

"We however calling on our fellow southern brothers to ignore the disintegrative statement made by the Northern Governors, but to be more vigilant and focussed to ensure their lands and territory are properly defended.


"While we are reiterating our support for the stance of Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi that there is no land for grassing reserve in Oyo state, we are calling on all members of the National Assembly representing the Yoruba people to ensure that the bill on grassing reserve die on its arrival."

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Monday, May 2, 2016

Nigeria poverty rate growing @unacceptable high - ActionAid

The poverty rate in Nigeria has grown to unacceptable high, according to the ActionAid Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This position was part of a press statement available to NaijaAgroNet by ActionAid board to mark the 2016 Workers Day in Nigeria by the Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Ojobo Ode Atuluku.

As said by her, the period of grace for the federal government under Muhammadu Buhari to set things right with the economy is enough.

“It is time that the Federal Government make public its plan to fix the economy,” she declared.
Also ActionAid said that the poverty rate in the country has added to the rate of inequality in the country.

“The poverty rate is not only high but also a triggering factor for the state of conflict and insecurity being experienced in different parts of the country,” she said.


In addition, ActionAid urged the FG to “prioritise tackling of inequality and discrimination within the polity.”

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