Political will to fight drought in East Africa

Awosanya Yinka Sanya

In the recent months, the world has been daunted with the news that horn of Africa is facing the worst drought in six decades, according to the United Nations (UN).

This has led to loss of lives in millions while some find their destiny at refugee camps for survival, thereby creating food insecurity and displacement of people.

An estimation of about 13 million East Africans are affected by the famine with about 2.5million Kenyans not left out as they are in dare need of food.

The United Nations while trying to sort out the issue of food insecurity in Kenya said the affected population will soon rise to three million.

The world's largest refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya, was intended for 90,000 people, but the UN said it now have more than 380,000 occupants.

Part of the cause of the drought, according to experts, could be linked to the increase in global food price by almost 40 per cent between July last year 2010 and February 2011.

Industry observers noted that the demand and supply sides were the major factors affecting food pricing as well as an increase in population also contributes towards high food price.

Equally, UN said, countless efforts have been made to combat the issue of escalating malnutrition in the region; governments, corporate institutions and foundations have all try to meet the needs of the East Africans, whereas millions of dollars have expended in fighting the famine.

Part of the efforts includes the gathering of the East African Legislative Assembly’s resolve to strategise so as to boost food security in the region. The legislators joined forces with global parliamentarians from 30 other countries of Association of European Parliamentarians in appealing for assistance to address the drought threatening lives in the horn of Africa.

The East Africa Agricultural Development Action Plan which is expected to run for 25 years between 2010 and 2035 was also approved by the Assembly in December 2010 in an effort to control the food insecurity.

Chinese government was not left out in the crusade, as it partnered other international communities to make available emergency grains and monetary donations of about N11.07billion to the governments of Eastern Africa.

Also, in effort to fight the drought that have already claimed about 30,000 children in just 3 months, the government of Kenya made a controversial move to allow the importation of Genetically Modified (GM) maize from South Africa since GM maize could be grown in the country.

The World Bank is not left out in the fight as it extends helping hands with the sum of about N299.5billion to be used in catering for the needs of the affected populace.

The United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon was quoted as saying recently that three-quarters of a million people in the affected region are at imminent risk of starvation due to war, the droughts that have continually plagued the regions and rising food cost.

Ban Ki-Moon described the drought as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, hence there is need for an addition aid of N112,225 million to the victim countries.

Spirit of compassion and generosity was demonstrated in recent times by the Canadian government which led to the donation of the sum of N11.49 billion to support the East Africans. The funds to be manned by the United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF) and some other United Nations programmes, is expected to give a boost to the alleviation projects for East Africans.

Above all, industry watchers expected that AU should be able to galvanise resources, even if not like member countries, but as a continental body to support what the international community has done so far and would continue to do in the near future.

The political will to entrench this concept of an African Made Aid, would be seen by many as a means of reducing corrupt funds being starched away in advance countries.

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UN confab on Sustainable Development goes to Rio

The United Nations planned conference on Sustainable Development (SD) is anticipated to give boost to global economic development.

Addressing a press conference at the UN headquarters, the UN Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Sha Zukang said the conference "Rio 2012" will be hosted by Brazil following its impressive track record in economic growth, poverty eradication and environmental conservation after it played host to UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992.

Zukang also said that the SD conference scheduled to hold in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, will provide opportunity for international community to build a global economic development model.

The model according to Zukang is meant to improve lives, ensuring social equity and reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity.

"Brazil has certainly shown the world how to put sustainable development into practice," he said.

Further, he recommended that participating Member States should come up with a focused political document based on the three objectives of the event which are renewing political commitment for sustainable development, identifying progress and obstacles to achieving it and addressing emerging challenges. Read more

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Ban Ki-Moon urges countries to recognize energy security

In an effort to help about three billion people that are in need of modern power, the United Nations has made some recommendations to countries around the globe to recognize the importance of energy security on development.

Addressing participants at a recent Energy Conference in Oslo, Norway, the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, made this call, saying that for a clean energy revolution to happen, mostly for some three million people, relying on charcoal or wood as source of power for cooking and heating, a change in attitude must evolve.

NaijaAgroNet recalled that about three billion people rely on charcoal or wood for cooking and heating till date, this people, Ban added that such people are energy-poor.

As said by him, energy poverty translates into grinding, dehumanizing poverty. “We need energy not only to be universal; [we] need it to be clean – to be sustainable as well. We cannot continue to burn our way to prosperity. The only way to minimize the risks of dangerous climate
change is by ensuring that energy is sustainable.”

Sustainable energy, he said, is critical for all aspects of human progress and pointed out that a departure from existing practices is needed to achieve the goal of universal energy access by 2030.

"The only way to minimize the risks of dangerous climate change is by ensuring that energy is sustainable," he said. Read more

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Agrobiz tops agenda as young entrepreneurs gather in Cotonou

Cotonou a city in Benin Republic would soon play host to some young entrepreneurs whose top agenda is agro business and leadership with the anticipated launch of Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN).

The four-day knowledge and experience sharing event would focus on promoting youth empowerment, reports MenaFn.

The event titled "Youth Entrepreneurs - Agents of Change" is expected to bring over 100 youths from around the world together to discussion issues focusing on agricultural business, innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.

Organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Phelps Stokes Fund with the collaboration of Benin Government, Songhai Centre, Palmares DundacAGBPo Cultural, FundaciA'n Activos Culturales Afro (ACUA) and the GIVE 1 Project.

The director of IFAD's West and Central Africa Division, Mr. Mohamed Beavogui said the event would be an exciting medium to gather young people in order to define with the youths about their objectives and strategies to improve the quality of their lives.

GYIN, he said, would be launched at the event scheduled to commence on October 10, 2011 to highlight youth-run enterprises that are located in, or providing products and services to rural areas.

And with the support of IFAD, GYIN will facilitate and manage entirely young people. Read more

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AfricaRice, partners plan GRiSP for rice development

To benefit everyone in the society especially the poor and hungry, a global programme known as Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) has be created to look into development challenges of major Africa’s rice, reports StarAfrica

The main aim of the programme, Director General, AfricaRice, Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, said is to mobilize the world's rice science, involve range of stakeholders in technology generation and disseminate process to address issue affecting rice development in the continent.

Seck also said the urgent need to conduct different research activities is acknowledged and hence the reason behind GRiSP as it is a proposal to a new global approach to research.

AfricaRice, Dr. Seck said, is part of the programme with other partners in order to address the constraints of rice production efficiently. Read more

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Canadians donate N11.49billion to East Africans

The Canadian government has donated the sum of $70 million, about N11.49 billion to the drought-troubled East Africa countries.

Minister for International Co-operation, Canada, Ms Bev Oda, disclosed this at a conference on food security in Montreal, at the weekend, reports CBCNews.

“Canadians have once again demonstrated their compassion and generosity by continuing to support the people of East Africa suffering from this catastrophic drought,” Oda said.

She also said that the Canadian government is proud to partner with her citizens to help those affected by the drought.

“We continue to work with partners on ground to ensure Canadian aid is helping those who need it the most, including women and children” she said.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that some of the fund implementing organizations includes UNICEF, CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, World Vision Canada and Plan Canada. Read more.

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Adesina decries Nigeria’s annual fish consumption ratio

Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has decried poor fish production in the country which has led to the low annual per capita fish consumption rate and frozen fish importation in excess of N100 billion, reports ThisDay.

Addressing a national stakeholders workshop in Abuja on Development of Aquaculture Value Chain under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of his Ministry, Dr. Adesina, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Ezekiel Oyemomi, revealed that the fish consumption rate in the country is only 7.5 kilogrammes as against 15 kilogrammes per annum as recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Also, he said the estimated annual fish demand in the country was about 2.66 million as against the annual domestic production of about 0.78 million, thus giving a demand-supply gap of about 1.8 million metric tones and importation of frozen fish worth over N100 billion.

The minister further said that Nigeria imported over 780,000 metric tonnes of frozen fish annually from Europe, Latin America and Eastern countries. Read more.
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ITU urges COP 17 delegates to examine potentials of ICT

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has advised delegates at the up-coming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) to address the great potentials of ICT in cutting emissions across all sectors of the economy.

This call was made during the ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change which held in Ghana, last weekend.

ITU in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet stated that there should be an approach to manufacturing and recycling in order to reduce the need to extract and process raw materials.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that ITU also asked for the recognition of the value of ICTs in monitoring deforestation, crop patterns coupled with other environmental phenomena.

ITU, Secretary General, Dr. Hamadoun Toure was quoted as emphasizing on the organisation’s commitment to provide the technical know-how to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

“… It's clear to observers that ICTs have a very cogent role to play,” he declared.

Equally, he said, recognizing the role ICTs at the international level would pave the way for solid argument for countries in rolling out climate change strategies with a strong ICT element.

Also speaking, the Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau at ITU said, a world without ICT in this era is unthinkable as it integrated into almost every parts of the society.

Malcolm also said the increasing use of ICTs have changed lives with a boost to the economic growth.

"The success of technology means it is itself a growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions." he said.

He also said a message that must be carried to COP 17 is that ICTs is providing the most significant opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste disposal, building and transport.

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AU, NEPAD urge implementation of SUN

Stakeholders involved in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) across the continent have been urged by the African Union and New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to assist in the management and implementation of SUN policies, reports GNA.

This call was contained in a joint statement by the duo to the UN General Assembly on Africa Food and Nutrition Security recently.

According to the statement, AU recognized the huge problems of hunger, poverty, food and food insecurity with its result in malnutrition affecting mostly children and women.
They also noted that the success of SUN and related initiatives in Africa depend on capacity building and the effective usage of structures and policies within the continent.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the launch of SUN in September 2010 was acknowledged in the statement, while appreciating the global initiative meant to address the problems. Read more

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‘No Agriculture, no deal’ goes to COP-17

The Chief Executive Officer of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), Ms Lindiwe Sibanda has urged African negotiators to ensure that they secure a deal for agriculture at the forthcoming 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) billed for Durban, South Africa next month.

According to Lindiwe, a deal that would promote food security so as to ensure that climate change does not bring any further devastation to the continent, reports SA.

If they should fail to make a deal at during the COP 17, Sibanda noted that the meeting to be held in Durban between November 28 and October 9, then the civic society would rise against it as any deal that does not have agriculture as a stand-alone sector betrays the farming sector and anybody that needs food to survive.

Lindiwe affirmed that the “No Agriculture, no deal” campaign is being put in place by FANRPAN not for protest but to ensure that African negotiators going for the COP 17 come out of the conference with a responsible deal about climate change that affects agriculture. Read more

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