2.5m South Sudanese suffer Food Shortage

 NaijaAgroNet.

About 2.5 million people in South Sudan are experiencing high level of food insecurity as hostility continues in the country, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The latest outcry came from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) which hinted NaijaAgroNet that the number of people in the country who were experiencing high level food crises when the fighting started way back in December 2013, has now doubled.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that based on this crisis, IPC says, financial support is urgently needed in the region to fight against food insecurity and market failure.

Additionally,  NaijaAgroNet gathered that 3.9 million people are now in a situation of stressful anxiety due to food insecurity coursed by the fighting.

The FAO Country Representative in South Sudan, Sue Lautze affirmed to NaijaAgroNet that families in the conflict ravaged side of the country are running out of food stock due missed crop circle.

“Missed crop cycles in conflict-ravaged parts of the country mean we’re now expecting household food stocks in the worst-affected counties to run out by March 2015 – much earlier than in a normal year,” Lautze said.

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[NaijaagroNet] GESS is a boost to farming – AFAN

NaijaAgroNet:

The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) has been described as a boost to farming industry in Nigeria, according to the secretary of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Alhaji Garba Bichi, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The GESS, NaijaAgroNet also reports, is a policy introduced by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to help farmers in growing their crops using fertilizer at a subsidize rate.

Alhaji Bichi told NaijaAgroNet in Kano, that not less than 120,000 farmers specialize in rice farming are going to receive fertilizer at a subsidize rate from the Federal Government for irrigation rice production.

Some aim of the scheme, he said, include targeting of 5 million farmers each year for 4 years that will receive GESS in their mobile phone directly totaling 20 million at the end of 4 years and to provide support directly to farmers to enable them procure agricultural inputs at affordable prices, at the right time and place.

Alhaji Bichi confirmed that the distribution will commenced Monday, February 2, 2015 and it would be in 44 Local Government Areas in 48 recovery centers in the state of Kano.

Stressing that the distribution will be at all the redemption centers in the state on receipt of short message service alert on their handsets and enjoined farmers to look out and ensure they participate fully.

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[NaijaagroNet] FAO supports AU to end hunger in Africa

 NaijaAgroNet:

The Director General for Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Mr.Graziano Silva has given his support to the African Union(AU) to put an end to hunger in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The support came during the African Union summit that was held in January, 2015 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where Heads of State and Government met in respect to the Malobo pledge made in 2014.

Graziano da Silva said that his Organization’s support has been with the African Union ever since they started the journey.

"My presence at the AU summit, where the Malabo implementation strategy and road map have been presented and approved by heads of state, is crucial for FAO, we have accompanied the AU and NEPAD since the beginning of this journey, and will continue to do so until we get a hunger free Africa with the participation of key stakeholders governments, private sector, civil society, youth and women."

The FAO has been in support since the first realization plan of the post Malobo roadmap, and they also attract both public and private sectors to bring solution in putting to stop every factor that could lead to food shortage.

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[NaijaAgroNet] Kofi Annan says Africa can end global food insecurity, nutrition crisis

NaijaAgroNet:

The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan has declared that Africa has the capacity to feed the world and put an end to the global food insecurity and nutrition crises, reports NaijaAgroNet

Speaking at the just concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, NaijaAgroNet reports that Annan said, Africa has the largest uncultivated arable land that needs to be put in use in order to provide more environments for both youth and adult farmers to provide the quantity of food needed.

“About 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated land is located in the Sub-Saharan Africa,” he declared.

According to him, Africa has all it takes to boost its economy and add growth to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Kofi A. Annan was the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations and founding chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation and was in 2001, alongside the United Nations jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swissnonprofitfoundation, based in Cologny, Geneva. It describes itself as an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

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Security: Fashola improves Lagos State with ICT Resource Centre

NaijaAgroNet:

Setting a path to follow, the Governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola has improved security in the state with a donation of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Resource Center to the Lagos Police Command, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The centre which is located at C Police command Surulere area of Lagos State, he said, is part of some 100 resource centers being built by his government and expressed hope the centres will be completed and handed over to police across the state before the end of his tenure by May 29, 2015. 

The Governor added that the resource center will help the police to carry out an effective operation in reducing tedious record management system and tracking crime evidence locations, as capable staff has been trained by the ministry of science and technology to man the facilities, which include Digital Asset Management Systems, Digital Camera and two KW sola installations among others.

The governor also stressed the importance of communications technology saying “We cannot over-emphasize the importance of information communications in our lives. What we have done with these centers is to empower and enable the police to be able to keep detailed records of evidences. 

For instance, why do we have to keep a vehicle that was involved in an accident in the station for so long and allow it to rot, thereby losing value and depriving the owner of the vehicle? With this centre, the police can just take the photographs of the vehicle from all possible angle and incident it in their electronic file,” he said.

Kayode Aderanti, the commissioner of police commended Fashola for his concerns on the welfare of the police, saying that police would not have attained the height they are right now in Lagos, if not for the governor.

 
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