FAO food price index drops in December

NaijaAgroNet:

The Food and Agriculture Organisaiton (FAO) has disclosed that food prices dropped in the month of December 2015 due to dwindling global economic downturn, reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO also said that abundant supplies and slow economic growth drive food prices down for the fourth consecutive year.

FAO's Food Price Index sighted by NaijaAgroNet showed that prices of major food commodities declined for the fourth year in a row in 2015, averaging 19.1 percent below their previous-year's levels, as the dwindling global economy also triggered sharp price falls from metals to energy markets, ending the year even lower, at 154.1 points during the month of December. 

In December, FAO said, the index declined a further 1.0 per cent from its revised November value, as falling prices for meat, dairy and cereals more than offset gains by sugar and vegetable oils.

"Abundant supplies in the face of a timid world demand and an appreciating dollar are the main reason for the general weakness that dominated food prices in 2015," said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian. 

The FAO Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index tracking international market prices for five key food commodity groups: major cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar.

 

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Farmers urged to embrace corporatives, technologies

NaijaAgroNet:

Bank of Industry (BoI) has urged Nigerian farmers to embrace corporatives and technologies to boost agric-business development in the country, especially cassava so as to make it profitable, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, represented by Group Head, Agro Processing Unit of BOI, Mrs. Kadafa Lolo Ruth made this call at a one-day stakeholders consultative meeting in Lagos.

BOI also noted that lots of farmers are individualistic and seldom come together as a team to have a registered corporative or association which could enable them to access loans from financial institutions.

“Many farmers come to the Bank of Industry to seek for loans but they do not have any tractable sales record or evidence of market sales, they cannot present convincing workable proposals or a clear thought-out business frame work that could enable them secure loans,” Olaoluwa said.

He, therefore, charged farmers to integrate and collaborate with like-minds, utilize technological tool to improve the quality of the produce and package them as premium brands that consumers will be willing to pay for.

Equally speaking at occasion, Sales Director for Bosch West Africa, Mr. Francis Omoniyi said, “Bosch will be giving one year free service maintenance to customers that purchase any of their tools and educate them on how to fully utilize the equipment” stressing that Bosch wants to assist in boosting the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by structuring agric business via capacity building.

 

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BOSCH, UNIDO partner on improving Cassava market profitability

NaijaAgroNet:

Global supplier of technology and services BOSCH has partnered with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on improving Cassava market profitability in the Sub-Saharan Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the recently organized stakeholders consultative meeting in Lagos with farmers to discuss the prospect, challenges and marketing widows of cassava production in the country, the Managing Director of Robert Bosch West Africa, Mr. Ghislain Noumbessy, said it is imperative for farmers to take advantage of the technological tools and services that could help them proffer solutions to their food loss and perk up their profit.

Noumbessy also said that Bosch has been motivated by the search for ever-better technological solutions and fresh approaches that will help tackle the great challenges of today and deliver benefits to her customers.

“At Bosch, our work is guided and motivated to find solutions to even the most complex technological challenges while at the same time preserving natural resources and making a positive contribution to the society and that is why we decided to create a stakeholders consultative meeting to discuss about the market prospects, challenges and opportunities of agriculture especially in Cassava farming,” he said.

UNIDO representative from Austria, Dr. Yvonne Lokko told participants that they are working with Bosch in line with the United Nations agenda to reduce poverty, facilitate trade capacity building, agri-business and agro-industry development in Nigeria.

Speaking on the Bank of Industry (BoI) role in agric-business development in Nigeria, its Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, represented by Group Head, Agro Processing Unit of BOI, Mrs. Kadafa Lolo Ruth said that agriculture is one of the cardinal agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the bank will continue to give adequate necessary supports and loans to farmers to grow their business.

Mr. Olaoluwa also said farming is a serious business and cassava is a profitable trade but there is a significant need for many farmers to improve on their skills and management structures to enable them improve their farming in 21st century.

 

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Breaking news: McGill researchers point to fossil fuels replacement

NaijaAgroNet:

Experts at the McGill University have disclosed that metal powders, produced using clean primary energy sources, could provide a more viable long-term replacement for fossil fuels than other widely discussed alternatives, such as hydrogen, biofuels or batteries, reports NaijaAgroNet.

A study in the December 15 issue of the journal Applied Energy made available to NaijaAgroNet showed that technologies to generate clean electricity, primarily solar and wind power are being developed rapidly.

Lead author of the new study by McGill University, Professor Jeffrey Bergthorson, pointed out that at present, people could not use electricity for many of the things that oil and gas are used for today, such as transportation and global energy trade.

“Biofuels can be part of the solution, but won’t be able to satisfy all the demand; hydrogen requires big, heavy fuel tanks and is explosive, and batteries are too bulky and don’t store enough energy for many applications,” Bergthorson, who is a mechanical engineering professor and Associate Director of the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design at McGill said.

“Using metal powders as recyclable fuels that store clean primary energy for later use is a very promising alternative solution,” he said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE 

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Breaking News: Climate agreement prioritises food security

NaijaAgroNet:

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has hailed the breakthrough in the climate change agreement reached upon at the COP21 which held in Paris, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, applauded the promise to scale up funding for agriculture.

"For the first time ever, food security features in a global climate change accord," he said, stressing that the Paris Agreement often dubbed COP21, recognized "the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the impacts of climate change."

According to him, this underlines the need to "increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience … in a manner that does not threaten food production." 

He further said that this is a game changer for the 800 million people still suffering from chronic hunger, and for 80 per cent of the world's poor who live in rural areas and earn income and feed their families from agriculture sectors. 

“By including food security, the international community fully acknowledged that urgent attention is needed to preserve the well-being and future of those who are on the front line of climate change threats," Graziano da Silva said.

Louisa Effiong/GEE

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