 |
|
The management of Aiteo, owners of the OML 29 has declared
that the oil well was secured through indisputable, legitimate and
transparent best practices by the private entity, Shell, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The company also said that its aware of some fraudsters
running a reports-for-cash syndicate, about whom “we raised alarm so very
recently, are suggesting that a portion of the shareholding of the company
that holds the asset, OML 29 had been put up for sale to repay a loan.”
For the avoidance of doubt, Aiteo told NaijaAgroNet, it has neither considered, initiated nor announced the commencement of any plans to sell off any of its stake in OML 29. The reasons are patently clear.
“First, since the takeover of the asset we have
successfully quadrupled production that it would be commercially inept to
consider a disposal of any sort, now. Second, there are several
legitimate entities that constitute ownership of the oil block, such that it
would be practically impossible for us to unilaterally consider disposing of
the asset. As such, we urge the public to summarily disregard these unsavoury
and fabricated reports in their entirety.
“The claim that Bruce Burrows’ recent appointment as our Chief Financial Officer is aimed at finding a buyer for part of Aiteo’s assets is spurious and demonstrates that the publishers’ understanding of the commercial realities in the operation of assets such as OML 29 is shallow. All of our stakeholders familiar with our strategic vision can attest that Aiteo continues to invest in the right people to deliver on that vision. Mr. Burrows’ appointment is simply to further strengthen our financial discipline as one of the most innovative, reliable and diverse oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria today. Mr Burrows joins a team of highly trained, experienced and world-class talent that currently guide the day to day activities of Aiteo. “ For the record, OML 29 was indisputably, legitimately and transparently secured in an internationally conducted divestment by the private entity, Shell. The funding of this acquisition was made possible through a syndicated loan involving several Nigerian banks. Since then, we have continued to meet our financial obligations as and when due, like every other responsible, global conglomerate of our stature. |
Thursday, November 9, 2017
OML 29 is not for sale
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
RB Durex in partnership with PPFN on sexual health
In accordance with RB’s continuous commitment to being a socially
responsible organization, RB Durex has signed an agreement with the Planned
Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) to help improve the sexual health and
wellbeing of Nigerians, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The scope of the partnership covers Sexual and Reproductive
Health education and increasing consumer access to condoms by opening new
channels and reaching consumers previously unreached.
According to a recent report by World Health Organization
(WHO), ‘Every day, more than one million sexually transmitted infections are
acquired worldwide, and each year an estimated 78 million people are infected,
constituting a major health concern also in Nigeria.’ Sexual Health Education
and Contraception are therefore twin preventive health strategies to curb this.
Research and Real World data reveals that male latex condoms, when used consistently
and correctly, is an effective approach to achieve a reduction in the spread of
sexually transmitted infections and prevent unintended pregnancy.
Rahul Murgai, the Managing Director of RB Nigeria and Dr
Ibrahim M. Ibrahim, the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Federation of
Nigeria (PPFN) were optimistic that the joint efforts of the two organizations
will help drive the sexual and reproductive health agenda in Nigeria.
Speaking about the partnership with PPFN, Rahul Murgai said,
“RB is excited to partner with PPFN to create scaled awareness and education in
Nigeria on planned-parenthood, maternal health, safe contraception techniques
and targeted reduction in HIV related deaths through the effective and
consistent use of condoms. Through this collaboration, consumers will have the
requisite education and empowerment to improve their Sexual Health with easy
access to Durex- the World number 1 condom brand.”
Over the years RB has been at the forefront for
cause-related initiatives that further the progress of Nigeria on UN
Sustainable Development Goals such as reduction in infant mortality from
preventable diseases such as diarrhea and malaria, improved public health and
sanitation from reduced open defecation problem and now partnering to reduce
HIV related deaths. Its brands, which are popular household names such as
Dettol, Mortein and Harpic, have active partnerships with Federal Ministry of
Health (MoH), Save the Children (STC), Nigerian Medical association which work
to educate new mothers, school children and reach LGAs like Shomolu in Lagos to
promote good healthy habits like handwashing and to build a healthier nation.
The Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) is a
national non-governmental organization and a leading advocate and provider of
sexual and reproductive health services. PPFN is a member of the global
movement that strives for universal access to reproductive health services to
all (including poor, marginalized, vulnerable and socially excluded people)
without discrimination. According to Dr
Ibrahim “this partnership will contribute towards PPFN’s objective of expanding
access to quality services particularly for young persons in Nigeria.”
The PPFN and Durex strategic partnership will go a long way
in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STIs. It will also contribute to
reducing the incidence of unwanted/unplanned pregnancy and unsafe abortion as
well as significantly improving the overall level of health and well-being in
Nigeria.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Fighting malnutrition: Aliko Dangote Foundation joins global leaders, pledges US$100m for Nigeria
The Global Nutrition Summit 2017 ended in the city of Milan,
Italy, with Aliko Dangote Foundation joining
global crusade with a pledge of $100m for Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation, NaijaAgroNet gathered is on a
mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the most
needy areas of Nigeria, specifically the North East and North West.
The summit which convened governments, international
agencies, foundations, civil society organisations and businesses to accelerate
the global response to malnutrition, underlined the cause of nearly half of all
global child deaths.
NaijaAgroNet reports
that a major highlight of the Summit was the pledge by the Aliko Dangote
Foundation to invest US$100 million over five years to tackle malnutrition in
the worst-affected parts of Nigeria.
“The Aliko Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic
organization of Aliko Dangote, founder and Executive Chairman of the Dangote Group, Africa’s largest homegrown
conglomerate.
The Global Nutrition Summit is the global forum of the
United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2026).
This year’s edition, NaijaAgroNet reports was held in
close partnership with a number of international stakeholders including the
U.K.’s Department for International Development, the World Health Organization,
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Coalition on Advocacy for
Nutrition.
The governments of Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and
Zambia all made commitments to expand their nutrition programmes and the Summit
succeeded in galvanizing US3.4 billion according to the organisers.
Malnutrition affects every country in the world in various
forms, however Africa is particularly hard hit and Nigeria is home to the
highest numbers of malnourished children.
Almost half of the one million children who die before the
age of five every year in Nigeria, die of malnutrition as the underlying cause.
Without the proper nutrients during the first 1,000 days of life starting from
conception up to their second birthday, children are less likely to survive
childhood diseases such as malaria and pneumonia, and are less likely to escape
poverty as adults.
Experts say, these children become physically and
cognitively stunted, a fate that has befallen 11 million of Nigeria’s children
under five.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation’s Managing Director and CEO
Zouera Youssoufou said: “Nigeria’s high malnutrition rate is undermining
progress towards improving child health and survival and putting the brakes on
economic development. By investing in nutrition, we aim to directly improve the
lives of Nigerian families and to empower our citizens to reach their full
potential.”
The Global Nutrition Report 2017, launched at the Summit,
showed that, in spite of progress, 155 million children globally are still
stunted and the world is off track on meeting internationally agreed nutrition
targets. Financing to tackle malnutrition has been alarmingly low. Donors spend
about 0.5 percent of overseas aid on nutrition, and countries allocate between
one and two percent of their health budgets to the issue.
“The global malnutrition crisis endangers the physical and
mental wellbeing of present and future generations” said Kofi Annan, speaking
at the summit in his capacity as Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation. “Progress
in tackling both undernutrition and obesity is possible with targeted
commitments, like those made here today. We need further urgent investments so
that people, communities and nations can reach their full potential.”
Through his Foundation, since 1993, Aliko Dangote has made
significant social investments in health, education, economic empowerment and
disaster relief. He is now becoming the strongest voice for nutritional
leadership nationally and on the continent of Africa. By making this
unprecedented US$100 Million commitment, the Aliko Dangote Foundation is on a
mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the most
needy areas of Nigeria, specifically the North East and North West, where
malnutrition has affected millions of lives and crippled the local economy.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Okorocha in trouble with G42 over N850m Xmas Tree
A socio-political group, G42 Imo Liberation Forum has warned the
state government to desist from what it described as a waste of tax payers’
money over its alleged plans to spend a whooping Eight Hundred and Fifty
Million Naira on erecting a Christmas tree ahead of the Christmas celebration,
reports NaijaAgroNet.
A statement signed by the Director of Communications of the
group, Dr. Walter Duru and made available to newsmen further described the plan
as a misplaced priority, even as he accused the government of insensitivity.
“The attention of G-42 Imo Liberation Forum has been drawn to an
alleged plan by the Imo State Government under the leadership of Chief Rochas
Okorocha to spend about Eight Hundred and Fifty Million Naira on a meaningless
Christmas tree ahead of the 2017 Christmas celebration.”
“This is coming at a time Civil Servants and Pensioners in the
state are being owed several months arrears of salary and other entitlements;
while poverty is at its highest level in the history of the state.”
“The situation is made worst by the fact that the dust raised by
the over Five Hundred Million Naira allegedly spent in the building of a Statue
for the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma is yet to settle.”
“We refuse to treat this as mere speculation as history has shown
that this is not far from the style of the present administration in the state;
a government that is not accountable to anyone and is run in utmost secrecy.
The government must tell Imo people how much it actually spent on erecting the
ridiculous Jacob Zuma Statue and others there-in, as well as the said Christmas
tree.“
“The G-42 Imo Liberation Forum, a Socio-political group in the
state sees this as the highest level of insensitivity, misplaced priority and
share waste of the people’s resources and hereby condemn it.”
Continuing, Duru accused the Okorocha-led government of
disrespecting the citizens of the state, even as he urged him to discontinue
the project and pay attention to the welfare of the citizens.
“The present APC-led government must realize that it is holding
the people’s resources on thrust and therefore accountable to the people. This
administration has treated Imo people with so much disrespect and disdain that
we can no longer fold our arms to allow this anomaly to continue.”
“We therefore call on the state government to discontinue the
wanton waste of the peoples’ resources and invest the people’s resources in
areas that are beneficial to majority of the citizens.”
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Friday, November 3, 2017
FG, States pledge matching fund for rural sanitation, promotion
The Federal Government and some
implementing states have committed to a matching fund of $5million as
counterpart contribution to the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in
Nigeria (RUSHPIN), reports NaijaAgroNet.
Director, Press and Public Relations
Unit, Margaret E. Umoh, in a press statement available to NaijaAgroNet, said that Nigeria secured the grant for the project
through the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS), which is a coalition of
relevant government ministries, departments and agencies, development partners
and civil society organisations working in the sanitation sub-sector.
The Honourable Minister of Water
Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu, was quoted as saying this during the
meeting with State Governors on the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in
Nigeria (RUSHPIN) in Abuja.
“As we are all aware, access to
improved sanitation in Nigeria has declined over time. As a result, there are
over 70 million people without access to improve sanitation and more than 45
million
people practicing open defecation in Nigeria,” he said.
Recognizing the public health risk,
he pointed out that the Federal Government called on states and development
partners to invest in the water, sanitation and hygiene sub-sector as Federal
Government cannot fund it all alone.
Adamu said further that the RUSHPIN
project which is going on in 6 Local Government Areas of Benue and Cross River
States is a good example of government’s efforts in mobilizing resources to the
sector in view of the limited resources available.
The Minister added that the Federal
Government through the instrument of Partnership for Expanded Water, Sanitation
and Hygiene (PEWASH) programme and the roadmap of ending open defecation by
2025 in the country, has demonstrated commitment in addressing the issues of water,
sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria.
Adamu thanked the Executive Director
of Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Dr. Chris
Williams for the support given to Nigeria through the Global Sanitation Fund
grant. While thanking Ondo and Sokoto States for their interest in the RUSHPIN
project, he called on other states to key into the project as investing in
water, sanitation and hygiene would protect the health of the people.
Present at the meeting were the
governors of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and
Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
Responding, the Executive Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom said that in conjunction with the Federal Government, Benue State has paid 5million into the RUSHPIN Project in the state. While his counterpart from Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal said that the state counterpart fund will be captured in the 2018 budget proposal. The Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said that the issue of open defecation in the state is a big challenge, and that they are ready to partner with the Federal Government and other development partners in addressing the issue.
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Human health: Five new chemicals under surveillance
Some five new chemicals are
currently under consideration by the Chemical Review Committee (CRC) of the
Rotterdam Convention, reports NaijaAgroNet.
CRC arising from its 13th meeting
revealed that three more chemicals were recommended for inclusion in the
Rotterdam Convention, whilst two more are recommended for inclusion in the
Stockholm Convention, thereby bringing to five some new chemicals under
consideration.
The 13th meeting of the Chemical
Review Committee (CRC) of the Rotterdam Convention, which was held back-to-back
with POPRC and which concluded, successfully and recommended to the Conference
of Parties (COP) the listing of phorate, acetochlor and hexabromocyclododecane
in Annex III of the Convention.
Acetochlor,
a selective herbicide, has been used on maize in Sahelian West African
countries. It poses a high risk to aquatic organisms as well as long-term risks
to herbivorous birds and to humans.
Ogochukwu Nebenanya/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Experts pursue sound chemicals management to promote human, environmental health
Keeping with recent calls for commitments
from all to contribute towards a pollution-free planet, experts and observers
joined members of the Rotterdam (RC) and Stockholm (SC) Conventions' chemical
review committees for back-to-back meetings in Rome, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The team, NaijaAgroNet gathered, reviewed a record
number of chemicals for inclusion in annexes of the two Conventions, both of
which aim to protect human health and the environment, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
According to NaijaAgroNet findings, recommendations
cut across the Rotterdam Convention, and Stockholm Convention.
NaijaAgroNet reports that over 250 experts and
observers in total, from all regions of the world, gathered at the headquarters
of the FAO in Rome to conduct back-to-back meetings focused on the review of
scientific information on toxic chemicals, with a view to recommending
inclusion in the annexes of the two conventions, thus becoming regulated by
international law.
The latest FAO data, NaijaAgroNet reports, showed that
international pesticide sales are valued at up to USD 480 billion a year. UNEP
estimates that as many as three percent of those working in agriculture
worldwide suffer from acute pesticide poisoning, with adolescents facing a
higher risk.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science,
productivity, social development and much more.
At their best, cities have enabled people to advance
socially and economically.
However, many challenges exist to maintaining cities
in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity while not straining land
and resources.
Common urban challenges include congestion, lack of
funds to provide basic services, a shortage of adequate housing and declining
infrastructure.
The challenges cities face can be overcome in ways
that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use
and reducing pollution and poverty. The future we want includes cities of
opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing,
transportation and more.
The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable
Urban Development, took place in Quito, Ecuador from 17-20 October 2016, and
was the first UN global summit on urbanization since the adoption of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Habitat III offered a unique opportunity to discuss the
important challenges of how cities, towns, and village can be planned and
managed, in order to fulfill their role as drivers of sustainable development,
and how they can shape the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Security Council debates ‘women, peace and security’
The
subject of women, peace and security topped a session of the Security Council
held on Monday, reports NaijaAgroNet.
At the Security
Council Monday, a senior United Nations official called on Member States,
regional organizations and civil society for greater partnership to boost
women’s participation at all levels and help ensure UN peace efforts are
stronger and more sustainable.
“We will ensure our
prevention initiatives and monitoring include a focus on women’s rights
violations [and] we will tackle the structural and root causes of crisis,
including gender inequality,” Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Chef de Cabinet,
speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General, told a day-long debate in the Security Council, underlining the need
for more action on the ‘women, peace and security agenda’ – with prevention as
a core pillar.
Noting the importance
of gender equality and security of women as reliable indicators for peace, she
added: “We will [also] strengthen the collection and analysis of gender
statistics and encourage Member States to monitor gender equality indicators as
part of their work to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
In her briefing, the
Chef de Cabinet spoke of the need to ensure adequate representation of women in
the security sector both to reduce their exposure to harm as well as to realize
their potential in conflict prevention.
Noting, further, that
only three per cent of peacekeepers are women, she informed the 15-member
Council of the Secretary-General’s efforts with troop- and police-contributing
countries to increase the number of female uniformed personnel.
Ms. Viotti also noted
that 17 years after its adoption, Security Council resolution 1325 on women and
peace and security was too often being implemented in an ad hoc fashion, and
called on UN Member States to share evidence and examples in order to examine
gaps and successes.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Monday, October 30, 2017
Africa, a hungry people and malnutrition battle
Can Maputo declaration save Africa from classification as a hungry people, malnourished region and scale up food security ambitions, asked REMMY NWEKE in this report.
Preamble:
The latest
United Nations global report says 815 million are hungry people and ranked
Africa second with 243m victims out of 1.216 billion population of the
continent as at December 2016 by the World Bank. And the next phase is for the
victims to delve into malnutrition.
NaijaAgroNet reports that this is in spite of Africa
being ranked the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent,
spanning to about 30.3 million kilometres in landmass, including adjacent
islands, covering some 6 per cent of earth's total surface area and 20.4 per
cent of its total land area. Africa also ranks fifth among continents by Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) worth $2,190 billion, according to the online open
sourced encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
However, UN’s
latest hunger and food security key numbers made available to NaijaAgroNet, saw Asia continent with 520 million,
that is, over 100 per cent of African quota; whereas the top three continents
in the hungriest people in the world included Latin America and the Caribbean
with 42 million. Shared in percentage, NaijaAgroNet gathered showed that Asia
has 11.7 per cent; Africa has 20 per cent with eastern Africa alone scored 33.9
per cent, while Latin America and the Caribbean got 6.6 per cent.
This was the
first time that United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and World
Health Organisation (WHO), joined the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP) in
preparing ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ report. This
change reflects the harmonization of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda's
broader view on hunger and all forms of malnutrition.
Thus, NaijaAgroNet noted that the UN Decade of Action on
Nutrition, established by the General Assembly, is lending focus to this effort
by motivating governments to set goals and invest in measures to address the
multiple dimensions of malnutrition, facing the world today. So, the State of
Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017 was re-geared for the SDG era and
includes enhanced metrics for quantifying and assessing hunger, including two
indicators on food insecurity and six indicators on nutrition.
Economic sense of zero tolerance for
food loss, waste:
Speaking at the sideline
of the recently held 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, the
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Mr. José
Graziano da Silva, renewed calls with focus on tackling food loss and waste as
a pathway to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger, declaring
that "Zero tolerance for food loss and waste makes economic sense.” Noting recent report which indicated that
every $1 invested in food loss and food waste policies bring $14 in return, and
stressed that "Investing in measures to prevent food loss and food waste
also means making investments in pro-poor policies as it promotes sustainable
food systems for a zero hunger world."
According to him,
one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally
each year, pointing out that this loss and waste occur throughout the supply
chain, from farm to fork, insisting that beyond food, it represents a total waste
of labour, water, energy, land and other inputs, lamenting “If food loss and
waste were a country, it would rank as the third highest national emitter of
greenhouse gases.”
Graziano was joined by
Gilbert Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food
Programme (WFP), Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and
Environment of the United Arab Emirates, Josefa Correia Sacko, Commissioner for
Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union as well as representatives
of the governments of Germany, the Netherlands and Angola in calling for
greater cooperation by governments, business, development partners, farmers
groups and others to address the problem.
Food technologists
develop tools to prevent loss, waste
Of late, NaijaAgroNet reported that food technologists at FAO revealed they have
developed tools and methodologies for identifying losses, their causes and
potential solutions along the entire food value chain, from production, storage
and processing to distribution and consumption. Obviously reacting to the
latest UN disclosure that some 815 million hungry people are in the world, the
majority lives in rural areas of developing countries and are family farmers,
pastoralists or fishers, these experts cited South-East Asia, for example,
noting that fruit and vegetable producers found that around 20 per cent of
tomatoes were damaged during transportation because of the way they were packed
in bulk.
Confirming this, DG,
FAO, Mr. José Graziano da Silva, said the initiatives will improve packaging
practices, with participation of producers and other stakeholders, resulting in
an impressive 90 per cent reduction of these losses, recalling that in 2013,
FAO launched a global initiative on food loss and waste called Save
Food.
The platform, NaijaAgroNet gathered, includes a network of over 500 partners from
international organizations, the private sector, civil society and others with
the objective of promoting awareness and the exchange of ideas and best
practices on preventing food waste and loss.
FAO also said, it has
produced data and information so that decision-makers could better understand
where and how food losses and waste occur, and the agency is working with partners
to measure the impact of food loss and waste reductions on food security and
nutrition.
A nation undermining her children’s development:
Then long after, United Nations Children Fund
(UNICEF) exposed Nigerian government over alleged putting her children at risk
of under-development, both physically and mentally, because critical national
policies were not adequately provided to entrench foundation for their growth.
Maintaining that brain grows rapidly; thus providing good nutrition, loving
care and appropriately play and provide solid foundations for a child’s
learning could eventually contribution to economic and social growth.
In its Early Moments
Matter for Every Child, UNICEF outlined three
policies that could give parents the time and resources needed to support their
young children’s healthy development, including “two years of free pre-primary
education; six months of paid maternity leave; and four weeks of paid paternity
leave.” Decrying that Nigeria currently has just three months of paid maternity
leave, only one year of free pre-primary education and no paternity leave at
all, with only about one in every 10 pre-primary children are enrolled in early
education activities.
Also, NaijaAgroNet reports that according to a
medical journal, The Lancet, Nigeria ranks among the 10 countries with the
largest number of children at risk of poor development. Whereas the 2016
national survey indicated that 31 per cent of children under the age of
five were moderately or severely underweight in Nigeria. Insisting, “Stunting
as a result of malnutrition can cause irreversible physical and mental
retardation. Though, the exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a
baby’s life has clearly been shown to improve physical and mental development,
the same survey revealed that only 24 per cent of Nigerian children are
exclusively breastfed for six months. Paid maternity leave will help to
increase the number of children exclusively breastfed.
As said by Mohamed Fall,
the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, “What we call Early Childhood
Development, includes physical and cognitive support, and has a strategic place
in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Investing in Early
Childhood Development including services to support caregivers, quality
pre-primary education and good nutrition will help to secure healthy and
productive future generations in Nigeria.”
Yes, early childhood development matters:
In addition, he said that by supporting
exclusive breastfeeding, having Early Childhood Development policies in place
will help to improve the overall health and nutrition of a child, enable
parents and caregivers to be more responsive to children’s needs and provide
greater safety and security. It will also provide improved early learning.
He asserted that ‘With 90 per cent of a child’s
brain development occurring before the age of five, early childhood experiences
can have a profound impact on a child’s development and can ultimately impact a
country’s growth.”
The import of the foregoing is that if Nigeria
could undermine the growth of her younger generation and due to lack of
requisite policies as claimed by UNICEF, why should Africa not have a set of
hungry people, even to the tune of 243m. This is because lots of people and
Africans precisely look up to Nigeria as a ‘big brother’ who should show
leadership.
Maputo declaration,
nutrition and food security:
Of course, showing leadership is not all political,
but on the practical terms, may be by domesticating the African Union 2003
Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security (Assembly/AU/Decl. 7(II)),
which stressed that 10 per cent of national budget allocation should go to
agriculture development, invariably to the letter in the next five years, that
is till 2008.
In September 2016, the Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa (AGRA) declared that the countries which paid intense
attention to farmers and food production in the past ten years achieved the
most successful development in African history.
According to AGRA President, Agnes Kalibata,
“The countries that made the biggest investments in agriculture were rewarded
with sizeable jumps in both farm productivity and overall economic
performance,” and noted that agriculture had its biggest impact in countries
that embraced the African Union’s Comprehensive African Agriculture Development
Program (CAADP), which called for African governments to allocate 10 per cent
of national budgets to agriculture with a view to gain six percent annual
growth in the sector.
AGRA report also noted that even if they didn’t
hit the 10 per cent targets, early adopters of the CAADP have seen agricultural
productivity rise by 5.9 to 6.7 per cent per year, thereby, boosting a 4.3 per
cent average annual increase in overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and listed
CAADP adopters to include Nigeria, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and
Togo and attributed their posting of higher agriculture productivity and
stronger GDP growth with declines in malnutrition compared to countries that
have not adopted the initiative.
Submission:
Thus, the report urged African leaders and
governments for higher investment in agricultural research in the wake of
climate change and increased support for youths to take up farming.
Its unthinkable that a continent with the
landmass that Africa has should be graded among the hungriest people on earth.
Efforts should be made to reverse trend. If technology development could be
seen as slow and knowhow, do we need also tally behind on cultivating our
natural resources, agriculture inclusive.
Therefore, this is a clarion call on the
Nigerian government to show leadership, after all, an adage says ‘charity
begins at home’ and to whom much is given, much is expected, especially on the
UNICEF report, otherwise the continent’s future leaders may be stunted children
which will boomerang on respective member nations.
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technologyPix: Moussa Faki, AUC chairperson and Audu Ogbe, Nigerian Minister of Agriculture
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)