IFAD to eradicate hunger with credit rating - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

The prospect of eradicating hunger and poverty received a boost today as the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) obtained its second strong public credit rating, facilitating its access to private funds to invest in increasing rural prosperity and development in the world’s poorest countries. 

The AA+ rating was announced today by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings. This complements the AA+ Fitch rating that IFAD received on 2 October, when IFAD became the first fund in the United Nations system to receive a public credit rating.

Cervical cancer: How to eliminate the silent killer - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Commentary@NaijaAgroNet:

The whole world is currently grappling with the second surge of COVID-19 infection. This pandemic destabilized year 2020, affecting over 85 million people and causing nearly 2 million deaths with a global mortality rate of about 2%. For this reason, every nation is making effort to gain access to the recently developed vaccines against the dreaded virus.  

Incidentally, Nigeria is also experiencing a second surge of Cervical Cancer, a disease that has a much higher mortality rate than COVID-19 and which is also caused by another deadly virus, known as the Human papillomavirus (HPV). Most Nigerians are oblivious of HPV and cervical cancer, a silent killer which disproportionately devastates women in the developing world, but is a disappearing disease in the developed world, where appropriate steps have been taken. 

Climate change: Hope rises for millions of Sahel farmers - NaijaAgroNet ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

Millions of poor farmers living in the world’s most climate-impacted parts of the Sahel have cause for hope because of their governments’ support for accelerating Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW), reports NaijaAgroNet.

GGW area, NaijaAgroNet gathered, covers 11 countries from Senegal and Mali in the West to Ethiopia and Djibouti in the East.

Kuzi, helping African farmers fight locusts - NaijaAgroNet ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

A free tool that will help farmers and pastoralists across Africa to predict and control locust behaviour has been launched. Kuzi—the Swahili name for the wattled starling, a bird renowned for eating locusts—is an AI-powered tool that generates a real-time heatmap of locusts across Africa, shows all potential migration routes, and gives a real-time locust breeding index.

Using satellite data, soil sensor data, ground meteorological observation, and machine learning, Kuzi can predict the breeding, occurrence and migration routes of desert locusts across the horn of African and Eastern African countries, and uses deep learning to identify the formation of locust swarms. Kuzi then sends farmers and pastoralists free SMS alerts 2-3 months in advance of when locusts are highly likely to attack farms and livestock in their areas.

Socio-economic impacts of fisheries nets $9.4bn - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

The latest report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has revealed the considerable extent to which Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries contribute to regional economies by generating direct revenues, driving wider spending, and providing crucial jobs.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries (SoMFi 2020), recently released showed an overall annual economic value of fisheries in the region is estimated at $9.4 billion.

Exploitation: Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries turn a corner - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

After decades of increasing human pressures on the Mediterranean and Black Sea marine ecosystems and fisheries resources, the latest data suggest that a corner is finally being turned on over-exploitation of the region's vital fish stocks, reports NaijaAgroNet.

New report on the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries (SoMFi 2020), released recently showed that while 75 per cent of fish stocks remain subject to overfishing, this percentage fell by more than 10 percent between 2014 and 2018.

Paul Gbededo retires from Flour Mills, Olusanya takes over as designate GMD - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

The Group Managing Director of the Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), has taken a bow from the company, effective December 31, 2020, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to the Company Secretary/Director of Legal Services, Joseph A.O Umolu, FMN also appointed its Group Chief Operating Officer, Boye Olusanya as it’s designate Group Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer.

Gbededo

FMN is Nigeria’s leading integrated food and agro-allied group, owners of the iconic brand – ‘Golden Penny’.

Natural Gas Monetization binds Africa oil and gas industries - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet: 

For many years, and as it was pursuing ambitions to become a global LNG exporter, Mozambique has struggled to generate enough energy for its domestic market. We are now about to see an energy revolution thanks to great gas discoveries made by international investors over the past decade. While international technological innovation and skillful know-how will be driving such projects, we must all push for a transfer of knowledge throughout the development of Mozambique’s LNG projects.

The need for more collaboration and shared experience among African energy experts is going to be critical for Mozambique as it pushes towards monetizing massive gas discoveries. Similarly, recognizing that the state and the private sector need to play a role in the development of critical energy infrastructure to pave the way for domestic gas utilization will be key to Mozambique’s development and also solving energy poverty issues.

Rice production: Kebbi State gets boost - NaijaAgroNet ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet:

WACOT Rice Limited’s (WRL) strategy to become West Africa’s leading rice producer got a massive boost from the USAID-funded West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (WATIH). The Nigerian based subsidiary of TGI Group recently signed a co-investment partnership with WATIH to the tune of $10.5 million (about N4.99 billion) to support the company’s Argungu Rice Outgrower Expansion Project based in Kebbi State.

In this partnership, WRL will register an additional 5,143 farmers to complement its already existing outgrower network in the state. These new farmers are expected to cultivate over 5,000 additional hectares of land thereby producing over 20,000 tons of paddy which will be utilised at WRL’s 120,000-ton rice mill in Kebbi.

PAP beneficiary accuses Col. Dikio of abuse of office - NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

NaijaAgroNet: 

Once again, the recklessness by public office holders under the Buhari led Federal Government has been condemned by a beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Mr. Victor Okame, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to him, “the recklessness by public office holders under the Buhari led federal government has become a cause for concern. The Amnesty Programme which was meant to run for 4 years has become a conduit pipe for enemies of the Niger Delta Region; and unless issues of underperformance are addressed, the Amnesty Programme will just be a wasted effort.”