Food technologists develop tools to prevent loss, waste

NaijaAgroNet:

Food technologists at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) 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, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Obviously reacting to the latest United Nations 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.

According to DG, FAO, Mr. José Graziano da Silva, the initiatives will improve packaging practices, they said, with the participation of producers and other stakeholders, resulted in an impressive 90 per cent reduction of these losses.

NaijaAgroNet reports 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.

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Africa ranks second in global hungry people with 243m victims

NaijaAgroNet:

The African continent has been ranked second in the number of hungry people in the world which the United Nations (UN) said was 815 million, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The UN in its latest hunger and food security key numbers made available to NaijaAgroNet, which has overall number at 815 million, saw Asia continent with 520 million, over 100 per cent of African quota.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that in the top three continents in the hungriest people in the world included Latin America and the Caribbean with 42 million.

The global hungry population as shared in percentage, NaijaAgroNet gathered showed that Asia has 11.7 per cent; Africa has 20 per cent with eastern Africa lone scoring 33.9 per cent, while Latin America and the Caribbean got 6.6 per cent.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered this was the first time that UNICEF and WHO join FAO, IFAD and WFP in preparing The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. This change reflects the SDG agenda's broader view on hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

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.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017 has been 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.

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Expert decries more women paying for family planning services in Lagos

NaijaAgroNet:

Reproductive health expert has decried the rising charges on women seeking family planning in Lagos State, and called for more funding to health sector to help cushion the effect, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The co-Principal Investigator for the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020), Dr. Funmi OlaOlorun, expressed her displeasure in Lagos, over the charges on women in need of family planning services, saying this has been on the rise as more women get involved.

Lagos, which has about 112 service delivery points, she said, change fees on family planning, with the points estimated at 65 public and 47 private facilities, which represents 26.2 and 10.6 per cents respectively in public and private clinics.

Family planning indicators, she said, must cut across, calling upon government and all well-meaning investors, to allocate more funds on consumables and logistics to ensure improved impact on family planning programmes, and reduce the charges even though its prevalent in both public and private clinical facilities.

Dr. Olaolorun while sharing the scorecard on the per cent of public and private clinical facilities alongside the offering and current in and out of stock by methods survey in Lagos, told NaijaAgroNet that government could also offer vouchers to the poorest women by using an equity approach and graded billing system.

Other Family Planning Indicators, she pointed out to include access, equity, quality and choice, just as out of the seven states sampled, consisting of 302 Enumeration Areas (EA), Lagos State had 52.

The programme, NaijaAgroNet recalls was supported by the Federal Ministry of Health, National Population Commission, National Bureau of Statistics, Lagos State Ministry of Health , Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health (Johns Hopkins University) as well as Pathfinder International and was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Zero tolerance for food loss, waste makes economic sense

NaijaAgroNet:

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Mr. José Graziano da Silva has joined calls for a renewed global commitment to zero tolerance for food loss and waste makes economic sense, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Graziano da Silva, made this call at a sideline event at the ongoing 72nd session of the UN General Assembly 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.”

He buttressed his point, with recent report that every $1 invested in food loss and food waste policies brings $14 in return, Graziano da Silva 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."

Noting that one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally each year. This loss and waste occurs throughout the supply chain, from farm to fork. Beyond food, it represents a waste of labour, water, energy, land and other inputs. If food loss and waste were a country, it would rank as the third highest national emitter of greenhouse gases.

Graziano da Silva joined 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.

Of the 815 million hungry people in the world, the majority lives in rural areas of developing countries and are family farmers, pastoralists or fishers. They have poor access to modern means of preventing food losses and waste, and often local food systems are subject to gaps in post-harvest handling, transportation, processing and refrigeration.

By reducing loss and waste along the food value chain, healthy food systems can contribute to promoting climate adaptation and mitigation, preserving natural resources, and reinforcing rural livelihoods.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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More children at risk as 815m people officially hungry globally

NaijaAgroNet:

An estimated 815 million globally are hungry, thus risking millions of children at risk from malnutrition, says the United Nations latest findings, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to UN, after steadily declining for over a decade, global hunger is on the rise again, affecting some 815 million people in 2016, or 11 per cent of the global population, says a new edition of the annual United Nations report on world food security and nutrition made available to NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as UN said that at the same time, multiple forms of malnutrition are threatening the health of millions worldwide.

The increase - 38 million more people than the previous year - is largely due to the proliferation of violent conflicts and climate-related shocks, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017.

Some 155 million children aged under five are stunted (too short for their age), the report says, while 52 million suffer from wasting, meaning their weight is too low for their height. An estimated 41 million children are now overweight. Anaemia among women and adult obesity are also cause for concern. These trends are a consequence not only of conflict and climate change but also of sweeping changes in dietary habits as well as economic slowdowns.

The report is the first UN global assessment on food security and nutrition to be released following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030 as a top international policy priority.

It singles out conflict - increasingly compounded by climate change - as one of the key drivers behind the resurgence of hunger and many forms of malnutrition.

"Over the past decade, conflicts have risen dramatically in number and become more complex and intractable in nature," the heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said in their joint foreword to the report. They stressed that some of the highest proportions of food-insecure and malnourished children in the world are now concentrated in conflict zones.

"This has set off alarm bells we cannot afford to ignore: we will not end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030 unless we address all the factors that undermine food security and nutrition. Securing peaceful and inclusive societies is a necessary condition to that end," they said.

Famine struck in parts of South Sudan for several months in early 2017, and there is a high risk that it could reoccur there as well as appear in other conflict-affected places, namely northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, they noted.

But even in regions that are more peaceful droughts or floods linked in part to the El Niño weather phenomenon, as well as the global economic slowdown, have also seen food security and nutrition deteriorate, they added. 

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PMA2020: Olaolorun recommends more training for Nigerian family planning care providers

NaijaAgroNet:

The co-Principal Investigator for the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020, Dr. Funmi OlaOlorun has recommend more training support for the private health care providers in the provision of family planning in Nigeria, and particularly in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the country, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking to  NaijaAgroNet during a media parley on the fourth round survey of Performance, Monitoring and Accountability 2017 in Lagos, Dr. Olaolorun said that support for more training for private healthcare providers will improve the provision of injectables, implants among others for the purpose of effective family planning for the country.

According to her, support increases supply of Long Acting Methods (LAM), greater choice and avails provides training and retraining opportunities in order to be up-standing to their call of duty.

Dr. OlaOlorun who doubles as a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant at College of Medicine, University of Ibadan - ‎College of Medicine, University of Ibadan disclosed that the latest survey under PMA2020, witnessed in Lagos, more women obtaining method of choice and would return to providers in the nearest future, with likelihood of referring a friend.

She stressed that the survey noted increase in the use of long acting methods, especially implants, just as stockouts persist, especially in the private hospitals and clinics.

The PMA2017 cum Lagos-round four survey, she noted was conducted by the Centre for Research, Evaluation Resources and Development (CRERD) and Bayero University Kano (BUK).

The project, she said, was collected data from Anambra, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Nasarawa, Rivers and Taraba States.

With support from the Federal Ministry of Health, National Population Commission, National Bureau of Statistics, Lagos State Ministry of Health , Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health (Johns Hopkins University) and was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in addition to partnership with Pathfinder International.

The purpose of the survey, Dr. Olaolorun said, was to monitor family planning progress with a set of core indicators and was conducted between April and May this year.

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Climate Change, challenge for our generation – UN Deputy SecGen

NaijaAgroNet:

The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, has said that climate change is the utmost challenge for this generation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at on Monday during the 9th Annual New York City Climate Week, Mrs. Mohammed, reiterating that climate change is a challenge “for our generation.”

She noted that the destruction wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the massive floods in India, Nepal and across South Asia reflect the growing vulnerability of people and economies to the growing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.

“You know the challenge and you know the answer lies with you. I commend your efforts,” she said, adding that as the Secretary-General said in May, the sustainability train is moving.

“And you are providing the fuel – not the dirty fuel of the past, but the clean power of the future. The engine is no longer huffing and puffing smoke.  But it is not moving fast enough,” she said.

She lamented not everyone is on board yet, Mohammed canvassed for raising of ambition.

“We are ready to work with you, engage with you and support your efforts,” she said.

Further, she said,  the Paris Agreement was a monumental achievement, but agreements are just pieces of paper if those who need to implement them don’t follow through.

“You have the power to define the pace and extent of implementation. Your commitment to a low-carbon, resilient future is making a difference,” she declared.

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Gender access disparity widens in Africa

Gender access disparity widens in Africa: GenderICT@ITRealms : Internet access has continued to widen on the continent of Africa despite efforts to bridge the gap between all ge...

Drop in prices, ends 3 months decline - FOA

NaijaAgroNet:

The slight decline in the FAO Food Price Index by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in August 2017, has ended three months of consecutive increases, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Despite this, NaijaAgroNet reports that the Index, a trade-weighted index tracking international market prices for five key commodity groups remained 6 per cent above its value a year earlier.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that along with cereals, the FAO Meat Price Index dropped 1.2 per cent in the month, while the FAO Sugar Price Index slipped by 1.7 per cent was driven by favourable cane harvest prospects in leading producers Brazil, Thailand and India, as well as by weaker international demand in the wake of higher tariffs imposed by China and India.

But the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index rose 2.5 percent, led by rising quotations for palm, soy, rapeseed and sunflower oils. And the FAO Dairy Price Index also rose 1.4 percent from July, led by greater demand for butterfat in Europe and North America.


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Pix: FAO Director-General da-Silva

Maternal death: Zambian Minister decries death of journalist, Sithe Zulu, triggers review

NaijaAgroNet:

The Zambian Minister of Health, Dr Chitalu Chilufya, has decried the rate of maternal death recorded at Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital on the 10th of September 2017, following the demise of a journalist with Zambia Daily Mail, Sithembile Siwawa-Zulu, reports NaijaAgroNet.

In a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, the Head Communications and External Relations at the Ministry, Stanslous Ngosa, quoted Dr Chilufya as expressing profound shock by this turn of events, declaring that “even one maternal death is too many.”

The Minister also ordered for a thorough maternal death case review, as well as a postmortem to determine the precise cause of death.

“All procedures should be done on the deceased and scrutinised to ascertain the possible events that could have led to her death,” Dr Chilufya said.

According to the MoH Spokesperson Dr Maximilian Bweupe, the deceased, Sithe was 29 years old, in her 2nd pregnancy when she underwent a caesarian section due to fetal distress on the 8th September 2017.

“Fetal distress is when the fetus does not receive adequate amounts of oxygen during pregnancy or labour. It is oftentimes detected through an abnormal fetal heart rate,” Dr. Bweupe explained.

As said by Bweupe, the deceased became breathless after taking a bath on Sunday morning, after, which the condition rapidly deteriorated before she passed on despite efforts to resuscitate her.

“Meanwhile, the Minister has offered utmost condolences to the bereaved family, friends, and the media fraternity. May her soul rest in eternal peace,” Bweupe prayed.

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Food Price Index dips 1.3% in August

NaijaAgroNet:

The global food prices have dipped in month of August as a result of prospect from bumper cereal harvests expected for larger grain inventories, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index made available to NaijaAgroNet, indicated a decline of 1.3 per cent from July assessment, thus averaging 176.6 points in August.

The drop, NaijaAgroNet reported, was largely driven by a 5.4 per cent decline in the FAO Cereal Price Index, reflecting a sharp fall in wheat prices as the outlook for production in the Black Sea region improved.

FAO raised its forecast for global cereal production to 2 611 million tonnes, an all-time record. Worldwide stocks of cereals are also expected to reach an all-time high by the close of seasons in 2018, according to the latest FAO Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, also released recently.

The new estimates reflect larger anticipated wheat harvests, as improved production prospects in the Russian Federation more than offset downward revisions made for Canada and the United States of America, as well as higher maize and barley outputs in Brazil and the Russian Federation. Global rice production in 2017 is also now forecast to reach a record high, according to FAO. 

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Five UN agencies to unveil first-ever consolidated report on malnutrition

NaijaAgroNet:

Five United Nations (UN) agencies have concluded plans to unveil the first-ever consolidated UN report on progress towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030, reports NaijaAgroNet.

These agencies include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the UN World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the unveiling slated for FAO headquarters on Friday, September 15, this year, would see the new edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World with updated estimates of the number and proportion of hungry people on the planet and includes data for the global, regional, and national levels.

“It offers a significant update on the shifting global milieu that is today affecting people's food security and nutrition, in all corners of the globe,” a source at UN disclosed to NaijaAgroNet.

This, NaijaAgroNet further gathered is the first time that UNICEF and WHO join FAO, IFAD and WFP in preparing the annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.

 

NaijaAgroNet reports that this change reflects the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) broader view on hunger and all forms of malnutrition. Stressing the report would include enhanced metrics for quantifying and assessing hunger, including two indicators on food insecurity and six indicators on nutrition.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Women Deserve Care, Not Abuse

Commentary@NaijaAgroNet:

The life of an average woman elicits some kind of sympathy from me. I'm sorry for using the word "sympathy" which sounds rather derogatory.

Every woman lives her life in some forms of natural pains. Every maltreatment meted on her in the society only compounds these pains.

After birth, the girl child undergoes genital mutilation (now being prohibited in the society) At school age, she is considered to "belong to the kitchen and the other room." She is denied western education which automatically goes to her sibling - the boy.

At puberty, she experiences pains as her body grows into adulthood. She groans at every menstrual period, and the boy even makes jest of her.

Many girls who are denied education are soon handed over to waiting suitors in marriage. The girl child begins her journey into life of possible misery. She may not have a voice in family's decision, she gives birth as her husband desires, lives her life in abject poverty and in avoidable sickness. Her lifespan is cut short. She dies too soon and leaves behind children who may be without a good future.

For girls who are lucky to be in school, they eventually get married and have their share in the pains.

The woman becomes pregnant and falls sick. She carries her fetus for nine months and is delivered of her baby in great pains. Let me explain this further. The day I began to respect my wife and every woman the more was the day my baby was born. I was there in the labour room. I used my position as President of Association of Nigeria Health Journalists to plead with doctors and nurses that attended to her to see her in the room twice)

Only hell fire could produce more agonizing experience. And, I concluded, as I believe till date, and till I will die, that no man can face or endure pain like a woman.

The woman gives birth to her baby, she nurses the baby for two years of mostly sleepless nights. She doesn't sleep until the baby sleeps. She endures, even when there is nothing to eat, nor money to spend. Instead of nagging over these, she becomes prayer warrior and goes into fasting, even when breastfeeding!

There is one more important thing I want to say. Imagine a woman, she attends to her children in the house, she does most part or all the house chores, she works to support the home expenditures. After all the day's stress, the husband will still sleep with her at night. He will expect that he must satisfy himself, with all the stress the woman has gone through in the day.

What more will I say? I remember the time my was sick when he was bringing out teeth, my wife (and my sister) came out of the house at 1:00am to look for the baby's medication far away from the house. That is typical of an average woman.

Can you remember the roles women play whenever anyone is sick in the house or workplace?

Our society gives glory of what happens in families to men and the opposite goes to women.

Despite all these, imagine how our women endure marriage. Many men are not even ready to settle down with any woman. Some see women as necessary evil. Consequently, most ladies are out there begging God to give them a home. I even heard someone yesterday tell his wife whom he has refused to feed with her children to leave his house. He told the wife: "There are hundreds of you waiting at the door, praying that you leave so they could come in." Judgment belongs to God, hope you remember?

I have often made this argument that no matter how bad or wicked a woman could be to man, she was probably taught to behave that way by a man. That is, she is wicked because a man had been wicked to her.

I quite understand that some women could be irresponsible, but from my experiences, men are much more guilty in issues which arise from how both men and women deal with each other.

I call on all men to respect and honour the female folks - women and girls. They deserve to be respected and cared for. Remember, we shall all give account of our deeds before God at the end.

*Contributed by Marcus Fatunmole

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Pix: Mrs Aisha Buhari and Mrs. Osinbajo

1.4m IDPs live in cholera ‘hotspots’ Northeast Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

Over 1.4 million Internally Displaced People (IDP) have been confirmed living in cholera ‘hotspots’ in the Northeastern Nigeria, with 28 persons confirmed died from the outbreak, reports NaijaAgroNet.

As revealed by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) there is growing concern for the health and wellbeing of 1.4 million displaced people, including 350,000 children under the age of five, living in cholera ‘hotspots’ in northeast Nigeria.

The outbreak, UNICEF said, occurs as ongoing violence and military efforts against insurgents in the region have displaced over 1.7 million people and left over 3.6 million without adequate access to basic water services.

UNICEF Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Pernille Ironside, confirmed this to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement made available by the chief of communication, Doune Porter, an estimated 28 people have died from cholera, while 837 are suspected to have been infected with the disease, including at least 145 children under the age of five.

“The outbreak was first identified in the Muna Garage camp for the displaced in Maiduguri, the state capital of northeast Nigeria’s Borno state,” she said, and has since spread to six other locations in the state.

She reassured that UNICEF and partners have rapidly scaled up their response to the cholera outbreak, as heavy rains multiply the risk of disease and malnutrition for conflict affected children.

For Ironside, “Cholera is difficult for young children to withstand at any time, but becomes a crisis for survival when their resilience is already weakened by malnutrition, malaria and other waterborne diseases” lamenting that “Cholera is one more threat amongst many that children in northeast Nigeria are battling today in order to survive.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that a cholera preparedness plan has been in place since before the rains began, even as religious leaders, community heads and local volunteers have been mobilised to encourage good hygiene practices and help refer suspected cases to health facilities.

“Water is chlorinated at access points in the camps and across host communities in an effort to curb the spread of disease as the rainy season continues,” Ironside said.

                  

Since the outbreak was confirmed there has been a closely coordinated water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health rapid response, driven by the Borno State Government with support from World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and international non-governmental organisations, including the setup of a cholera treatment centre at the Muna Garage Camp.

NaijaAgroNet further reports that as the impact of the rains is felt, UNICEF said, it also scaled up nutrition and child health programmes across the three northeast Nigerian states mostly affected by conflict.

“So far this year, UNICEF has treated over 110,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, distributed nearly 120,000 mosquito nets and provided emergency primary health care services to over three million people in these states. The response continues despite increased security concerns, reduced access because of floods and a heavily damaged health system,” UNICEF official confirmed.

NaijaAgroNet equally reports that even in the face of a deadly cholera outbreak, the WASH sector remains critically underfunded. To date, UNICEF has only received 49 per cent of funding needed to provide two million people with access to clean water, one of the main interventions that can protect children from deadly waterborne diseases and offer some protection against the threat of malnutrition.

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First solar power incubator for showcase, invites proposals

NaijaAgroNet:

The city of Abidjan in Cote D’Ivoire has concluded plans to host the first solar power incubator conference tagged ‘Unlocking Solar Capital Africa’ next month, October, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The conference championed by Solarplaza, NaijaAgroNet reports focuses on connecting solar project development and finance cum investment, will be the first African event featuring a Solar Incubator programme.

NaijaAgroNet gathered, this event is aimed at identifying Solar cells, also called photovoltaic (PV) cells by scientists, which converts sunlight directly into electricity. PV, experts say gets its name from the process of converting light (photons) to electricity (voltage), which is called the PV effect.

Also, it’s aimed at PV projects of potential in sub-Saharan Africa by providing access to funding, commercial and technical know-how.

In addition, NaijaAgroNet gathered, the initiative ‘The PV Solar Incubator, Your Project, Our Expertise, For a Sustainable Future,’ will be launched by Phanes Group in partnership with Solarplaza, Hogan Lovells, responsAbility, and Proparco, and invites PV developers to submit proposals for projects that are based in sub-Saharan Africa, and have a clear Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) component.

Candidates are asked to submit their proposals before October 1, 2017, via Phanes Group’s website or through the conference website.

Shortlistees, NaijaAgroNet further gathered will be invited to pitch their projects to an expert panel at Solarplaza’s ‘Unlocking Solar Capital Africa’ conference in Ivory Coast, October 25 - 26, where the industry’s biggest players will hold extensive discussions about solutions for Africa’s solar energy funding gap.

Chief executive officer, Phanes Group,  Martin Haupts, revealed to NaijaAgroNet, comes as part of Unlocking Solar Capital Africa’s goal to solve Africa’s solar energy funding gap and Phanes Group's core strategy to collaborate with Africa-focused counterparties, such as local project owners, governments, and developers on projects that seek to create a sustainable future for urban and rural communities across the sub-Saharan region.

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EnviroNews, others for 8th Environmental awards..

EnviroNews, others to receive awards at 8th Enviro...: ITRealms: Leading online environment and development magazine,   EnviroNews Nigeria , along with several others organisations and indiv...

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

Buhari administration takes private enterprise seriously - VP Osinbajo

NaijaAgroNet:

The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration takes private enterprise seriously, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking during the Commissioning of the Edo State Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited NPK Fertilizer Plant, Auchi, Edo State on Tuesday, Osinbajo said that the state-owned fertilizer plant has been recently rehabilitated, as a Public-Private Partnership.

This accounts for the Presidential Enabling Business Council set up by President Muhammadu Buhari, the work of which was fortified by the Executive Order No. 1, which he executed on May 18, 2017, on the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment and facilitation of the ease of doing business.

“The clear objective of establishing the plant is to boost farming activities and the agric value chain nationwide. This investment is a direct response to the Federal Government's strategy of growing the Nigerian economy on a zero oil assumption,” he said.

Agriculture, he noted, is that well-known, “but abandoned pathway to our economic diversification and national prosperity. The fundamental constraint to optimizing agriculture is access to inputs, fertilizer being a fundamental input. On the average, a Nigerian farmer uses 13kg per hectare of fertilizer compared with world average of 100kg per hectare. “

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, in a press statement available to NaijaAgroNet quoted VP Osinbajo as explaining why Mr. President negotiated the December 2016 Fertilizer initiative, working with the Moroccan King, aimed at achieving local production of 1 million metric tons of NPK fertilizer for 2017 wet season farming. Reducing costs and delivering finished products at N5000-5500 per bag (formerly between N8-9,000 sometimes N13,000).

This, again, he said, is an enterprise that will create at least 500 direct jobs and several more indirect jobs. It will bring us closer to self-sufficiency in fertilizer production and, perhaps most importantly, boost food production and reduce food prices, ultimately enhancing food security in Nigeria.

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Drought-stricken herders in Ethiopia need urgent support

NaijaAgroNet:

Supporting herders to get back on their feet and preventing further livestock losses and suffering are crucial in drought-hit Ethiopia where hunger has been on the rise this year, warned today the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

Drought has devastated herders’ livelihoods as it exhausted pastures and water sources, leading to a significant number of animals dying or falling ill, particularly in the southern and southeastern regions of the country as other areas recover from previous seasons’ El Niño-induced drought.

Drought-hit pastoralists face reduced milk production, rising malnutrition, and have limited income-earning capacity and severely constrained access to food.

Some 8.5 million people – one in 12 people – are now suffering from hunger; of these, 3.3 million people live in Somali Region.

The current food and nutrition crisis is significantly aggravated by the severe blow to pastoral livelihoods. For livestock-dependent families, the animals can literally mean the difference between life and death, especially for children, pregnant and nursing women for whom milk is a crucial source of nutrition.

With up to 2 million animals lost so far, FAO is focusing on providing emergency livestock support to the most vulnerable pastoralist communities through animal vaccination and treatment, supplementary feed and water, rehabilitating water points, and supporting fodder and feed production.

“It is crucial to provide this support between now and October – when rains are due – to begin the recovery process and prevent further losses of animals. If we don’t act now, hunger and malnutrition will only get worse among pastoral communities,” said Abdoul Karim Bah, FAO Deputy Representative in Ethiopia.

By providing supplementary feed and water for livestock, while at the  same time supporting fodder production, FAO seeks to protect core breeding animals and enable drought-hit families to rebuild their livelihoods. Animal health campaigns will be reinforced to protect animals, particularly before the rains set in, when they are at their weakest and more susceptible to parasites or infectious diseases. FAO-supported destocking and cash-for-work programmes will also provide a crucial source of cash for families.

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Mobile technology helps to transfer cash to conflict-affected rural families

NaijaAgroNet:

Many vulnerable rural families in Iraq can now benefit from a safer, more secure means of receiving income thanks to mobile money transfer technology adopted for the first time by Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) as part of a cash-for-work programme aimed at rehabilitating agricultural infrastructure and land, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The programme, which is funded by the Belgian Government, will support 12,000 conflict-affected people in 30 villages in Kirkuk, Anbar, Salah al-Din and Ninewa governorates. It will benefit local farmers, by enabling them to restart or expand farming activities with rehabilitated infrastructure, and provides agricultural livelihoods opportunities for displaced people returning home.

Participants, who are from households with no other income source, include women who are often the sole breadwinners for their families, and people with a disability. The workers and their families are people who either remained in their villages during conflict or returned home after being displaced by the fighting.

"The use of mobile technology will streamline the safe delivery of cash transfers to participants, who are some of the most vulnerable people in the country," said Fadel El-Zubi, FAO Representative in Iraq. "Providing income opportunities is critical in rural areas affected by conflict, where competition for employment is high, jobs are scarce and people are struggling to support their families."

To facilitate the payments, FAO has partnered with Zain a mobile and data services operator with a commercial footprint in eight Middle Eastern and African countries. Participant names and identity numbers are pre-registered with the company, and they receive a free SIM card. Once each person completes a certain number of days of work, they receive a text message containing a personalised security code. They can then collect their wages from any certified money mobile transfer agent, provided their code and identity number match those registered.

"As well as providing much-needed income for participants, the programme will improve agricultural production in the surrounding communities, through activities including rehabilitating canals for irrigation to grow crops and preparing farmland for planting," said El-Zubi. "This, in turn, will encourage community members still displaced by conflict to return home and begin farming again. FAO's aim is to support people to get back on their feet as quickly as possible, and reduce their reliance on food assistance."

Around 12 million Iraqis reside in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Years of conflict has destroyed or damaged harvests, equipment, infrastructure, livestock, seeds, crops and stored food; and left 3.2 million Iraqis food insecure. As of 15 July 2017, more than 3.3 million people remained displaced within Iraq, while about 2 million had returned home.

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