GEF made over 14,000 grants to civil societies

The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) over the years has made more than 14,000 small grants directly to civil society and community based-organisations, which amount to $634 million, about N95.7 billion.

The grants, according to sources at GEF, are in a bid to address global environmental issues and supporting national sustainable development initiatives.

The CEO and chairperson of the Global Environment Facility Monique Barbut, in a statement during the World Earth day, asserted the need to reflect upon how young the environmental movement.

The first Earth Day, NaijaAgroNet learnt was held forty-two years ago by citizen organizers and it brought about the first Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. 

"This June the environmental movement returns to Rio, bringing with it new priorities and a deeper understanding of the challenges facing our planet and how to address them," she said.

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FCT Secretary urges youths to take hold of Fadama III

Secretary to the Agriculture and Rural Development of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mrs. Olvadi Madayi has urged youths in the FCT to embrace Fadama III project, repots Leadership.

Highlighting some reasons for the project, Madayi said the project was designed to assist in the alleviation of poverty and to also improve the living standards of the people.

The projects, NaijaAgroNet learnt has touched lives of people at the grassroots and the Agriculture and Rural Development secretary had promised that the FCT administration would not relent in its effort to pay its counterpart funding which she also urged area councils’ chairmen to do same so that the project would be sustained.

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Kenya to import 1.05m bags of maize

Kenyan Agricultural ministry has identified the need for Kenya to still import maize to boost stocks of foods to the tonnes of 1.05 million bags of maize, Reuters reports.

Though, the country expects food supplies to be stable till September as a result of improved output of key staple foods, is still necessity to import maize.

NaijaAgroNet ascertains that Kenya already planned to import 1.05 million 90-kg bags of maize from regional and international markets to supplement supplies despite bigger harvests recorded following good rains in its main growing areas.

The ministry also disclosed that national maize stocks stood at 18.61 million bags as at March 31 which is lower than 18.94 million recorded in February. 

"According to latest food security assessment conducted in these areas, most households have stocks enough to last 2 to 3 months," the ministry official said.

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Green ICT tops agenda ITU symposium

The advancement of green Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) agenda through awareness creation is one of the key agenda of the seventh edition of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Symposium on ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change.

The symposium is to raise awareness about the power of Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) in helping to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

ITU in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet revealed that the symposium was jointly organised by ITU and Canadian government, and hosted by Prompt, an R&D partnership developer and scheduled to hold between 29th and 31st May, 2012 at Montreal, Canada.

The symposium, ITU said, would also explore ways in which advance technologies could play a role in improving the environmental sustainability of the ICT sector itself, and how ICTs could help countries better tackle the effects of climate change and new strategies to help tackle e-waste. 

The event would form part of ITU’s activities in the lead up to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), highlighting the key role played by ICTs as enablers in environmentally-sustainable economic development.

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African agriculture, at mercy of Global South donors

'Agriculture Development and Food Security in Africa,' a new book that addresses the current food insecurity and land issues on the continent would soon debut.

The book which x-rays the effect of donors from the global south on African agricultural development is co-authored by Fantu Cheru, a socio-economist who specializes in rural development, small-scale enterprise environmental planning and resource management, and Renu Modi, a political scientist and senior lecturer of the Centre for African Studies of University of Mumbai.

The Four-section, Eleven-chapter book highlighted roles played by the Global South donors including India, China and Brazil in shaping African agriculture through their increased involvement and investment in the continent. 

The book also presents a critical analysis of the ways in which Chinese, Indian and Brazilian engagement in African agriculture are structured and implemented. More about the book

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Agricultural loan scheme for Kwara youths

Sen. Bukola Saraki

Serving senator of the Federal Republic and former governor of Kwara State, Sen. Bukola Saraki has expressed resolve to introduce a revolving loan scheme for Kwara youths, reports DailyTrust.

Sen. Saraki said that the loan for youths in the state is to enable them embark on agriculture.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that the former Governor said that taking up agriculture production as a way of guaranteeing food security in the state and country at large, would assist in eradication of unemployment among the youths.

“If all the youths  coming  out of  Nigerian  institutions  of higher learning are properly incorporated into agricultural production within a short period of time,  the country  will  stop  importing certain items  and in turn start  exporting,” he said. 

He also said, there is need for proper implementation of agriculture as it has more capacity to increase the nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) than oil and other mineral resources.

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Incorporate natural resource to sustain food security - Experts

Experts have said that incorporation of natural resources in farming practices will provide sustainable solution to food insecurity in Africa, CoastWeek reports.

Natural resources incorporation in farming, NaijaAgroNet gathered that will help in the face of climate change, decline in soil fertility and shrinking size of arable land.

Addressing the Beating Famine conference, the regional Leader of World Vision East Africa, Mr. Charles Owubah reportedly said that restoring ecosystems will boost the resilience of food production systems in Africa.

The conference was organized by the Nairobi-based World Agro Forestry Center (ICRAF) and International Christian Charity, World Vision.

“Fighting hunger should go alongside reversing environmental degradation that has worsened this challenge in the region,” Owubah said. 

He urged countries to embrace ever green agriculture to boost crop and the resilience of small holders to climate change impacts such as droughts and floods.

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12 countries partner EU, FAO on managing obsolete pesticide

European Union

Twelve countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia are to work with the European Union (EU) and UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in order to handle their stocks of obsolete pesticides.

NaijaAgroNet authoritatively gathered that about 200,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides could be found in 12 Soviet Union republics and are kept in tens of thousands of unprotected sites.

EU and FAO are making provisions for the sum of 7 million Euro, about N1.44 billion for the next four years to assist Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The funds will be used in managing obsolete pesticides and to also reduce the risks of current stocks.

A press release made available to NaijaAgroNet indicated that the obsolete pesticides pose a serious threat to the health of the people around them and to the environment.

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

The joint effort will also see to the building of capacity to reduce risks from pesticides used in agriculture and avoid build-up of additional stockpiles in future.

FAO Director-General, Graziano da Silva said that pesticides may be an important input for farming but need to be used responsibly while protecting human health and the environment from their adverse effects.

"In our quest for sustainability and to meet the challenge of feeding a growing population while preserving our environment, we also need to take a good look at the different options we have to protect crops and improve productivity. This includes using natural means to protect and improve crop yields through sustainable crop intensification, or 'save and grow' techniques as we call it at FAO," FAO boss added.

EU Ambassador, Laurence Argimon-Pistre affirmed EU's established policy dialogue and cooperation on environment related issues with its eastern neighbours and Central Asian partners. 

"In its new Neighbourhood Policy, the EU will continue to pursue a higher level of environment protection with its eastern partners and be committed to combat environmental degradation," she added. "This includes obsolete pesticides and other hazardous chemicals, whose environmental and health risks are not only at stake for the region but also for the EU".

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