Gates Foundation give Purdue $10M grant to aid African farmers

Naijaagronet news :

 

Bill and Melinda Gates

Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has approved a $10 million (N1.7 billion) grant to Purdue University to develop a program that will put the crop-saving Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags into the hands of more farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa countries to improve their food security and income Naijaagronet news gathered.

The grant for the five-year project moves the Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags from research and applications for only one crop to commercialization involving multiple crops.

According to Purdue President, Mitch Daniels, “This project further extends a Purdue program that has long addressed a growing need for more abundant and safer food in Sub-Sahara Africa as part of our work in helping to reduce poverty and food insecurity globally. The next step is a crucial and practical one — developing a system so that more farmers in Africa can use these essential crop storage bags for many crops.”

The hermetic triple bagging, a chemical-free storage method developed by professor Larry Murdock in Purdue’s Department of Entomology, enables farmers to store a variety of major crops for more than one year after harvest. The technology helps improve food availability and increase income of small-holder farmers.

In using PICS bags, farmers no longer need chemicals to control grain storage pests. Grain storage loss to insects is estimated at 20 percent for major crops such as corn and common beans.

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NBL signs Cassava Partnership Agreement

NaijaAgronet news :

Nigeria Breweries has signed a 3- year agreement to strengthen the participation of smallholder farmers in the local economy in sub-saharan Africa Naijaagronet news gathered.

The PPP agreement which will be implemented by a consortium comprising IFDC,ICRA and Boplnc is part of a  Dutch funded initiative  known as 2SCALE aimed at improving rural livelihoods and food security in Africa.

Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen who attended the signing of the MoU in Nigeria recently, as part of her trade mission with leading Dutch businesses, said: "HEINEKEN's decision to take part in a programme like 2SCALE proves there are real opportunities in Africa for the Dutch private sector and enjoined more Dutch companies to invest in Nigeria and Africa.  

Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries, Nico Vervelde noted that the MoU was part of Nigerian Breweries' ambition to support local economic development and promote inclusive growth by sourcing agricultural raw materials, like cassava, locally from Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs.

“Through our partnership with Psaltry, we are taking a big step towards further realising this ambition”, he said.

On 2SCALES’s participation in the PPP, business developer in 2SCALE, Niek van Dijk, stated that the program was aimed at empowering many people adding that “we see small-scale farmers as potential entrepreneurs that can add value to both local markets as well as Dutch companies. It is not philanthropy for companies to do business with small-scale farmers, it's an opportunity to grow for all parties and we are very pleased that Nigerian Breweries is supporting this initiative".

Under the terms of the MoU, the partners will work together to support small-scale farmers in the production of more and better cassava through technical assistance, training and easier access to finance. The PPP will enable more smallholder farmers to participate in the market for processed cassava products and will allow, Nigerian Breweries to increase the amount of locally grown cassava products used in their local beers.

The PPP also supports HEINEKEN's commitment to deliver 60 % of its African raw materials requirements via local sourcing by 2020.

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Starvation is a war crime says UN

NaijaAgroNet:

The United Nations (UN) has declared that starvation is a war crime, just as the UN-Arab League Special envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi stepped down, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat, stepped down after being frustrated by the purported Syrian forces from carrying out his mandate of assisting victims and ensuring that aids get to the affected.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Brahimi, Syria mediator took this stand after briefing the 15-member Security Council for the final time and had formally stepped down on My 31

However, in reaction to Brahimi vacation of special envoy post, the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said blamed an international deadlock over how to end the country's three-year civil war for hampering a bid to broker peace.

In addition, he noted that international and regional powers have backed opposing sides in the civil war that has so far killed at least 150,000 people, with Russia and Iran supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Western powers and Gulf Arab states largely backing the rebels.

NaijaAgroNet recollects that Brahimi had long threatened to quit, just as his predecessor - former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan - did in 2012.

Annan resigned after six months as the U.N. and Arab League joint special representative on Syria, slamming the U.N. Security Council for failing to unite behind efforts to end the fighting.

Ban ki-moon noted in announcing Brahimi's departure, that "There must be accountability for the terrible crimes that have been - and are being - committed. Such crimes include the deliberate starvation of communities by preventing humanitarian access."

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Pix: Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General

Alison-Madueke is alternative OPEC President

NaijaAgroNet:

The Minister for Petroleum, Princess Diezani Kogbeni Alison-Madueke is the alternative president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), NaijaAgroNet can confirm.

This, NaijaAgroNet also reports offers Nigeria the privilege to deputise the incumbent president from Libya at the OPEC meetings, in spite of the schemes by Iran to turn the table.

Sources close to OPEC and exposed by The Wall Street Journal were reported as quoting an OPEC insider saying this “could end a long-running leadership standoff at the cartel, but which could also be controversial at home.”

The report also exposed that Nigeria’s delegation at OPEC has stepped up lobby for Alison-Madueke to get the OPEC topnotch job, stressing that Petroleum ministers from other OPEC countries are “reportedly divided over new Nigerian leadership pitch” and that Alison-Madueke faces resistance from the Arab member nations.

Further NaijaAgroNet inquiries showed that OPEC has been bedeviled with internal wrangling and divisions as it looks to nominate a new leadership. Abdulla Salem el-Badri, the group’s long-standing secretary general, had been due to step down two years ago but the group could not decide on a replacement. Iran has for years coveted placing one of its own senior oil officials at the head of the group’s secretariat in Vienna – a move that Saudi Arabia has vigorously opposed.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that last December, Alison-Madueke was named OPEC’s alternate president at the caucus’ 164th session in Vienna, Austria, which means that Mrs. Allison-Madueke could deputise for the Dr. Abdel Bari Ali Al-Arousi, who is the Minister of Oil and Gas of Libya elected president of the conference for another year from January 1, 2014.

Nigeria became full member of OPEC since 1971.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister of Petroleum Resources represents Nigeria as the alternate President of the OPEC Conference.

Born on December 6, 1960 in the city of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Alison-Madueke holds BArch, Howard University, Washington, DC (USA), MBA, Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge, UK, 2003, and has worked for Charles Szoradi Architects, Washington, DC.

She was a project engineer, American Interior Builders, Inc., Washington, DC and Coordinated designs for Furman Construction Management, Inc., Rockville, Maryland; Project Manager, Howard University, Washington, DC where she also worked as member, Planning and Development Team, Howard University, Washington, DC before returning to Nigeria to join Shell Petroleum Company Lagos as the Head of Project Unit, Estate Development Division.

Mrs. Alison-Madueke continued to progress within Shell Corporation as she was elevated to Head of Corporate Issues Identification & Management Department, External Affairs Directorate, Shell Petroleum Company, Lagos; Senior JV Relations Adviser for Strategy and Planning, Shell Petroleum Company; Lead Ventures Relation Adviser, Shell Petroleum Company, Lagos, Nigeria; External Affairs Director, Board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria.

In July 2007, she was appointed Minister of Transportation; Minister of Mines and Steel Development, December 2008 and till date serving as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, since April 2010.

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Pix: Princess Alison-Madueke

70% of world population without social protections - UN

NaijaAgroNet:

Aftermath of the global economic crisis, it has been discovered that over 70 per cent of the world population is without proper social protections, says United Nations labour agency, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

ILO in an executive summary of the report made available to NaijaAgroNet.urged governments to scale up investment in child and family benefits, pensions and other public expenditures.

Sandra Polaski, the Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) made this disclosure, saying that the global community agreed in 1948 that social security and health care for children, working age people who face unemployment or injury and older persons are a universal human right.

“And yet in 2014 the promise of universal social protection remains unfilled for the large majority of the world’s population,” she lamented.

Equally, NaijaAgroNet gathered that as many as 122 governments were contracting public expenditures in 2014, of which 82 are developing countries, according to the findings of the World Social Protection Report 2014/15: Building economic recovery, inclusive development and social justice.

“The case for social protection is even more compelling in these times of economic uncertainty, low growth and increased inequality,” Ms. Polaski noted, adding that it is also an issue that the international community should embrace prominently in the development agenda following the Millennium Development Goals deadline in 2015.

At the beginning of the 2008-2009 economic crisis, at least 48 high- and middle-income countries put in place stimulus packages totalling $2.4 trillion that devoted roughly a quarter to social protection measures.

This support “acted as an automatic stabilizer that helped the economies to regain balance and protected the unemployed and vulnerable from economic disaster in the countries where it was extended,” according to the report.

But from 2010 onwards, many governments reversed course and embarked prematurely on fiscal consolidation, despite the urgent need to continue supporting vulnerable populations and stabilizing consumption.

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LDC Group says urgent action needed on climate change

NaijaAgroNet:

The Chairman of the Least Developed Countries Group at the UN climate change negotiations, Mr. Prakash Mathema has said that the latest science tells us that we could limit global temperature increases to a level that will save the poorest countries in the world, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He told NaijaAgroNet that all that is required is the will to do it, adding that “if we don’t act urgently the world’s poorest will suffer.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the two new reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in the last three months, present alarming realities for the world’s poorest.

“Extreme temperatures, rainfall and drought, increase in aridity, more intense tropical cyclones, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification are among other adverse effects of climate change,” he said. Pointing out that these effects will lead to declining crop yields, undernourishment, injury and ill-health, and a number of other socioeconomic and development challenges.


“It is still technically and economically feasible to limit temperature increases to below 1.5°C, but only if we all work together to resolve the climate change problem. If some countries advance their own interests and ignore the need for international cooperation, then we are doomed,” he said.


The LDC Group, further said, has arrived in Bonn, Germany to continue discussions at the UN on reaching a universal, legally-binding agreement on climate change and called for urgent action to ensure that we reach a new legal agreement in Paris by December 2015.


“Governments must make substantial progress in their talks in the period leading up to this date. We hope that we will have a negotiating text to discuss in the major climate change meeting later this year in Lima, Peru. This means that this June session of climate change talks is critical. We cannot be delayed by procedural discussions. We must put our heads together and start writing a new agreement,” he said.

Mathema insisted that as a sign of commitment to addressing climate change, the LDC Group is already choosing low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathways; to show that everyone has a role to play.


“We stand ready to engage proactively and progressively in the negotiations for a new agreement. We have demonstrated our leadership as the ‘moral voice’ in difficult negotiations. We sincerely hope that all nations will join us in this quest. Reaching a strong conclusion in Paris is crucial for us; it is about the very survival of our communities and future generations. If there is no progress, we stand to lose the most,” Mathema said.

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AstraZeneca unveils health research grant in Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

The AstraZeneca Nigeria Research Grant has been unveiled in Nigeria for health affiliated research, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The grant, NaijaAgroNet gathered  is an initiative to facilitate research in both communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in this West African country and follows closely on the recent successful launch of a comparable venture in Kenya earlier this year.

NaijaAgroNet also gathered that over the next three years, AstraZeneca plans to invest a total of US$300 000 (US$100 000/year) in a variety of research projects in Nigeria, with the aim of building medical capacity in the country, providing support to both experienced medical academics as well as medical academics embarking on a career in research.

Karl Friberg, AstraZeneca’s Country President for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, informed NaijaAgroNet the intention was to fund 5-7 projects per year. 

“Prevalence/epidemiological, pharmaco-economic and health outcomes data are vital if we’re to understand the disease burden in Africa. The Grant will make possible the studies needed to provide such data,” Friberg said.

The focus in Africa on infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria is now broadening to include NCDs like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (e.g. hypertension) and asthma. “We know these conditions are increasing rapidly in Africa, but we’re unable to quantify the extent of the problem,” he continues.

 “We need local data to know what we’re dealing with – so that we can partner with governments to address matters earlier in the disease process and avoid the higher downstream costs that come with treating advanced disease states.”

The Nigerian government is especially concerned about the increasing NCD burden. “The Minister of Health is interested in establishing a national stroke and cardiovascular disease prevention programme, but is dependent on hospitals coming up with good-quality representative data on the prevalence of major cardiovascular risk factors,” says Friberg. Over and above the Grant, AstraZeneca is therefore also funding a project run out of the capital, Abuja, to assess the prevalence of these risk factors.

The study involves 5000 subjects and is being undertaken in partnership with the National Hospital Abuja. It represents an investment of an additional US$100 000 and is currently under way. “We’re proud to feel that even before the official launch of the ‘Grant’, we’re already helping to meet Nigeria’s health needs,” observes Friberg. “By supporting the programme, AstraZeneca is positioning itself as the partner of choice in raising awareness, early detection and appropriate management of major cardiovascular risk factors. This will be to the benefit of all stakeholders – the hospital, the patients/community and AstraZeneca.”

The key aim of the ‘AstraZeneca Nigeria Research Grant’ is to build capacity and capability to conduct research in Nigeria. “We hope to build the next generation of academics in Nigeria by assisting them to undertake clinical trials, have their research published and present their findings internationally. For science to deliver value, data need to be shared and challenged as the findings become known, understood and used constructively.”

AstraZeneca believes that pharmaceutical companies need to move beyond their traditional roles and form partnerships to create a meaningful difference in the health of a nation. Friberg feels that the ‘AstraZeneca Nigeria Research Grant’ is a reflection of the company’s commitment to the country and to Africa as a whole. 

“When all is said and done, it’s about making a difference to the patients themselves. I have great hopes and expectations that this initiative will produce many high-quality research projects that will provide crucial insights into Nigeria’s disease profile, especially with regard to NCDs. And once we have this information, AstraZeneca will continue to work together with the Nigerian government to address these matters.”

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Pix: R-L: Tarek Rabah, Area Vice President , Middle East& Africa,AstraZeneca Nigeria, Professor Folashade Ogunsola, Provost College of Medicine, University College Lagos, Karl Friberg, Country President, South Africa & Sub-Sahara Africa, AstraZeneca Nigeria and Jude Abonu, Country Manager, AstraZeneca Nigeria at the grand launch of AstraZeneca Scientific Research Trust Grant in Nigeria held in Lagos yesterday- 19^th February, 2014

Falling Walls Conference 2014: Scientists heads to Berlin

NaijaAgroNet:

Over 20 renowned scientists have confirmed participation in the forthcoming Falling Walls Conference 2014, slated for November 9 in Berlin, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Most of the speakers, organisers say already confirmed their participation.

One of the scientists, NaijaAgroNet was told expected to thrill the conference is the bioengineer and psychiatrist Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University) who is one of the founders of optogenetics, a method through which genetically modified cells, which could be selectively activated and deactivated using light signals.

“Applied to neuroscientific research, Deisseroth’s process provides a new and highly detailed view of brain activity and a valuable insight into neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and depression,” the organisers said in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet by Lucie Menz of Falling Walls Foundation gGmbH.

After promising developments in recent years, immunotherapy is offering new hope in the fight against cancer. Novel approaches successfully stimulate the body’s own immune system in such a way that it can break through a tumour’s local protective barrier, detect cancer cells and finally destroy them. Suzanne Topalian from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is one of the leaders in this field of research and will be speaking at the Falling Walls Conference about her studies, which have substantially contributed to the development of new therapeutic applications.

Christof Koch, Chief Scientific Officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle is world-renowned for researching one of the most controversial problems in neuroscience – the question of the physical basis of human consciousness. Based on information theory – and using new techniques and imaging technologies to track the activity of individual brain cells – Koch is attempting to unveil the mystery of consciousness by scientific explanation and measurement.

The Falling Walls Conference was first held in 2009 to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and has now developed into a highly acclaimed platform for international research. The conference is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Association, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and numerous other academic institutions, foundations and companies.

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Non-Smoking in Public: Lagos hosts advocacy meeting for stakeholders

NaijaAgroNet:

The Lagos State government and partners Tuesday hosted a one-day advocacy and sensitization campaign for stakeholders at a meeting in Ikeja-Lagos, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This, NaijaAgroNet also gathered was in compliance to the recently introduced non-smoking law in public places in the state.

Some of the speakers include Dr Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Health, Engr. Rasheed Shabi, General Manager/CEO, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and Mr Sola Dosunmu, Head, Regulatory Affairs, British American Tobacco (BAT), West Africa.

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L-R: Dr Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Health, Engr. Rasheed Shabi, General Manager/CEO, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and Mr Sola Dosunmu, Head, Regulatory Affairs, British American Tobacco (BAT), West Africa at a One-Day Advocacy and Sensitization Campaign/Stakeholders' Meeting on Lagos State Non-Smoking in Public Places Law, in Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday.

Fear in Owerri over Lion’s escape from Zoo

NaijaAgroNet:

 

Fear may have become another name for the capital of Imo State, Owerri, following the announcement that a Lion has escaped from the Zoo on Monday, reports NaijaAgroNet.

NaijaAgroNet reports that the Imo State Police Command was quoted by sources as saying there is fear among the citizens in the state, mostly within the Umuoma, Umualum, and Umudibia rural communities as the lion escaped from a zoo situated along Nekede road in Owerri.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the zoo management confirmed the incident but warned on vigilance of the citizens, even as they promised to arrest the situation.

In a related development, the Police has withdrawn earlier announcement on the missing Lion, saying it was a false alarm.

Daily Sun quoted the Police spokesperson, Mr. Andrew Enwerem as having withdrawn the earlier announcement.

“We heard about the escape of the Lion and quickly sent a patrol team to the Zoo but on getting there it was discovered that the said Lion did not escape but it was just a false alarm from one of the staff who had been arrested,” Enwerem said.

The General Manager of the Zoo, Mr. Francis Abioye was also said to have reconfirmed that it was false alarm.

“It was a false alarm raised by one of the security men at night, no Lion has escaped. It is unfortunate people have been calling me from everywhere, we are deeply sorry for the panic it has caused,” Mr. Abioye was also quoted as saying.

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