Convention tasks environment ministers on illegal wildlife trade

NaijaAgroNet:

THE Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has called on environment ministers to support the war against illegal wildlife trade, NaijaAgronet gathered.

The call was made in a statement issued by the secretariat of the ongoing UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, and made available to NaijaAgroNet.

According to the statement, the ministers should be at the fore front of addressing the ecosystem which is under threat from illegal wildlife trade.

The statement stressed that illegal wildlife trade had been an issue of priority in international conferences for the past three years.

``From the UN Security Council to the World Heritage Committee, there is recognition at the highest political levels of the economic, social, environmental and security impacts of this highly destructive criminal activity. The focus now has to be on the front line. This means even stronger law enforcement and demand-reduction efforts across multiple countries, to reverse the current dangerous trends. CITES decisions and compliance processes underpin the global effort.”

Secretary-General of CITES, John Scanlon was quoted as saying that, ``Ultimately, this fight will be won or lost on the front lines, whether in the field, the courtroom, or the market place but not in a conference room. We have had a lot of important high-level events over the past three years and we must now better focus our collective efforts on local, national and regional actions.

``The effects of illegal wildlife trade on natural assets were highlighted earlier this month when the World Heritage Committee added Selous Reserve in Tanzania to the `in danger’ list under the World Heritage Convention due to the impacts of poaching for illegal trade. Illegal logging, poaching and wildlife crimes have an impact on over 50 per cent of the Natural World Heritage Sites”.

According the statement, the effects of illegal wildlife trade on natural assets were highlighted earlier this month at the 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in Doha.

The statement further quoted Scanlon, as saying: ``We cannot allow poaching for the illegal trade in wildlife and the global crime syndicates behind it to destroy entire species.

``The world is losing the building blocks of our ecosystems that we all rely upon. ‘Africa’s elephants are also known as the ‘ecological engineers’ they disperse the seeds of the food they eat and are an essential part of healthy and diverse ecosystems.

``Healthy ecosystems also provide essential services for people from the provision of fresh water to wildlife-based tourism.’’

The statement, noted that both UNESCO and CITES had expressed concern over World Heritage sites across Africa that were suffering from a surge in poaching.

It said the organisations had expressed concern for poaching, especially for elephants, which is diminishing their natural heritage value and appeal as wildlife tourism destinations, which can have severe economic consequences.

``Half of the 14 African World Heritage sites monitored under the CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme are now on the `in danger’ list.

``The CITES Secretariat is working with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to better protect these iconic sites.

``The degradation of World Heritage sites through poaching for illegal trade is destroying these beautiful wildlife-based tourism assets impoverishing local people and national economies as well as the world’s natural heritage,” the statement added.

Chukwudi Obi
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FAO warns of Iraqi food insecurity

NaijaAgronet :

United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has warned that Iraq is facing serious food insecurity concerns following the recent escalation of conflict in a large swath of the country, NaijaAgronet authoritatively reports.

FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) recently raised the alarm that over 1 million people so far have fled their homes and farms since January, leaving behind jobs and possessions just as the main harvesting season for wheat and barley crops was getting under way.

According to the report, no fewer than 2 million Iraqis are now displaced within the country, including those affected by the Syrian conflicts and previous events in Iraq.

FAO had predicted an above-average wheat harvest of 3 million tonnes for this year, some 16 percent above the five-year average. The barley crop was also expected to hold steady at 900 000 tonnes, still 15 percent above the five-year average.

However, the report observes that “prevailing civil insecurity and associated access problems, labour shortages, and disruptions in transport and marketing are expected to significantly impact harvesting and domestic production and supply”.

The governor rates most affected by the current conflict, Nineveh and Salahaddin, on average contribute nearly a third of Iraq’s wheat production and about 38 percent of its barley.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that in Nineveh and Salahaddin governor rates, grain reserves are being depleted and levels of available food via the public distribution system are fast deteriorating. The report further states that the system is the main source of food for the poorest Iraqis, providing them with subsidized rice, wheat flour, oil, sugar and baby milk formula.

In addition to the governor-rates, which are the epicentre of the ongoing conflict and civil insecurity, the northern Kurdish region of Iraq is also under pressure, since it is now hosting a large share of people who have fled their homes in addition to some 225 000 Syrian refugees.

In his reaction to the situation, FAO Representative in Iraq, Fadel El Zubi, state that “If the conflict continues, basic food commodities and other essential items will be increasingly unavailable to the most vulnerable, despite government subsidies,” adding that “The conflict and displacement has also coincided with the peak of summer heat and the holy month of Ramadan, when household expenditures on food and other essential items are normally higher.”

The report forecasts that cereal import requirements for 2014-2015 are now expected to increase saying that in the 2013-2014 marketing year that is just ending, cereal import levels were estimated at 4.26 million tonnes, including 2.7 million tonnes of wheat and 1.3 million tonnes of rice.

 In the FAO report, animal diseases are already a threat to livestock in Iraq and a danger to public health, particularly for refugees and people who have been displaced.

Chukwudi Obi/GEE

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BOKO HARAM: Adamawa may experience famine – Expert

NaijaAgroNet:

Following incessant violent attacks on lives and property by insurgents in the North East region of the country, there are strong indications that the Northern part of Adamawa may experience shortage of foodstuff and livestock, NaijaAgroNet authoritatively gathered.

An agriculturalist, Dr Walia Hamman, said at the weekend that most of the victims killed in Madagali and Michika local government areas of the state were peasant farmers who produced about 70 per cent of foodstuff in the state.

Dr Hamman had told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola that records showed a significant number of farmers had abandoned their farmlands and migrated to neighbouring towns and states in fear of attacks.

He also said that a survey conducted by the ministry indicated that thousands of farmers in the affected areas had not shown interest to cultivate crops in 2014.

``If urgent step to encourage the few farmers still residing within the affected areas to cultivate crops is not taken, there will be possibility of hunger in some communities living in Madagali and Michika this year,” he said.

He listed Chakawa, Zanzha and Bitiku as some of the few villages in Madagali Local Government Area that were mostly affected by the activities perpetrated by the insurgents adding that officials of the ministry in the area were encouraging farmers to go back to farming to mitigate the expected shortage of food.

Chukwudi Obi


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SA falls behind on food indicators

NaijaAgronet:

Despite the fact that it is a leading force in Africa in terms of food security, for the second year running,

South Africa's scores have fallen with food affordability indicators declining consecutively for the past 24 months NaijaAgronet gathered.

South Africa’s The DuPont-Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Food Security Index, which was first published in 2012, showed that this year South Africa scored 57.9 out of 100 index points on affordability, a decrease of 2.9 index points from last year.

South Africa still ranked the highest in the sub-Saharan region in terms of food affordability but the scores of countries such as Botswana, Uganda and Cote d’Ivoire, which followed South Africa, have been on an upward trend.

South Africa’s affordability scores respectively declined from 61 and 60.8 points in 2012 and last year.

Botswana’s score, on the other hand, increased from 54 points to 55. Even the most food-insecure nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo, improved its food affordability indicator from 12.9 points in 2012 and 2013 to 16 this year.

 “It’s a reflection of [South Africa’s] GDP [gross domestic product] per capita. If the economy is not growing, inflation is high, which is the case in South Africa, it’s expensive and affordability is one category that will be affected,” said Pat Thaker, EIU’s director of Middle East and Africa, during the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association academic symposium in Cape Town yesterday.

South Africa’s GDP per capita, the indicator of countries’ standards of living, had fallen by 1.6 points when EIU compared this year’s index to last year’s.

The country’s food consumption as a share of household expenditure had worsened by 12.8 index points.

According to the last National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) food price monitor last month, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa had the highest food inflation in the year between April 2013 and April 2014. South Africa’s food inflation was 7.8 percent, significantly above the consumer price index of 6.1 percent over that period.

Chukwudi Obi

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NaijaAgronet:

No fewer than seven Chinese experts and 24 technicians will partner with the Ugandan government to transfer simple and inexpensive technologies used back in China to help boost food production in Africa and ensure food security for the continent NaijaAgronet authoritatively reports.

Although Uganda is food secure, her neighbours, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya all look at Uganda as their food basket. These countries import various produce from Uganda ranging from cereals, vegetables to livestock products.

Chinese experts and technicians are teaming up with senior agricultural experts in Uganda to ensure that Uganda’s food security remains strong and also have enough to supply to the region.

Seven Chinese experts and 24 technicians in the fields of agribusiness, irrigation, horticulture, fishing, cereals among others, are offering help in agricultural research institutions, the ministry of agriculture, local governments and private farms.

“We are supposed to help resolve the food security problem in Africa,” Wu Zhiping, the head of the Chinese team, said.

In his words, Commissioner for Crop Resource at Uganda’s ministry of agriculture, Opolot Okasai  said, “We have a lot of technologies that are appropriate to our people, not from the North, but within the South developing countries. These technologies are relevant to the development of our countries. China which has developed in the last 30 years has got the most appropriate technologies, interventions to cause the transformation especially in Africa,”

Okasai said Chinese experts are working with local experts to set up demonstration centers where local farmers can come and learn.

According to Okasai, Chinese hybrid rice can yield up to 10 metric tonnes per hectare compared to the conventional rice which yields 4.5 metric tonnes per hectare. He said the hybrid Chinese fox tail millet can yield eight metric tonnes per hectare compared to the conventional millet which gives a yield of up to 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare.

Wu said the Chinese rice grown in Uganda has been tested by the ministry of agriculture experts and results show that it is of high quality and the yield is also good.

Studies have shown that hybrid Chinese vegetables can also do well in Uganda with the possibility of producing 12 tonnes per hectare, Wu said.

Apart from using high yielding seeds and fertilizers, the Chinese experts have also introduced a low-cost irrigation system. A demonstration site has been set up in Kawanda near the capital Kampala.

“We need to take this demonstration and let many people see and envisage how they can implement it in their own setups,” Okasai said.

The Chinese experts have also introduced green house farming which can be used in urban areas where agricultural land is limited. They argue that this type of farming can be a source of employment to the many youths in urban areas.

City authorities in the capital Kampala have started to adapt to green house farming as a way of employing the youths.

The expertise brought in by the Chinese is going to have ripple effects as the Ugandan government is now focusing on encouraging commercial agriculture.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on June 5 said commercialization of agriculture was top on his priority list to spur social and economic transformation.

Uganda depends on agriculture as a source of economic livelihood. Over 70 percent of Ugandans depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Sixty-eight percent of the farmers are engaged in subsistence farming which does not generate enough income for households.

Museveni said over the next 12 months the government will prioritize commercial agriculture focusing on crops that will have domestic, regional and international demand to help pull millions of Ugandans out of poverty.

Studies have been carried out on the growth of Chinese hybrid rice in Uganda, with positive results recorded

Chukwudi Obi with additional reports from Xinhua news agency 

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Kenya signs deal with IFDC to enhance food security

NaijaAgronet

As part of its commitment to boost food security in the Africa and to be a top player in Agriculture in the African continent, the Kenyan government has signed an agreement with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) to accelerate agriculture and increase food security in the country, NaijaAgronet gathered.

The accreditation agreement formalizing their shared commitment to sustainable agricultural development in the country was signed recently in Nairobi by IFDC CEO, Amit Roy and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed.

According to IFDC’s CEO, “Agriculture is the engine that drives Kenya’s economy. Our valued partnership with the Kenyan government will keep that locomotive roaring. The priorities of the Kenyan government are the priorities of IFDC. Our joint projects have helped strengthen private sector-led fertilizer markets. Together, we continue to ensure that fertilizer, training and agricultural technologies reach the farmers that need them the most. We are also mapping the information needs of 23 farmer groups – over 9,000 farmers – across the country. This is the first step toward a comprehensive database that will help connect farmers with agribusiness opportunities.”

Speaking during the ceremony, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed said 60 per cent of Kenyans rely on agriculture for their livelihoods adding that the partnership with IFDC will continue to accelerate agricultural development and create lasting benefits for smallholder farmers across the country and throughout the region.

In addition to working with the agriculture ministry and its agencies, IFDC is also partnering with farmer groups, agri-preneurs, non-governmental organizations, universities, seed and fertilizer companies, food processors, banks and micro-finance providers.

Chukwudi Obi

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U.S. agriculture saw double-digit growth in 2013

NaijaAgronet news:

The output of the agriculture sector in the United States of America (USA) grew by 16.4 percent after inflation last year, the fastest rise for the sector since 1998 and the nation’s gross domestic product grew just 1.8 percent, with the output of the second-fastest growing sector, the information industry, increasing by 3.2 percent, NaijaAgronet news gathered.

Last week, US government released its estimates of state economic growth in 2013. North Dakota according to reports, led with a growth rate of 9.7 percent. Alaska was the only state whose economy declined, shrinking 2.1 percent, largely because of declining oil production.

In the report, the economy of the District of Columbia also declined, but that was because of cuts in government spending while North Dakota benefited from its rising production of shale oil, but was also helped because its agriculture sector amounts to 12.9 percent of its economy, more than that of any other state except South Dakota.

Naijaagronet news checks indicates that agriculture accounted for just 1.6 percent of the country’s output in 2013. But it was learnt that that was the largest share in recent years, up from a recent low of 0.9 percent in 2006. The agriculture sector includes forestry, fishing and hunting as well as farming, but farming is much larger than the other categories.

Naijaagronet news authoritatively gathered that last year, the government changed the way it calculates GDP figures, including counting research and development spending as investments rather than as consumption. It revised figures only back to 1997, so earlier years’ output and growth figures for agriculture are not comparable.

According to an economist with the Agriculture Department, Mitch Morehart, the strong growth in agriculture reflected a recovery in production for some crops after a drought in 2012, as well as strong production and rising prices for livestock. This year, he said, it appears that agriculture is not doing nearly as well.

Overall, the report stated that the economies of the 10 states that are most dependent on agriculture grew at an average annual rate of 3.4 percent in 2013, while the 10 states that are least dependent on the farm economy grew at an average rate of 1.3 percent.

According to the report, “California is by far the largest agricultural producer, accounting for $46.7 billion, or 17 percent of the total national agricultural output of $269.1 billion. But the state is so large that agriculture makes up only 2.1 percent of its output, less than 16 other states. Iowa, ranked second in dollar value at $16.1 billion, depends on agriculture for almost 10 percent of its total economic output”.

The 2013 surge in agriculture ended a string of three years in which that sector did not do as well as the U.S. economy. But since 1998, agriculture outperformed the rest of the economy in nine of the 15 years.

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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.

Chukwudi Obi 

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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.

Chukwudi Obi 

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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."

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Pix: Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General