Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme Phase 1 kicks off

NaijaAgroNet

The Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, financed by AfDB has been launched by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) alongside the African Development Bank AfDB, NaijaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNet also report that the programme is expected to create additional incomes to an already enlarged number of producers and entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector in Nigeria by given about 120,000 jobs down the value chain of priority commodities with an additional 20 million tons of key commodity food crops which include cassava, rice, and sorghum that will be added to the domestic food supply each year.

According to Dr Nteranya Sanginga, the Director General of IITA explained that lots of young people are migrating to cities all over Africa in search of business opportunities, saying goodbye to an increasingly ageing population.

 “This project aims to build on the youth model developed in IITA to change mindsets of young men and women and gainfully engage them in agriculture.”

The project will also use young entrepreneurs in agriculture as a model the “IITA youth agripreneurs” to reach out to other young people in Africa and it will be implemented by IITA in Ibadan, Oyo State, and in DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia.

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Greenhouse emissions out of sight revealed

NaijaAgroNet

Researchers in Sweden at the University of Gothenburg, have shown in a recent study that restitution of wetlands could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Information gathered by NaijaAgroNet showed that greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is able to absorb infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere and by increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are accountable for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.

Previous wetlands NaijaAgroNet reports have been drained and are at present used for forestry and agriculture give off 11.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents that could be compared with Sweden's total emissions of 57.6 million tonnes.

Since peatlands should be restored into wetlands so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg also one among the authors of the report which was published this year, Åsa Kasimir, said that in the report pointed out some percentage of land in Sweden that should be restored.

"The report states that some three percent of Sweden's land area is drained peatland and it discusses which of these areas should be rectified in the first instance," says Åsa Kasimir.

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Oil policy will conserve our Environment-EAC

NaijaAgroNet:

The East African Community (EAC) ought to originate oil and gas sector policies, which will promote sustainable development of the natural resources, environmental issues, and ensure prudent oil cash management systems NaijaAgroNet.
 

It was gathered by NaijaAgroNet  that Rwanda's Minister for Natural Resources, Vincent Biruta, said this while speaking at the recently concluded seventh petroleum sector East African conference in Kigali.

"Oil and gas industry activities should be carried out in a sustainable manner, with clear mitigation measures in place to safeguard the environment and bio-diversity and this will also play a big role in combating climate change as impending oil production in region will ease pressure on forests since most people rely on wood fuel... So, oil and gas could be the best alternative, which will help reduce deforestation across the region," Biruta said.

Due to the fact that the East African region has confirmed massive oil and gas finds and this exposes the bio-diversity to risks if appropriate care is not taken to defend the fauna and flora in the area.
To be specific, Uganda has over 6.5 billion barrels of commercial oil resources in the Albertine Graben, which also hosts a national park.

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