South-West youths set Power, agriculture as agenda for Buhari

NaijaAgroNet                                                                                                   

The Youth Alliance Movement of Nigeria (YAMON) South –West zone, has called on the incoming administration led by General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) to give priority attention to provision of electricity and infrastructural development to boost economic prosperity of the country, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Comrade Akanni Michael, the national president of the group, outlined areas they hope could transform the country if well harnessed in a press briefing held at the weekend in Lagos. He said that the incoming administration must revamp the power and agricultural sectors as well as encourage industrialization.

In his words, NaijaAgroNet gathered,  “Generate, transmit and distribute from current 5,000 – 6,000 MW to, at least, 15,000 MW of electricity by 2020 and increasing to 50,000MW by 2025 with a view to achieving uninterrupted power supply by 2025 whilst simultaneously ensuring development of sustainable, renewable energy.”

“A cue could be taken from the Food Corporation of India, which has played a significant role in transforming the Indian food economy. It operates through a country- wide network of institutions and infrastructures at the zonal, regional and district level. Nigerians should consider only those leaders who pay special attention to the following aspects of agricultural development.”

“This can be achieved by application of modern and indigenous technologies; price assurance for farm produce; special incentives for private sector involvement; local government involvement; construction of feeder roads; development of crop sub-sector.

 He insists that “government will need to modernize the sector and change Nigeria from being a country of self‐subsistence farmers to that of a medium, commercial scale farming nation/producer,  

NaijaAgroNet reports.

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Green economy solution for Africa’s development

 NaijaAgroNet

A green economy offers considerable opportunities for mobilizing resources towards an economic growth pathway that is low-emission in terms of carbon-dioxide and greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere during economic production activities, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

According to research, NaijaAgroNet gathered, green economy also builds a culture of resource efficiency in economic activities and of sustainable consumption among the population as well as climate-resilient housing, infrastructure and other economic installations, while at the same time adapting to different approaches to promote, among others, resilient agricultural production, diversification into off-farm livelihoods and other diversification innovations for the local and export markets.

 Mr.Achim Steiner, an expert in environmental issues and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, NaijaAgroNet learnt, once said that inclusive green economy has the potential to improve human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.

African countries, NaijaAgroNet also gathered, are at a critical stage in their developmental life coupled with challenges of poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation which include deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, and loss of biodiversity.

However, the combination of tackling poverty, accelerating growth and development, and addressing climate change, is likely to involve trade-offs and policy choices between mutually supportive, but equally important priorities toward the improvement of welfare and quality of life for Africa's citizens.

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Defective supply chain behind food waste in Africa

NaijaAgroNet

The food security challenges facing Africa has been attributed to defective supply chain as produce raised on some fertile cropland, the shortest route to the richest urban markets runs through another country, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Stephanie Gallatova, who cited the continent’s bad roads, insanitary conditions and poor food stock management as major problems, NaijaAgroNet gathered, said "The food losses occurring in Africa are due to limitations in the various technological and logistical factors in the food chain,"

Gallatova is an agro-industries officer with the FAO Regional Office for Africa, which conducts anti-food loss projects in more than a dozen West African countries. "We are looking at the whole value chain and seeing what investments can be made to reduce losses in a sustainable manner."

This geographic reality, with its multiple logistical hurdles, illustrates the food security challenges facing Senegal, for instance, and the wider West African region. 

The trouble with feeding people here is not so much the availability of food but its accessibility, adding, NaijaAgroNet learnt, that the difficulties arise not just in agricultural production but also in inefficient food delivery systems – in harvesting, storage, processing and transport.

In their 2014 Agricultural outlook report, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that food waste and losses represent a major threat to global food security over the next ten years.

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2/3 countries improve on food security - EIU

NaijaAgroNet:

World leader in global business intelligence, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its Global Food Security Index (GFSI) annual update,Expo Milan 2015, revealed that two-thirds of 109 countries have improved in food security, reportsNaijaAgroNet.

The GFSI overall results, NaijaAgroNet gathered was unveiled at the DuPoint Forum on Food and Agriculture tagged; Rural and Urban Innovations, showed that sustained economic expansion in most regions and rapid growth in developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, combined with lower global food prices provided the necessary food security improvement in almost every region of the world over the past year.

It further revealed that food security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)improved in 28 countries in the region, with 82 percent recorded score increases between 2014 and 2015, and the region as a whole saw a score improvement of 1.5 points.

Also it pointed out that Sub-Saharan Africa saw impressive gains in food Quality & Safety, with Burkina Faso and Mali leading the way, driven by improved access to quality protein, a measure of the average consumption of essential amino acids in a country’s diet. Burkina Faso also made significant strides in the diet diversification indicator, with a 25% increase (87% score increase) in the amount of non-starchy foods consumed in the average diet.

Dr Richard Okine,Regional Director for DuPont Sub-Saharan Africa, speaking on the report said that,“Developing countries often lack basic infrastructure, including storage, road and port facilities, while smaller incomes inhibit access to and affordability of nutritious food. Political risk and corruption frequently compound structural difficulties in these countries. Investment in infrastructure and food systems in low-income and lower-middle income countries is the key to narrowing the gap.”

He also stressed that an overwhelmingly positive factor has been the fact that over the past few years, the overall economic growth in the developing world has led to improvements in the structural areas that are essential to improving people’s access to a wider range of affordable, nutritious foods.

“This, according to Dr. Okine, includes more extensive food safety-net programmes, expanded crop storage capacity and dietary diversity.”

With such progress notwithstanding, global food insecurity remains a challenge. According to UN estimates,NaijaAgroNet learnt that the world population is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050, with growth coming mainly from developing countries, with more than half in Africa. As populations’ boom and incomes rise in developing countries, the FAO also estimates that food production will have to grow by 50% to meet demand.

The GFSI is an annual measure of food security across 109 countries, produced by the EIU and sponsored by DuPont.

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FAO to unveil report of hungry people

NaijaAgroNet

 

The annual State of Food Insecurity in the world report would be unveiled at the forthcoming World Food Summit in Rome with expectation it will provide new figures for the number of chronically hungry people globally, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The meeting, NaijaAgroNet  reports, would also take stock of progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) as it kicks off on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that United Nations (UN) bodies slated to present their reports include the three Rome-based food agencies, namely the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the UN World Food Program (WFP).

The new hunger report, NaijaAgroNet gathered, would be presented jointly at FAO’s headquarters by its Director-General José Graziano da Silva, IFAD Associate Vice-President, Josefina Stubbs and Stanlake Samkange, Director of WFP's Policy and Programme Division.

In addition, Maurizio Martina Italy's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, NaijaAgroNet learnt, would participate via videolink from EXPO 2015 in Milan.

This year’s edition of State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) contains updated estimates of the number and proportion of hungry people in the world in 2015, the target year of the Millennium Development Goals.

It also offers analysis into what drives successful anti-hunger programs, such as agricultural investments, in addition to the growing importance of social protection schemes and the new challenges presented by the increasingly protracted nature of crises, NaijaAgroNet also gathered.

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FG commissions 12.5m capacity Sugarcane bio-factory

NaijaAgroNet:

The Federal Government has commissioned her first Sugarcane Bio-factory in Zaria, Kaduna, estimated at 12.5 million cane seedlings per annum,n line with the implementation of her Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), reports NaijaAgroNet.

Declaring the Sugarcane Bio-factory open for operations, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, NaijaAgroNet gathered, said the factory is one-million seedlings per annum capacity.

“The provision of high grade and quality seedlings of sugarcane is essential for the attainment of the set goals of the National Sugar Master Plan.This facility is designed to address a critical constraint facing Nigeria’s sugar industry – timely provision of high quality and clean seeds to sugar estates and farmers across Nigeria.” He said.

Aganga also stressed that the expectation in four years, is that five of this kind of facility would have been established across Nigeria with capacities of between 2million and 2.5million seedlings per annum each.

The NSMP whichis one of the major sectorial policies under the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan, enunciated by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment was launched by the President Goodluck Jonathan in February 2014, with an ultimate goal to make Nigeria’s manufacturing sector highly competitive and dynamic.

It is believed that the efficiency in the cultivation and supply of sugarcane will enhance the efficient milling and production of sugar and associated by-products like ethanol and electricity.

The bio-factory would serve as a facility where disease-free crop seedlings would be rapidly micro-propagated under controlled laboratory environment for planting in the fields, as NaijaAgroNet learnt, and the NSMP projects that at least 250,000 hectares of sugarcane fields would be required for processing in about 28 mills of varying capacities to produce 1.79 metric tonnes of sugar in the first phase of the master plan.

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