CNC contributed actively in Malabo declaration, urges RWFF to join

NaijaAgroNet:

The Comprehensive African Agriculture Programme (CAADP) Non State Actors Coalition (CNC) has said it contributed actively in the Malabo declaration, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This was made known by one of the leading light of anchors of CNC and Livelihoods Thematic Manager at a member organization, the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD), Ms Fatou Mbaye at the general assembly of the Rural Women Farmers Forum (RWFF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She said that so far, CNC has five strategy and 18 months action plans in place.

CNC, she also said has a joint work-plan between Africa Lead II and CNC which is being finalized, even as they held an official launch of CNC which was inaugurated by African Union Commission (AUC) leadership led.

Mbaye further said that the coalition has developed Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) between the AUC and CNCs and another one for the CNC membership. 

These, she said, still waiting for AUC feedback as it is undergoing some internal processes.

She explained that CAADP aims to achieve an agriculture-led socio-economic growth that will create wealth, tackle poverty and reduce hunger which requires broad and inclusive coalitions committed to acting in concert to improve the sector’s policies, programming and institutions.

Equally, Mbaye said, CAADP recognizes the need to transform African agriculture as imperative to building broad and inclusive coalitions of state and non-state actors.

The Non-State Actors (NSAs), she said, are actors outside of the government, who share the vision and objectives of CAADP.

Some of the NSAs, she listed to include, the private sector, farmer organizations, associations and networks, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), women organisations, academic and research organizations, faith-based organizations, Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), media, labour unions and youth organisations.

She therefore urged aforementioned stakeholders to join forces with CNC and particularly, the Rural Women Farmers Forum (RWFF) to key into the benefits and objectives of CNC to promote agriculture and specifically farming on the continent as it concerns women in rural areas.

“Join the CNC for inclusive agriculture, food policies and more actions to end hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025,” she said, enjoining them to contact another CNC top notch, Ms Constance Okeke of ActionAid International who is in-charge of membership.

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Access to food, a fundamental right says Adeshina

NaijaAgroNet:

The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina has stated that access to food in quantity and quality is a fundamental human right, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He emphasised the importance of agriculture and food security to the growth and development of Africa. “People eat food. Access to food in quantity and quality is a fundamental human right. Just few weeks ago at the United Nations General Assembly, the world took a bold decision to approve the Sustainable Development Goals. In my meeting with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, he told me: ‘The SDGs must succeed in Africa. If they do not succeed there, they cannot be said to have succeeded’.

Adeshina, NaijaAgroNet  gathered, was speaking at a high level conference on agricultural transformation themed ‘Feeding Africa.’ He said nothing is more important than food, adding that while Africa had risen on the back of new discoveries of oil and gas fields, in reality, no one eats oil or gas.

“The other side of the trajectory, which we must face, is that the growth process is highly unequal. Africa has today, one of the highest inequalities in the world. Over 400 million live on less than one dollar per day.

“While poverty rates have fallen in Africa, the absolute number of the poor has increased, and Africa is the only region where the absolute number of the poor increased in the world,” he said.
He maintained that Africa must rise up and unlock its full agricultural potential, adding that with all its bright sunshine, abundant water resources and cheap labour, Africa should be a global powerhouse in food and agriculture, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

“Africa cannot eat potential and there is no market for selling potential. In Nigeria, we unlocked that potential when I was minister of agriculture. This convinces me that agricultural transformation can occur in a very short period of time. The Agricultural Transformation Agenda which implemented wide-ranging reforms with sharp focus on the private sector-led input delivery systems, value chain development and financing systems, led to an increase of 21 million metric tonnes in food production within three years. The food import bill in the country fell from an all-time high of $11 billion, about N2.18 trillion in 2009 to $3.2 billion, about N636. 96 billion by 2014,” he added.

Cyriacus Nnaji with additional report from Leadership/GEE

 
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South Sudan 3.9m citizens face severe hunger– UN

NaijaAgroNet:

Three United Nations agencies haveraised alarm thatestimated3.9 million South Sudanese now face severe hunger, NaijaAgroNetreports.

These agencies include Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

This was revealed in a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis made available to NaijaAgroNet, which although noted that the number of food insecure households has decreased - as expected - during the harvest season, it is almost 80 per cent higher than in the same period last year, as even people living in states not directly affected by conflict with its long-term effects, erratic rainfall, depleted livelihood options, high food prices, fuel costs and inflation, equally experience the downturn in a generally degraded economic environment.

They called on the parties to the conflict to grant urgent and unrestricted access to Unity State, where a newly released Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis shows that at least 30 000 people are living in extreme conditions and are facing starvation and death.  

Since the war in South Sudan began nearly two years ago, NaijaAgroNet learnt,it is the first time that an IPC analysis has found any parts of the population in phase five (catastrophe) on the five-point IPC scale.

 “This is the start of the harvest and we should be seeing a significant improvement in the food security situation across the country, but unfortunately this is not the case in places like southern Unity State, where people are on the edge of a catastrophe that can be prevented,” said WFP Country Director, ,Joyce Luma. “The people of South Sudan need peace, nutritious food and other humanitarian assistance and livelihood support to survive and rebuild their lives," she stated.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that unless unrestricted humanitarian access is urgently granted, the food insecurity could deteriorate to famine in parts of Unity State, where humanitarian assistance has been hampered by the dreadful violence and lack of access in recent months. Some displaced families say they survive on just one meal a day consisting of only fish and water lilies.

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Planet Earth Institute gets new VC, Trustee

NaijaAgroNet:

The President of Mauritius, Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, has been appointed Vice Chairman and Trustee, Planet Earth Institute (PEI), an international NGO and charity working for the ‘scientific independence of Africa,’ NaijaAgroNet reports.

She will host the official launch of the PEI on an event at the State House on November 23, 2015 along with Dr Álvaro Sobrinho, the PEI’s founding Chairman, and the full Board of Trustees.

NaijaAgroNet  learnt that as Vice Chairman and Trustee of the PEI, Dr. Gurib-Fakim will work alongside fellow Board Members, Dr Álvaro Sobrinho, the prominent Angolan philanthropist and businessman, Rt Hon Lord Boateng, a member of the UK House of Lords, Prof. Sir Christopher Edwards, the distinguished academic, and Prof. Sir MagdiYacoub, the pioneering cardio-thoracic surgeon.

The PEI’s expansion to Mauritius will build upon its international work to support African science, technology and innovation, as well as develop a number of locally focused initiatives to be announced in early 2016.

Gurib-Fakim, NaijaAgroNet reports, became President of the Republic of Mauritius in June 2015, following a highly distinguished career as a scientist and businesswoman, including a role as Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius. In recognition of her significant contributions to scientific research, she was awarded L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2007, report NaijaAgroNet.

The PEI’s launch on November 23will be an exclusive, high-level meeting for a range of key stakeholders including African government ministries, international institutions, private businesses, local and pan-African universities, and civil society.

The private launch will be followed by an expert policy round-table focusing on ‘Mauritius and Africa’s scientific independence: the role of business.’

 
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Women cornerstone of agricultural production in Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sunny Echono, said women are the cornerstone of agricultural production, processing, marketing and utilisation in the country, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He added that Nigeria’s agriculture could never achieve any meaningful development without mainstreaming concern into the nation’s policy and programme.

“Women supply 70 per cent of agricultural labour; 50 per cent of animal husbandry related activities and 60 per cent of food processing, yet they have access to only 20 per cent of available agricultural resources They play vital roles in the maintenance of our families, investing as much as 90 per cent of their income.”

NaijaAgroNet learnt that Echono was represented by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Extension, Dele Onorunfemi at the launch of African women in agriculture report titled: “Economic empowerment of African women through equitable participation in agricultural value chains’’ on Monday in Abuja.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Nigeria Country Director, African Development Bank, Ousmane Dore, said Nigerian women contribute close to 70 per cent of agricultural workforce yet get less of accruing returns.

He said the report aimed at contributing to the economic empowerment of African women in agriculture, through identification and proffering of possible solutions to hindrances to women’s active participation in agricultural value chains.

 “Lack of ownership of land and other productive assets due to existing social norms has created a significant negative impact on the family income and the nation’s GDP at large,’’ Mr. Dore said.

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USAID supports Asia, Africa, Middle East with N17.33b

NaijaAgroNet:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced further $87 million, about N17.33 billion to  combat pandemic animal disease threats in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, reports NaijaAgroNet.

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The funding which backs the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) efforts to combat global animal disease, covers the 2015-19 period and is expected be channeled into monitoring and surveillance, epidemiological studies, prevention and control activities as well as improving veterinary capacities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and promoting links between animal health specialists and the public health sector.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, NaijaAgroNet gathered, thanked the U.S. for its support and longstanding partnership.

"This shows how important transboundary diseases are for FAO and the UN system, and how much more important they will be in the future if we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Millions of people rely on livestock for survival, income and nutrition, and their livelihoods must be protected," he said.

The Director, Global Health Security and Development with USAID's Bureau for Global Health, Dennis Carroll, said: "We are pleased by what our partnership with FAO for emerging pandemic threats has so far achieved, and the important contribution FAO's work is making to the U.S. Global Health Security Agenda programme to address threats posed by the natural emergence of new diseases and the intentional and/or accidental release of dangerous pathogens.

The latest USAID contribution of $87 million to FAO, NaijaAgroNet learnt, will further strengthen the programme and partnership between our two organizations, and build upon the good work already underway in the second phase of the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats program (EPT-2). 

 Nearly $50 million of this contribution will support the global fight against the Ebola virus by building global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to future outbreaks and prevent them from becoming epidemics."

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Africa can be world’s breadbasket

 NaijaAgroNet:

Paul Kagame, president, Republic of Rwanda and K Y Amoako, founder, African Center for Economic Transformation, a Ghana-based think tank have concurred that Africa can and should be the world’s breadbasket, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The two leaders took this stand in their contribution to Project Syndicate, an organisation that provides readers with original, engaging, and thought-provoking commentaries by global leaders and thinkers. By offering incisive perspectives from those who are shaping the world’s economics, politics, science, and culture, creating an unrivaled global venue for informed public debate.

They argued that to realise this vision – and to do it in an environmentally sustainable way – its agricultural sector must undergo a genuine transformation that entails higher capital investment, significant crop diversification, and improved linkages to burgeoning urban consumer markets.

Africa, NaijaAgroNet gathered, must start manufacturing more value-added food products for both internal consumption and export, especially to countries like India and China, where demand is growing.

From Europe and North America to East Asia and Latin America, agricultural advances have proved to be key precursors of industrial development and gains in living standards.  Africa has the added benefit of technologies that other regions lacked at this stage of their agricultural development, from cost-competitive off-grid solar power to mechanisms for mapping soil characteristics, regulating water use, and ensuring farmers’ access to accurate price information.

And innovation is already happening. Rwanda, for example, is working to link agriculture support with broader services like electricity and education. And the country’s farming communities are pioneering participatory decision-making structures for agricultural planning and conflict-resolution mechanisms to settle disputes among growers, NaijaAgroNet  learnt.

To bolster agricultural innovation and modernisation, governments must ensure that farmers have secure titles to their land, and thus an incentive to make the needed investments. The challenge lies in the fact that, in many parts of Africa, land is communally owned, with almost everyone in a village having traditional rights to some farming land – a system that has helped to prevent landlessness and destitution in rural areas.

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 Pix: Paul Kagame and K Y Amoako,