Pressure mounts on communities hosting IDPs

NaijaAgroNet:

Pressure is mounting on rural communities hosting displaced people affected by the Boko Haram terrorism activities over palpable extension of the attacks on them, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This alarm is coming from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which lamented that three consecutive planting seasons have been lost due to the fighting in northeastern Nigeria.

The United Nation’s agency stressed that large influxes of people escaping repeated Boko Haram attacks have put extreme pressure on already poor and vulnerable host communities and their fragile agricultural and pastoral livelihoods, thereby exacerbating the already precarious food and nutrition security situation.

FAO cautioned that failure to rebuild the rural economy will translate into lack of employment opportunities with possible harmful consequences including youth radicalization and enrolment into armed groups, resulting in continued civil unrest.

Similarly, FAO said, restarting food production in the newly accessible areas will have the additional benefits of encouraging displaced populations to return to their homes, while contributing to their improved health and nutrition, hence, it recently commenced seeking of assistance in that regard.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that in northeastern Nigeria, FAO has provided agricultural kits to vulnerable internally displaced people with access to land and host families.

These kits included improved varieties of millet or sorghum and cowpea seeds - a locally adapted and highly nutritious pulse - and fertilizers, enabling beneficiaries to grow their own food during the ongoing rain-fed season. The harvest is expected to start by the end of September and will allow beneficiaries to cover their food needs for up to 10 months.

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Ghana loses 4.6m Cedis to child undernutrition - Study

NaijaAgroNet:

The Republic of Ghana has lost some 4.6 billion Cedis (GHC) to child undernutrition says the latest report on the Cost of Hunger in Africa tagged the "Social and Economic Impact of Child Undernutrition on Ghana’s Long-Term Development (COHA)” reports NaijaAgroNet.

It also showed that vast amounts being lost through increased healthcare costs, with additional burdens on the education system and lower productivity by its workforce.

The report also noted that the consequences of stunting which involves low height for age are of particular concern. The study explained that stunting occurs when children miss out on critical nutrients including proteins, vitamins and minerals, while in the womb and in the first two years of life. This is compounded by diseases and poor hygiene practices.

According to People affected by stunting face lifelong consequences starting in childhood such as frequent illness, poor school performance, having to repeat classes or dropping out altogether, and low workplace productivity.

Among other findings, NaijaAgroNet also revealed from the COHA report include that:

•    37 per cent of the adult population in Ghana suffered from stunting as children;
•    24 per cent of all child mortality cases in Ghana are associated with undernutrition;
•    child mortality associated with undernutrition has reduced Ghana’s workforce by 7.3 per cent.

Ghana has made some progress in improving child nutrition over the past two decades, reducing chronic malnutrition or stunting from 23 to 19 percent. However, this study highlights the critical need for further progress. 

Dr. Margaret Agama Nyetei, the African Union Commission’s Head of Health, Nutrition and Population Division, said the issue was vital to the AU’s vision and action plan for the next 50 years, known as Agenda 2063.

 “At the African Union, we believe that the realisation of Agenda 2063 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will not be possible without fully harnessing the potential of all sectors of the population and this includes our children,” she said. 

“The goal of eliminating stunting is key to achieving Zero Hunger, Sustainable Development Goal 2,” said Thomas Yanga, Director of the World Food Programme Africa Office. “The losses to the economy can be averted through strategic interventions which ensure adequate nutrition for mothers and young children” she said.

The Director, Social Development Policy Division at the Economic Commission for Africa, Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, was quoted in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet that stunting is not just a health issue, but needs to be addressed through a multi-sectoral approach and prioritised in all development programmes from community to national level.

“Ensuring a generation free from malnutrition requires significant investments in nutrition strategies and interventions. There is therefore a need for Ghana to forge strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, particularly the private sector and non-state actors, to combat undernutrition holistically,” Prof. Manuh said.

For the World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Margot van der Velden said that in the Northern Region of Ghana, 30 percent of children under five are stunted or chronically malnourished.

“This not only affects their growth but also their educational development and economic potential, and consequently the future of the country,” van der Velden said.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the COHA report was led by the African Union Commission (AUC), in partnership with African governments, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA); the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA); and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). While studies have so far taken place in Egypt, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Rwanda, and are due to be carried out in Chad, Lesotho, Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritania. 

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IFAD, Mexico sign rural development support pact

NaijaAgroNet:

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations agency for rural development, and the Government of Mexico have signed a pact to promote entrepreneurship among the country’s poor rural people receiving social benefits, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The agreement to be implemented under the aegis of Rural Productive Inclusion Project (RPIP), IFAD said, will take effect in 26 municipalities in the states of Guerrero, Hidalgo and Zacatecas and expected to benefit some 12,800 families.

The total cost of the project is US$19.5 million, with IFAD financing covering $7.1 million. The rest will be funded by the Government of Mexico and by the beneficiaries themselves.

NaijaAgroNet reports that the project is designed to facilitate the access of beneficiaries of the country's largest conditional cash transfer programme (PROSPERA) to public programmes aimed at increasing rural productivity.

The IFAD’s Regional Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, Tomás Rosada, explained that basic social assistance in the form of cash transfers allows people to live in a more dignified way. This project aims to go beyond that.”

“It will help transform the lives of poor rural people who are currently dependent on the State’s transfers and make them rural entrepreneurs, capable of making a living by themselves,” he added.

To address rural poverty in a more effective way, the current Mexican administration has made “productive inclusion” a key policy objective. One way of achieving this is through the creation of synergies between conditional cash transfers and productive development programmes, which is at the heart of the Rural Productive Inclusion Project.

The Project will allow local promoters to assist beneficiaries in identifying profitable productive activities, which could vary from organic farming to small rural businesses. These promoters will then facilitate beneficiaries’ access to technical assistance and productive investments, so that they can increase their production and improve the quality of their products, making them suitable for markets.

Despite efforts made in recent decades by the Government of Mexico, large segments of the country’s rural population still live in poverty. Family farms – subsistence farms, not linked to markets and extremely low in productivity– represent 51 per cent of farms in rural areas. Increasing their capacity to produce will both improve the lives of family farmers and boost rural economies as a whole.

“By supporting rural poor people who live on government benefits to set up agricultural and non-agricultural rural enterprises, the project will not only improve their lives but also, and more importantly, will do so in a sustainable way,” explained Rosada.

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Northeast: FAO seeks $10m funding to assist 385,000 Nigerians with farming support

NaijaAgroNet:

The Food and Agriculture Organisaiton (FAO) has said its seeking funding to the tune of $10 million to provide emergency agricultural support to internally displaced people and host families, reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO told NaijaAgroNet that urgent action is needed to provide farming and livelihood support to 385,000 people in parts of Nigeria's northeast where food insecurity is rampant.

As said by FAO in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, the resumption of agricultural activities in these areas is of utmost priority to ensure that people can produce enough food for themselves.

FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, Bukar Tijani, said “This includes those who have been internally displaced by the conflict as well as communities who have been hosting them.”

These populations, Tijani noted, need urgent assistance to recover their livelihoods, which are mostly based on crop farming, artisanal fisheries and aquaculture and livestock production, stressing that for the last three to four years this has not been possible due to the conflict.

As at press time, over 3 million people are affected by acute food insecurity in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.

The FAO's Emergency and Response Manager in Nigeria, Tim Vaessen, revealed that FAO has launched a full-scale corporate response to the ongoing crisis and urgently requires $10 million to supply seeds, fertilizers and irrigation equipment for the upcoming irrigated dry season.

Meanwhile, he said, FAO is preparing its response for the main agricultural season for which even more resources are required.

"This year, significant territory previously controlled by Boko Haram has been rendered accessible to humanitarian assistance so we have a critical opportunity to tackle the alarming levels of food insecurity in northeast Nigeria," Vaessen said.

He explained that with funds received to-date, FAO has reached over 123,000 people to improve their food security by enabling them to grow their own food during the ongoing rain-fed season.

While this assistance is crucial, FAO said it reached just a fraction of those in need of support and now is seeking funds to support irrigated crop production, livestock restocking and animal health treatment, including disease control and supplementary feed, in the newly liberated areas. ##

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Pix: FAO/Sonia Nguyen … A displaced farmer preparing land for planting in Kukarata, northeastern Nigeria.

Expert offers media headstarts to explore open data for improved agriculture produce

NaijaAgroNet:

The Executive Director, Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) Mr. Muchiri Nyaggah has urged African media practitioners to explore some headstarts on open data to encourage improvement in agriculture produce of the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the round-up session at the week-long training for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Journalists Network which ended recently in Nairobi, Kenyan capital, Mr. Nyaggah suggested some five headstarts which he believes will motivate the discuss on open data from the African perspective among practitioners.

He listed the potentials to include the possibility of African media practitioners focusing on progress in agricultural productivity, stunting in children under five, domestic food prices, possible advances in agricultural produce and improving capacity to generate agriculture data cum statistics.

Nyaggah also said these outlines are doable and could be explored before the end of this year, mostly working in collaboration with members of the network.

He expressed optimism that the outcome will be memorable as LDRI and partners are on queue to technically support participants in order to improve their deployment of open data in daily newsroom activities.

“LDRI and its partners will provide technical support in finding datasets, identifying visualization options,” he assured.

In addition, Nyaggah said, some of the suggestions will be exposed on TransformAgriculture.org and selected for the CTA magazine.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that within this project, CTA in partnership with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency as facilitated by Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) tend to improve the lots of African media, using open data.

Further, NaijaAgroNet recollects that the training was part of the Global Open Data for Impact and Capacity Development on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODIVAN) scheme, a Department for International Development (DFID) project, implemented under a joint venture of international partners with the aim to increase production of the agricultural sector, improved nutrition for consumers and more evidence-based policy making, in which these desired changes are based on enabling communities practically engage with open data.

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Pix: Muchiri Nyaggah, Executive Director, LDRI Kenya

Agriculture: Nigeria must act differently – Adeniji

NaijaAgroNet:

The Managing Director of Niji Group Limited, Mr. Kolawole Adeniji has advised the Federal Government to deliberately act differently by focusing on some 10 targeted crops for foreign exchanged on the nation’s comparative advantage, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He also canvassed for improved funding of research institutions across the country.

Speaking at the 2016 All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC) organized in the garden city of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Adeniji said that Nigeria must learn to do some things differently if the nation must be competitive at this time.

Adeniji who was dwelt on the Economic Diversification: Agriculture as Option for a Prosperous Nigeria, said that its now time for the country to act in a different way , for instance by lowering cost of accessing credit facility, enthrone mechanization of farming operations, improve rural infrastructures such as rural roads and other amenities to encourage citizens to stop urban migration by themselves.

He also said that there is need to deliberately fund research institutions in the country in a manner that could add value, improve extension services, and earn public sector investments.

The government of Nigeria, he said, has to set up commodity boards cum commodity aggregation scheme.

The Niji Group boss advocated the daily working hour constraint should be reviewed into hourly, stressing that it will afford public sector workforce to use their energy and hours  effectively.

Further, he underscored the fact that some of the products Nigeria should take comparative advantages on include Cassava, Cocoa, Groundnuts, Oil Palm, Sorghum, Cotton, Tomato, Onions, Bee keeping cum honey production and other hives products, as well as fish and livestock.

Remmy Nweke in Port Harcourt/ED,Ops

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Payporte unveils online food store, assures on fresh food

NaijaAgroNet:

Acclaimed online shopping brand, PayPorte has unveiled its online food store known as ‘Food store By PayPorte’, to make food shopping easy and more convenient, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Chief Executive Officer, PayPorte, Eyo Bassey, disclosed this to NaijaAgroNet, saying its yet another accolade to the firm’s collection, recalling that PayPorte was awarded E-Commerce Company of the year at the recently held CBN Cashless Expo 2016.

Bassey assured they are working hard at ensuring the award translares into more value additions to life of Nigerians.

Also speaking, the Head, Strategy and Planning, at PayPorte, Irene Kayoma, noted that PayPorte is the first e-commerce shopping platform to introduce this to its clients.

“We developed this product line to address the food need of the urban Lagos metropolis and we are hoping to cut short the hassle of food shopping by bringing food directly to your doorstep” she said.

Kayoma pointed out that the brand has continued to strive hard in meeting daily needs in terms of demand and supply, the management is mindful of key challenges and as a result has developed ways to manage some of the difficulties that may arise.

The food store, she said, will only be open for orders every Thursday at midnight and will end every Friday at noon, while delivery will commence from Friday to Sunday, assuring they have adequate hands to ensure the smooth operation of this new line.

 “The reason for this order and delivery clause is to ensure that we are able to meet all orders and to ensure all food items ordered, delivered are fresh and hasn’t gone through any form of artificial preservations” she said.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the food store has gone live on with plans of expanding further outside Lagos metropolis and become a 24hour online food store.

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World Breastfeeding Week 2016: Exclusive breastfeeding, key to fight child malnutrition – UNICEF, MeCAM

NaijaAgroNet:

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Media Coalition Against child Malnutrition (MeCAM) have declared that exclusive breastfeeding is key to fight against child malnutrition, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that they stressed that exclusively breastfeeding is more resilient in fighting malnutrition, especially in children.

Speaking ahead of the 2016 World Breastfeeding Week, which commenced August 1 through August 7, the organisations agreed that it is encouraging to always engage members of the media on issues concerning child malnutrition and more specifically on exclusive breastfeeding in order to drum support for the campaign.

The Communication Specialist at UNICEF Nigeria, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, speaking on the week, charged MeCAM members to be alive to their responsibilities of stimulating support for yet another year and season of World Breastfeed Week.

UNICEF, he said, looks forward to members of MeCAM engaging through the media across its membership and country at large.

This, he said, could come in form of news reports, programmes, features, special reports, editorials, opinion pieces and commentaries.

In a related development, the National Coordinator, MeCAM Nigeria, Mr. Remmy Nweke, assured that the media advocacy group, especially at this era of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) would offer its best on the breastfeeding campaign 2016 so as to give it a boost.

Nweke quoted the World Health Organisation (WHO) as saying that170 countries would be commemorating the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, WHO, UNICEF and other organizations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding, WHO noted, is the best way to provide infants with the nutrients they need.

Also, WHO recommended exclusive breastfeeding starting within one hour after birth until a baby is six months old.

“Nutritious complementary foods should then be added while continuing to breastfeed for up to two years or beyond,” WHO officials pointed out.

Nweke further quoted WHO experts as saying that the World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year in over 170 countries to inspire breastfeeding and improve the health of babies across the world.

Noteworthy, Nweke said, is that in September 2015, the world's leaders committed to 17 goals aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity.

“Together, they​ form the​ ​Sustainable Development​ Goals. We all have a part to play in achieving these goals​ by 2030​,” he declared.

The World Breastfeeding Week 2016 theme is about how breastfeeding is a key element in getting us to think about how to value our wellbeing from the start of life, how to respect each other and care for the world we share. 

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Over 5000 market women protest in Abuja over land grabbing

NaijaAgroNet:

Estimated 5,000 traders, including market women and widows under the auspices of Association of Wuye Ultra Modern Market Allottees (AWUMMA) on Sunday in Abuja staged a protest over alleged continued harassment, intimidation and suppression by All Purpose Shelters, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The protesters also called on President Muhammad Buhari to intervene in the market crisis despite subsisting judgement by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court demanding that traders take possession of their shops.

They carried placards with inscriptions such as,"Mr President, defend the poor traders from persecution"; "Disobedience of court order is corruption"; and "Democracy on trial at Wuye market."

NaijaAgroNet gathered that All Purpose Shelters is owned by the Wife of immediate past Governor of Benue State, Mrs Yemisi Suswan.

On July 28 2016, the market reopened for business through the combined efforts of armed mobile policemen from FCT Police Command and Wuye Police Station. However, the next day, the traders were chased away from the market by security men allegedly acting on instructions from 'the above.'

Speaking with newsmen shortly after the protest, the Chairman of AWUMMA, Comrade Nnaemeka Nwobodo called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC),World Human Rights, Due Process Office and good spirited individuals to "rise up for justice today for our tomorrow."

Nwobodo decried that over 5000 members of AWUMMA have resolved to lay down their lives for justice today except if President Buhari intervenes in the crisis even as they enjoined the Presidency to call the FCT Commissioner of Police to order who they accused of obstructing justice in Wuye market. 

Equally speaking, the Public Relation Officer, AWUMMA, Barr. Sunny Anyanwu noted that after three and half legal battle at the High Court Apo, that the court on 29th April 2015 delivered a landmark judgement in favour of the traders under AWUMMA.  

"It was on the strength of victory again at the Appeal Court that traders wrote to the then FCT Commissioner of Police, Usman Alkali who directed that the court judgement should be respected after obtaining due legal opinion,” he said.

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UNICEF says: Not deterred by convoy ambush, aid continues in northeast Nigeria

NaijaAgroNet:

 

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has said its not deterred due to attack on Friday of its humanitarian convoy in the northeast Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Chief of Communications, at UNICEF Nigeria, Doune Porter, said aïd has continued to assist millions of conflict-affected children in northeast Nigeria, despite the attack on a humanitarian convoy.

As a result of the attack, in which one UNICEF staff member was injured, travel by UN staff to high risk areas has been temporarily suspended.

“We are working at full strength in the Borno state capital Maiduguri,” stressed UNICEF Nigeria Representative Jean Gough. “We continue to call for increased efforts to reach people in desperate need across the state. We cannot let this heartless attack divert any of us from reaching the more than two million people who are in dire need of immediate humanitarian assistance.”

UNICEF has called on donors and humanitarian organizations to scale-up the response to the emerging disaster in Borno state, which is the most affected by the conflict with Boko Haram.

Before the attack, security conditions had been improving in several areas.

“Our teams were finding people living on the brink of disaster,” said Jean Gough, “The violence has disrupted farming and markets, destroyed food stocks, and damaged or destroyed health and water facilities. We absolutely have to reach more of these communities.”

UNICEF estimates that 244,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year in Borno state alone and if they are not reached with treatment, one in five of them will die.

UNICEF has provided two million people with health services and treated 56,000 children for malnutrition in the three conflict-affected states of northeast Nigeria. A quarter of a million people have improved access to clean water, and over 200,000 children have been able to go back to school.

Despite the temporary suspension of travel to high risk areas, UNICEF plans to scale-up its response in Borno state substantially. At the beginning of the year, UNICEF appealed for US$55 million for its emergency work, of which US$23 million has so far been received.

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