Water infrastructure intelligent, wise move for Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

The water infrastructure intelligent would have effect on water demands  on the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The chief executive officer (CEO) for Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa, Sabine Dall’Omo, gave this insight in South Africa, saying that the rapid urbanisation across the continent is expected to have effect on water demands, just as its estimated that by the year 2030, the world will need 40 per cent more water than its current accessible, reliable supply.

NaijaAgroNet also reported that compounding the issue, according to the UN’s Water for Life Report, is that approximately 300 of the 800 million inhabitants in Sub-Saharan Africa live in a water-scarce environment. While in South Africa’s Western Cape region there is a drought that one meteorologist referred to as a once-in-628-years weather event.

“Water is vital to human existence. We depend on the resource to carry out important economic activities and provide proper sanitation, which are crucial elements to well-being and health.  If neglected there will far reaching implications for government, business and ultimately society,” Dall’Omo.

Awareness about the importance and finite availability of the resource are crucial to widespread behaviour change and necessary to ensure environmental sustainability, and capacity for future generations.  Water education should not be restricted to scientific or factual knowledge but be holistic and include decision makers, water technicians, communities, stakeholders and media to promote systemic change.

When a resource is in such short supply, managing and producing it effectively is essential. Digitalization of the existing infrastructure is just one water wise move for both the public and private sector.

The water industry has been focused on ushering in a new era of water management, with an emphasis on automation, the Internet of Things (IoT) and more sophisticated data management and analysis software that enables the water end user or plant operator to have valuable, actionable information.

This proactive focus is driving digital transformation for both utilities and industrial plants, and enables them to not only detect and react to an issue when it occurs but also predict and prevent issues from occurring.

In South Africa, local municipalities are losing up to 36 per cent of bulk water due to pipe leaks and theft. Smart water management technologies and digital management systems combined with faster response times could dramatically increase water reliability and significantly reduce losses.

Prioritising the use of intelligent, networked systems will conserve energy, avoid water losses and curb resource consumption. By having a 360 degree view of a water system, solutions can be pre-emptively identified.

As we progress further into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, agility and inventiveness will become a pivotal requirement for the new world order. Climate change and global water shortages are a collective concern.  In the latest World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, water crises ranks 20th as one of the risks respondents are most concerned about for doing business in their country in the next 10 years.

To overcome this risk we will need to deploy major innovations. Imagine using 3D virtual technology to see a realistic representation of an existing water plant and overlaying how automation, drives, pumps, instrumentation and electrical components can best be implemented to ensure positive outcomes.

In 2016, Siemens and Bentley Systems, a global leader in software solutions for advancing infrastructure, initiated a strategic alliance agreement to drive new business by accelerating digitalization. Bentley’s advanced knowledge in the field of water infrastructure means that customers are able to simulate processes in water plants allowing for predictive maintenance, resource optimization and energy data management.

Another way in which Siemens is catalysing creativity in the digital economy is through a recently hosted 48 hour hackathon - #DigihackAfrica2018 - which brought together Siemens engineers alongside IoT and digital industry experts from IBM, IoT.Nxt, Atos and Wits University to work on ideas that will have the potential to disrupt the IIoT environment in Africa. 

The winning team presented a decentralised intelligent water management system. The fully automated water accounting and leak detection system is made up of intelligently linked instrumentation from Siemens, flow meters and pressure transmitters linked to a GPRS 3G module that sends signals back to an in-house cloud based system. Through a mobile app, water technicians and engineers on the field will have real-time monitoring access to the flow of water in any water infrastructure network on a device. The winning team will travel to Siemens HQ to further develop their idea and receive seed capital towards making their idea commercially viable.

The value of investment in R&D in Africa to find solutions to the water crisis should not be underestimated. Being able to have foresight about future problems and develop solutions, with a uniquely African view and relevance, will provide the continent with a competitive edge.

Ultimately, effective and smart water management will enable governments and utilities to provide a safe and reliable resource to its people. Improved water stewardship pays high economic dividends and technology can help to make this happen. It seems like a smart start and a step in the right direction to find sustainable solutions that work for Africa and in Africa.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Applause for Lagos: As more women embrace family planning

NaijaAgroNet:

It was an applause time for the centre of excellence, Lagos as more women have embraced the state family planning programmes, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Investigations by NaijaAgroNet, showed that some Lagos women gave this indication in chat at the weekend, highlighting the fact that they have overcome the myths, challenges and misconceptions surrounding family planning uptake and the likely side effects.

This follows recent reports that the uptake of family planning method in Lagos State has been on the rise, dispelling the myth and misconception on family planning thereof.

Amongst the most common of these myths are perceptions that family planning causes excessive bleeding and infertility. However, a soaring number of women have overcome these challenges.

A few of them who shared their experiences with NaijaAgroNet, explained how they overcame the myths, challenges and misconceptions surrounding family planning uptake and the side effects.

One of the women, Mrs Fatiyasat Abdul, (real name withheld) a 34 year old trader and a mother of three had little knowledge of Family planning when she got married over a decade ago.

Abdul said she belonged to the group of Nigerian women that believe it is God that gives children and provides for their upkeep, hence no faith in family planning.

This perception, however, changed when Fatimah Abdul was pregnant with her second child five years after marriage, when a health provider educated her about family planning and its benefits.

Mrs Abdul narrated her experience in Lagos, pointing out how her initial excitement about the advantages of family planning was dampened by friends who discouraged her about it, claiming that family planning will make her bleed, become infertile and then develop fibroids.

“My friends in the market place discouraged me, saying family planning will make me not to have children again, and blood will be gushing out of my body without stopping. That actually discouraged me.”

However, Abdul remarked that if not for her husband who encouraged her to go back to the hospital after she had her second child, she probably would not have continued the family planning.

“I was always afraid to do it because of what my friends told me. That was why I had to stop after six months of using the injectable. I was able to space my children because my husband used the withdrawal method. But when I finally gave birth to my last child, I went to the family planning unit of Lagos Island Maternity Hospital. They educated me on the benefits of family planning along with the side effects which can be managed.

“It was at that point I realized that what my friends at the market place were saying was all lies and I also realized that my husband struggles to pay the school fees of our children and he could be helped if we embrace family planning,” she said.

And for Betty Samson, a 42-year old beautician and a mother of two said she heard about family planning over the radio and was able to do injectable, when she travelled to South Africa, after her first child.

Unfortunately, she experienced some complications as she was bleeding continuously after her menstruation. When she went back to the clinic to report her experience, the provider asked her to continue.

When the bleeding continued, she stopped the use. After 10 years, she has conquered her fears and decided to go back to using a family planning method but this time, an implant.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Performance Monitoring and Accountability (PMA2020) identified that Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in the state has increased drastically in recent time.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Jukuns say 'Army protecting herdsmen' back Gen. Danjuma, demand Commission of Inquiry on atrocities

ITREALMS:

The apex socio-cultural organisation of Jukun people, Jukun Development Association of Nigeria (JDAN) has reiterated claims that the Nigerian Army is shielding herdsmen to attack their community, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as they drums support for their elder kinsman General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (rtd), who at the weekend, called on his people to rise and defend themselves against rampaging Fulani herdsmen and their colluding military partners, reports ITRealms.

National Presidentm JDAN, Chief Bako Benjamin said in Lagos, alongside top executive of the association on Monday, that majority of Nigerians are unaware of the calamity and atrocities that has befallen Jukun people in the last four years and the nation's press does not pay enough attention to report to the world the silent ethnic cleansing and genocide ongoing in southern and central Taraba.

Also, he said rather than lampooning Danjuma for his candid view which was coming after a thorough analysis of the situation, the Nigerian military should have launched an investigation into the weighty allegation and fish out her culpable members.

JDAN, he said, demands for a Commission of Inquiry to look into several cases of atrocities, human rights violations and banditry committed by some security forces in Jukunland  against the innocent people, who are being killed by herdsmen, whose homes and farmlands are being burnt with wanton impunity and whose lives means virtually nothing to the very people who have sworn to defend them and the nation against aggression.

On developments in some parts of the country, especially Taraba State, Bako said the retired General was speaking exactly the minds of his people and out of frustration, stressing that Danjuma statements was a reflection of what presently goes on in Taraba and elsewhere around the middle belt, where several villages and town have been sacked and indigenes chased away by Fulani herdsmen who invaded their communities with the full backing of security operatives. 

"Rather than carpet our revered elderstatesman, the Jukun people have been anxiously waiting for the time when Fulani herdsmen who have killed entire villagers in our land will be arrested and paraded. We are peace loving people, but our people are being arrested in our land and been killed by those who otherwise came for pasture for their cattle," he said.

Bako lamented that parading Jukun youths on Sunday, barely 24 hours after Gen Danjuma’s criticism of their handling of their roles for taking pictures of the ongoing violence in their land, is simply exposing the ugly underbelly of the Nigerian military and heir complicit in the whole tragic saga unfolding in Taraba State, adding that where that is the case, the pople would be left with no choice than to defend themselves. 

“We are anxiously waiting for when Fulani herdsmen that have killed and wiped off entire villages in our land would be paraded. We have not travelled to anybody's land to look for trouble, but our people are been arrested in our land for snapping pictures. What Jukuns expected is for the Nigerian military and the federal government to launch an investigation into the weighty allegations that  General Danjuma raised not to be beating about the bush in denials without substance,” he said.

Bako further alleged that there are widespread reports of glaring bias and nepotism by the Nigerian military's Operation Ayem Kpatuma particularly in Takum and Ussa local government areas since they arrived.

For example, he said, there was no single presence of Fulani herdsmen in the two local government areas for over a year now since their last mass killings of the people, which saw them abandon the area and flee until the soldiers arrived on the same day with them in the name of Operation Ayem Kpatuma.

“No sooner had they arrived in the peaceful communities that burning of houses and killings resumed. As if that's not enough, the soldiers went about unleashing a campaign of terror and intimidation against Jukun people, breaking into homes and confiscating hunting dane guns, cutlasses, bows and arrows, and left the Fulani herdsmen fully armed with their weapons to continue their campaign of terror in the countryside.”

We have evidences where severally attempts by our youths who were driven out of their villages to defend their communities against the herdsmen by soldiers until the herdsmen are done.

“Jukun Development Association of Nigeria (JDAN), is eagerly waiting for a commission of inquiry into the atrocities that was committed against our people in Takum and Ussa local government areas to  clear the good name of the Nigerian Army and bring the collaborators and perpetrators to book,” Bako insisted.  

Benjamin observed that close to 50 villages in southern and central Taraba exist only in name as Fulani herdsmen has wiped out the indigenous population and are presently commandeering the villages.

He said persistent plea on the government to come to the rescue of the people have fallen on deaf ears and atrocities got worse with each passing day.

 “When operation Ayem Kpatuma was launched by the federal government, Jukun people jubilated and thought their misery has come to an end, only to discover that military operatives of the program started arriving together with thousands of Fulani herdsmen that had fled the area previously with their cattle.

“Our fear was confirmed when no sooner they arrived in the peaceful communities that burning of houses and killings resumed.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Presidency explains private sector role in National Food Security Council

NaijaAgroNet:

The Presidency has explained the role of private sector in the recently inaugurated presidential national food security council, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, informed NaijaAgroNet that the private sector will play an advisory role in the National Food Security Council recently by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The President, he said, is aware of the huge interest indicated by the private sector since the composition of the Council was announced, as well as the reservations expressed by groups that felt left out.

“We wish to emphasise that the Council constituted by the President was more of a think tank that would focus mainly on policy, while various groups from the private sector would be called upon to make sectoral presentations from time to time,” he said.

The presidency further assured that everybody will be carried along as the Council will work closely with all stakeholders.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the Council will be inaugurated by President Buhari on Monday, March 26.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Listeriosis outbreak looms in Nigeria, 15 African countries, says WHO

NaijaAgroNet:

Listeriosis outbreak is looming in Nigeria and 15 other African countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

Confirming this development, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, listed other redline countries to include Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

“This outbreak is a wake-up call for countries in the region to strengthen their national food safety and disease surveillance systems,” Moeti declared.

Experts have described Listeriosis as a bacterial infection most commonly caused by Listeria monocytogenes, which could cause severe illness, including severe sepsis, meningitis, or encephalitis, sometimes resulting in lifelong harm and even death.

They also said that listeria is ubiquitous and is primarily transmitted via the oral route after ingestion of contaminated food products

As said by WHO an estimated 200 South Africans have died since January 2017 as a result of contaminated ready-to-eat meat products that are widely consumed in the country and may also have been exported to two West African countries and 14 members of the South African Development Community.

South African health authorities recently declared the source of the outbreak as a factory in Polokwane, in the country’s northeast.

Isaac Oyimah with additional reports from ThePunch.

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NAFDAC returns to Ports, borders for effective regulation - DG

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Director General of the National Agency for Food andDrug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Christianah Mojisola Adeyeye, has assured Nigerians that the return of the agency to the nation’s ports and borders will enhance the regulation of importation of narcotic drugs and hazardous chemical substances, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This, she also said, would boost up the regulation of hazardous substances identified to be grossly abused and consequently, posing public health and security threats to the country.

A communique issued at the end of the National Chemical Security Training Conference in Abuja and held under the auspices of the Officeof the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and made available to NaijaAgroNet, with the theme “Towards a Secured Importation, Distribution, Storage and Use of Chemicals in Nigeria.”

NAFDAC DG noted that the return to ports and borders will once again, restore NAFDAC’s key responsibility of monitoring imports of controlled drugs and chemical substances which come in various forms, thus requiring expertise to monitor their industry-wide application and use.

The agency commended ONSA, the Chemical Society of Nigeria and other key stakeholders for recognizing NAFDAC as a key player in the national security architecture by this singular act of restoring the presence of NAFDAC officials at all designated Ports of entry and land borders.

She recalled that the laws establishing NAFDAC empowered the agency to statutorily operate at the ports. 

“The clearance of regulated products outside of the current legal framework poses immediate and life threatening risks to the public as unregistered, spurious and falsified products exit the ports without recourse to the agency’s approval for such products to be in the market,” she said.

Prof. Adeyeye further assured members of the public that NAFDAC will continue to contribute its quota to government’s efforts in securing lives and property by ensuring that only quality, safe, efficacious and wholesome regulated products and are consumed by Nigerians and smuggling of chemical weapons, harmful drugs and substances into the country is checked.

 
Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Diabetes monitor, a ‘game changer’

NaijaAgroNet:

A new method of measuring blood glucose levels in people with diabetes is a significant advance in the management of the disease, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to an independent assessment by University of Manchester, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Derby Teaching Hospitals experts, the FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitor has been available on prescription in the United Kingdom from November 2017.

NaijaAgroNetgathered it works through a white disc adhered to the arm which connects remotely to a small monitoring device.

This design, NaijaAgroNet gathered is to replace the recommended 4-10 painful finger-stick blood glucose tests required each day for the self-management of diabetes.

Lead researcher from The University of Manchester and a Consultant Diabetologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Lalantha Leelarathna, noted that the disc is replaced every 14 days and could also be purchased by people with diabetes.

“Type 1 Diabetes can occur at any age but typically presents in childhood and requires lifelong insulin therapy. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in people over 30-year-old and is initially treated without medication or with lifestyle modification and/or tablets,” Leelarathna said.

People with Type 1 Diabetes, Dr. Leelarathna said, should measure their blood glucose many times a day so they are able to adjust their insulin dose, stressing that having a blood glucose which is too high increases the risk of diabetes complications such as eye disease, foot ulcers and kidney disease.

Glucose levels which are too low can make the person with diabetes feel unwell and unable to function. If left untreated, low glucose can cause coma and seizures.

“Despite major progress in the care of people living with Type 1 diabetes, many fail to achieve their target blood sugar level – and that risks major complications.

“A key barrier in achieving near normal glucose levels is this need for frequent fingerstick blood glucose monitoring and that’s down to pain and inconvenience.

“Our review concludes that The FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitor works well for both adults and children.

 “The studies show it is accurate, comfortable and easy to use. It is associated with a reduction in low blood sugar levels, improvements in glycated haemoglobin levels and adverse events are low.

“Our assessment of the available evidence shows that for most patients, it is a game changer.”

Dr Emma Wilmot from Derby Teaching Hospitals said: “From our perspective, the FreeStyle Libre is a significant advance in the management of diabetes. Many users describe it as ‘life changing’.

‘The challenge in the UK is to now ensure that it reaches people living with diabetes. We are delighted that this device became available on the NHS drug tariff in November 2017.

“However, it is clear from the Diabetes UK map of access that this does not necessarily mean that it will make it into the hands of those who might benefit from the development of a postcode lottery for access would further add to the variation in diabetes care across the country and may adversely impact on outcomes.’

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Investing in school meals ‘win-win’ for West African nations – UN

NaijaAgroNet:

The United Nations food relief agency has urged governments in West Africa subregion to spend more money on school meal programmes as these investments not only contribute to children’s better future but also create local jobs around agriculture, reports NaijaAgroNet.

“It is a win-win opportunity which governments must seize,” said Abdou Dieng, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “Children enjoy healthy meals that make it more likely that they will stay in school and learn for a better future, while jobs are created and businesses develop.”

The call was made on African Day of School Feeding, annually observed on 1 March.

Increasingly, the food for the meals is sourced from smallholder farmers within the community. The idea is that home-grown school meals provide local farmers and businesses with a predictable outlet for their products, leading to more stable incomes, more investment, higher productivity and the creation of jobs for youth and women in the communities concerned.

In Burkina Faso, the introduction of yoghurt in school meals has had multiple benefits – a women’s group that collects milk locally has recently set up a processing plant for yoghurt that is now delivered to schools by young people on motorcycles.

Some governments in the region are showing a growing interest in investing more in national school meals programmes. The Government of Benin has allotted $47 million to feed 400,000 children over the course of five years in partnership with WFP, using a home-grown school meals model.

WFP’s regional school meals programme, which aims to assist about 2.7 million children this year, faces a $60 million funding gap. Without proper financing, the programme will fall short, leave many vulnerable students hungry and at risk of dropping out of school.

 Correspondent/GEE

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Miss Ghana UK 2017 to hang out with tertiary students

NaijaAgroNet:

Food for All Africa in partnership with Miss Ghana UK Foundation and Psychosocial Africa would next month, April bring together tertiary students within Accra to hang out with the current Queen, Miss Sabina Lawabea Awuni, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The hangout, NaijaAgroNet gathered would culminate in a social event aimed at promoting mental health and nutritional well-being among tertiary students in Ghana.

NaijaAgroNet also gathered from Food for All Africa that for every case of suicide reported, five people have already contemplated committing suicide, making a total of about 200,000 people contemplating the idea annually.

Sabina said that on the use of social get together as a means to suicide prevention as such programmes tend to give people listening ears.

According to a 2012 survey conducted by the Network for Anti-suicide and Crisis Prevention in Ghana, five or more people commit suicide every day in the country. 

The dominant cause of their death ranged from problems with parents, failure at school, inability of parents to provide needs, impotence and relationship related issues. 

Former Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Mental Hospital, Dr Akwesi Osei reiterates that suicide is premeditated. It is not something one does the first time he or she thinks about it.

“There are three organizational stages of suicide, involving “getting used to,” the idea, the means and the opportunity or motivation,” he said.

He described the first stage as the preparation state where a person prepares to commit suicide. People who are naturally secretive, who come from broken homes, people with no loving childhood and people with traumatic stress disorders are susceptible.

The second, he said were the precipitate factors that triggered one to commit suicide. Some of the triggers were financial crisis, loss of a loved one and separation.

The final stage was when victims remained in a perpetual state of the desire to kill him or herself, and with the triggers including the lack of financial support, among others.

Hang Out with Miss Ghana UK 2017, The Jubilee Queen on Saturday 7^th April 2018 at Tuo Restaurant and garden on Ring road Central will be an experience sharing session with the Queen, Sabina Awuni, mental health advocate, Nana Abena Korkor Addo  and Chef Elijah Addo in promoting mental health and nutritional wellness among tertiary students in Ghana through activities such as cooking competition,eating,games,let’s talk and music jams.

The Queen together with SRC executives of participating schools will in the morning cook and serve breakfast to patients of Accra psychiatric hospital.

Uj. N. Dominic/ED, Ops

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ICTs essential to empowerment, success of poor rural women

NaijaAgroNet:

The role of information communications technologies in supporting rural women's economic empowerment, voice and status, was the focus of discussions at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on 8 March, International Women’s Day, reports NaijaAgroNet.

IFAD, together with United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), will highlight the role that innovations in information and communications technologies (ICTs) can play in expanding rural women's opportunities in value chains and enterprise development, while increasing their access to education and information.

Many women, particularly young rural women, lack access to productive resources such as land, credit and technology. Women lag behind in terms of their access to ICTs, with only 41 per cent of women in low-and middle income countries owning mobile phones compared to 46 per cent for males. Nearly two-thirds of women living in the South Asia and East Asia and Pacific sub-regions do not own a mobile phone. Rural women regularly lack access to health care, education, decent work and social protection. As a consequence, they are more likely to be poor and they are vulnerable to economic and climatic shocks.

ICTs can go a long way to boosting economic opportunities for rural women. Mobile and smartphones, for example, provide access to real-time information on prices in different markets and allow more informed choices about where and when to buy and sell. Studies indicate that when women earn money, they are more likely than men to spend it on food for their families and the education of their children.

Uj. N. Dominic/ED, OP

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