NaijaAgroNet:
The hillsides between the Italian towns of Assisi and Spoleto (including Assisi, Spello, Foligno, Trevi, Campello sull Clitunno and Spoleto), where olives have been grown since the time of the Etruscans, are now one of the main olive production areas in Umbria and Italy, eports NaijaAgroNet.
The area has been recognized for the ingenuity through which natural resources and human needs have been combined to create livelihoods and mutually sustainable ecosystems.
Even today, olive groves are cultivated with traditional knowledge and practices including the use of different types of terraces, growing technologies and genetic varieties which have been supported by local communities for many centuries. This area also demonstrates remarkable landscape of olive trees which have been formed by farmers' long term interaction with nature.
The GIAHS register highlights unique ways that rural communities have over generations farmed in harmony with nature to create mutually sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems, and often produced remarkable landscapes in the process.
FAO's selection criteria includes that sites be of global importance, have value as a public good in terms of supporting food and livelihood security, agro-biodiversity, knowledge systems, adapted technologies, and culture, and have outstanding landscapes.
Evidence suggests that GIAHS designation can help conserve valuable elements of the sites while boosting demand and prices for the agricultural products, as well as encouraging tourism and jobs growth.
The two new additions bring the total number of sites on the list to 52 in 21 countries.
Other remarkable landscapes already recognized include Hani rice terraces in China, the Massai pastoral system in Kenya and Tanzania, the Ghout oasis system in Algeria, wasabi production in Japan, Spain's salt production in Salinas de AƱana, Portugal's agro-sylvo-pastoral system in Barroso, and farmland in Mexico's Chinampas that relies on oral transmission of traditional farming techniques dating back to the Aztec civilization.
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Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Monday, July 9, 2018
UN agencies enter MoU to close SDG gaps - NaijaAgroNet
NaijaAgroNet:
The two of United Nation's agencies, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have renewed their partnership to boost efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including the goal of Zero Hunger, reports NaijaAgroNet.
FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay today signed a new Memorandum of Understanding in Paris. It comes more than 70 years after the first partnership signing between the agencies.
"This new agreement opens a new chapter in the relationship between our two organizations," said FAO's Graziano da Silva. "We need to work closer together to accelerate our efforts towards the goals set out under Agenda 2030."
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay welcomed reinforced collaboration between UNESCO and FAO as two key Specialized Agencies of the UN system. "The nexus between education, culture, food and health is at the center of many of the challenges faced in this century", she highlighted. "We are committed to strengthening our collaboration in these areas to create sustainable futures for societies."
Under the partnership, FAO and UNESCO have agreed to support the development of learning modules, teaching aids and practical sessions for agricultural secondary schools, universities and farmer field schools on food security and sustainable food systems. The agencies will also explore opportunities for nutrition education and healthy nutrition in schools.
This builds on the joint work already being carried out in South Sudan's cattle camps, where literacy and numeracy training by UNESCO is incorporated into FAO's Pastoral Field School approach. This means young people can access a formal school curriculum as well as topics on livestock management and livelihoods' diversification.
FAO and UNESCO will also develop a joint knowledge-sharing platform on the nexus between food, culture and peace, and develop special education projects in poor, rural conflict-affected areas.
Isaac Oyimah/ED, Ops
Two sites added to global agricultural heritage - NaijaaAgroNet
NaijaAgroNet:
Traditional ginseng farming in the Republic of Korea and olive tree groves in Italy's Umbria region have been recognized on the register of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), managed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.
The two sites, NaijaAgroNet gathered, were added during a meeting of the GIAHS Scientific Advisory Group in Rome this week (2-4 July), which is the first time an Italian site has been recognized, and the fourth site in the Republic of Korea.
NaijaAgroNet reports that the traditional ginseng agricultural system in Geumsan, South Chungcheong Province has been recognized because it relies on a symbiotic relationship between nature and cultivation, and has been in practice for around 1500 years. Farmers use a 15-to-20 year rotation system whereby land is left fallow or used for other crops after harvest, to allow the land's ‘energy' to restore. Surrounding forests and rivers contribute to micro climate control, and shade structures using natural materials help mimic conditions for wild ginseng cultivation.
"This is not only about the past, but also about the future," said FAO's Yoshihide Endo who coordinates the GIAHS programme. "Becoming a GIAHS site encourages the preservation of these long histories of agricultural practice, but it also recognizes the benefits for future generations in keeping these systems sustainable, promoting knowledge sharing and agrotourism potential and encouraging young people to participate in agriculture."
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
African leaders unite against malaria, launch ‘Zero Malaria Starts with Me’ - NaijaAgroNet
African leaders have launched the Zero MalariaStarts with Me, a continent-wide campaign co-led by the African Union
Commission and the Roll-Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria, to see
more people involved in the fight against the disease that kills over 400,000
Africans every year, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Following reports that malaria cases have increased for the
first time in more than a decade, Zero Malaria Starts with Me seeks to reignite
a society-wide movement to get back on track efforts that contributed to a 60% decline
in cases and saved an estimated 7 million lives since 2000, and to help meet
the goal of eliminating malaria across Africa by 2030.
The campaign, unveiled Sunday during the AIDS Watch Africa
Meeting at the 31st African Union Summit by President Macky Sall of
Senegal and King Mswati III of Eswatini and endorsed by 55 (TBC) African Heads
of State and Government today, empowers communities to take greater ownership
of malaria prevention and care, and to mobilise additional resources for the
effort.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Chair of the African
Union, says: “The African continent accounts for over 90% of the
global malaria burden. It is in this context that we have launched the “Zero
Malaria Starts with Me” campaign, a continent-wide public-facing campaign for a
malaria-free Africa. The campaign will reignite grassroot movements in which
individuals, families, communities, religious leaders, private sector,
political leaders, and other members of society pledge to take responsibility
in the fight against malaria.”
Inspired by Senegal’s nationwide campaign of the same name
launched in 2014, Zero Malaria Starts with Me is now being rolled out across
the African continent to encourage all citizens – political, business,
community and religious leaders, as well as individuals, families and
communities – to make a personal commitment to ending malaria for good.
To date, over 20 African nations have committed to join in
supporting the campaign, with presidents of Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique already
launching nationwide campaigns that include large-scale bed net distribution
drives to establishing high-level national End Malaria Councils and
parliamentary groups on malaria. Others, including the First Ladies of Ghana
and Niger, have pledged to do more to engage leaders and communities to fight
malaria in their countries.
President Macky Sall of Senegal comments: “In my
country, malaria has long been a major public health concern threatening the
socio-economic development and structural transformation trajectory that has
put our country on a firm path to sustainable development. It is through
national ownership, shared responsibility and global solidarity that we can
defeat malaria for good.”
HM King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Chair of
the African Leaders’ Malaria Alliance, says: “This campaign further
reinvigorates our commitment to eliminate malaria in Africa as we now call upon
all our people at all levels to work with us in ridding our continent of this
scourge. I urge all governments to invest more in fighting the disease, however
the success of this campaign will depend on partnerships and on collaboration
across sectors and amongst our population, for as government, we cannot win
this fight against malaria alone.”
The campaign offers simple tools to increase community
participation in malaria elimination efforts, keep pressure up on leaders to
stay committed to ending the disease, and forge new partnerships that can
contribute additional funding that will increase access to treatment, improve
diagnosis and prevention against the deadly disease. Campaign resources are
provided via a Zero Malaria Starts with Me toolkit available at www.zeromalaria.africa.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
GAIN Executive Director, Haddad, emerges World Food Prize winner - NaijaAgroNet
The Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Dr. Lawrence Haddad, alongside Dr. David Nabarro, former special adviser to the UN Secretary General, were jointly named as winners of the 2018 World Food Prize, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Disclosing this the award Ambassador Quinn, World Food Prize President cited the recipients for their “extraordinary intellectual and policy leadership in bringing maternal and child nutrition to the forefront of the global food security agenda and thereby significantly reducing childhood stunting”
The Prize was founded in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and is the foremost international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
An economist, Lawrence Haddad has been working to advance nutrition and food security for three decades, starting with field work in the Philippines on the impacts of the commercialisation of agriculture on nutrition status. He taught at the University of Warwick for 3 years, was a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) where he was the Director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, and he directed the UK’s world-leading Institute for Development Studies (IDS). In 2014 he was a founding co-chair of the Global Nutrition Report and was a principal author of the Report for its first three years.
In his words, “I am honoured to receive this award, which has always focused on the critical and urgent issues of the time. For our generation, I believe the issue is not only how to feed the world, but how to nourish it sustainably. Six of the top 10 risk factors for the global burden of disease are related to poor diet. This is not surprising because more than 1 in 3 people on the planet eat too little food, too little food of the right type or too much food of the wrong type. Were he here today I am sure Dr. Borlaug would have been at the forefront of the fight to create sustainable food systems capable of addressing all forms of malnutrition – from wasting and stunting to overweight and obesity”.
Lawrence Haddad joined GAIN in 2016, which, under his leadership, has focused on making nutritious and safe foods more available, affordable and desirable for those most in need.
In his reaction to the news, GAIN Nigeria Country Director, Dr Michael Ojo said "Dr. Haddad has deeply challenged us through his consistent, passionate and rigorous use of data and evidence to compel leaders in countries across the world to invest in nutrition, Nigeria inclusive. Under Lawrence’s leadership, GAIN is now at the forefront of action to improve the quality of diets by making nutritious foods more affordable accessible and desirable for everyone. This is central to the partnership work we are supporting in Nigeria. By honouring Lawrence, the Prize is endorsing this broad definition of food security - encouraging to us not only feed the world, but nourish it”.
This Prize is shared with Dr David Nabarro and in his reaction, Dr Haddad said “On behalf of everyone at GAIN, I would like to congratulate David and say how honoured I am to share this award with him. His achievement turning Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) into a movement changed the nutrition landscape forever. He set the template: be inclusive and yet decisive, marry science with action; facilitate engagement of all stakeholders--even when inconvenient; and champion nutrition at all levels, from the grassroots front line worker to the highest levels of government and everything in-between”
Also reacting to the news, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “Like Dr. Norman Borlaug before them, Drs. Haddad and Nabarro have dedicated their careers to reducing hunger and malnutrition. Their work has deepened our understanding of nutrition’s impact not only on individual health, but on human capital and economic growth – compelling leaders in countries across the world to invest in evidence-based solutions”.
The formal presentation of the World Food Prize takes place in Des Moines in October 2018.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
Pix: Dr. Lawrence Haddad
Monday, June 25, 2018
Assessing Patent Landscape: How IDTechEx can help your technology -NaijaAgroNet
In any emerging technology, the pace of innovation is rapid,
sometimes dauntingly so. More companies enter the market with new
products that have been in in secretive development for several years,
protected by patents in an effort to gain a dominant position as quickly
as possible. This is true of any emerging technology, be it 3D printing,
lithium ion batteries or synthetic biology: those companies who develop a
product that not only meets a customer need, but is their protected
intellectual property, often go on to become the market leaders and
reap the financial rewards accordingly.
Of course, developing the right product is half the battle,
but how can an organization
accurately assess their competitor’s product before it’s even
been announced? How can they pre-empt how crowded the market is, who
is entering or leaving, or whether there are any global locations in
which a particular product would face fierce competition?
Patent Analytics is a service that IDTechEx provides utilising our long-standing
expertise in a range of emerging technologies to provide clients of our
services with visibility to these questions through the analysis of the
patent information stored on international IP databases. Using dedicated
software, the highly technical analysts at IDTechEx can query the
data to develop a bespoke Patent Analytics Report sharing
actionable insights which are tailored to answer a client’s key
strategic technological questions.
Leveraging our combined technical and commercial acumen in
emerging technologies,
an IDTechEx Patent Analytics Report is a data-driven interpretation
of the existing patents in a technology domain in the context of
the commercial environment. Our Patent Analytics
Reports provide competitive analysis, assessment of the entire value
chain and visibility on those highly prized technology whitespaces, which in
turn can mitigate risk when launching a new product, gain insight
into competitors’ activities and accelerate time to market.
Charlotte
Martin/GEE
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Agro-experts outline how to survive drought _ NaijaAgroNet
Although
preventing or mitigating drought impacts could be cheaper than providing
drought relief, this does not necessarily translate into action through
planning, budget allocations and changes in the institutions' behavior, says
the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.
In
the latest United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report available to NaijaAgroNet,
experts at FAO outlined how to survive drought.
As
said by them, providing emergency food assistance, access to water, fodder, and
creating jobs are the most common approaches adopted by most governments when
supporting drought-stricken populations.
They
noted that while these are essential to saving lives and alleviate hunger, these
also have several limitations as the above approaches do not help vulnerable
populations become more resilient to future shocks.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that many
countries do not have a structure dedicated to drought and drought action plans,
stressing that coordination at the highest levels of governments when planning
for droughts also need reinforcing.
“Current
agricultural policies are rendering land more degraded and impoverished, and
need to be re-examined to mitigate the impacts of drought,” they posited.
NaijaAgroNet noted that the report had
argued that developing and implementing national drought management policies should
be consistent with the country's development objectives as well as establishing
early warning systems are essential.
It
recommends disseminating technologies to combat drought, and support policies
and incentives to use land and water resources rationally.
Growing
drought-tolerant, fast maturing and watershed crops, and encouraging advanced
methods of irrigation (including drip and spray irrigation) are some of the
measures that should be adopted at larger scale to combat climate change.
Setting
parcels of land apart to grow trees or small trees in agricultural fields and
pastures to ensure their growth is a practice that can generate multiple-use
trees to mitigate impacts of droughts.
Traditional livestock
herding practices including keeping stocking rates low and moving herds when
forage is low, capable of reducing risk of overgrazing and land degradation.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Monday, June 18, 2018
Experts stress impacts of drought in Africa region - NaijaAgroNet
The experts at the Foodand Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have given some insights into the impacts of
drought for African continent and mostly the North East and North Africa,
reports NaijaAgroNet.
According to them, agriculture is the first and worst hit sector
when drought strikes, stressing that due to the impacts of drought, domestic
food production has declined in the past four decades and rural populations'
income dropped.
They noted that though oil supports a number of economies,
agriculture is still an important part of the region's Gross Domestic Products
(GDP) and essential for populations' food security.
“Droughts are costly and can severely compromise
the agricultural sectors,” they declared in a latest report made available to NaijaAgroNet, and endorsed by the FAO's Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and
Water Department, Mr. Rene Castro.
Further, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the latest drought in Northern Africa, which
was in 2015-2016, affected all countries and caused a significant drop in
cereal production in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
“As recently as the 1980s, 70 per cent of
Mauritanians were nomads and subsistence farmers. In
the past three decades, recurrent droughts have forced many to move to cities where they suffer
due to high unemployment and a severe lack of social services,” they noted.
the past three decades, recurrent droughts have forced many to move to cities where they suffer
due to high unemployment and a severe lack of social services,” they noted.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
Pix: FAO's Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, Mr. Rene Castro
IFAD says Post Offices @forefront of remittance, financial services in rural Africa
The postal services can play a pivotal role in delivering
remittances, lowering the transfer costs and providing access to basic
financial services in Africa, says the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), reports NaijaAgroNet.
A joint report made available to NaijaAgroNet by the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Commission (EC) on
the occasion of the International Day of Family Remittances to be observed
tomorrow.
The report, entitled ‘A success story on remittances at the post office in Africa,’ analyses
the results achieved by African Postal Financial Services Initiative (APFSI), a
joint programme led by IFAD and financed by the European Union (EU).
The programme, NaijaAgroNet gathered, has been implemented in 11 African countries in cooperation with the World Bank, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the Universal Postal Union and the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute.
NaijaAgroNet
also reports that the APFSI programme has helped post offices develop more
effective business models, upgrade their computer technology and connectivity,
and improve their expertise in order to process real-time payments and offer
and manage financial services.
"The remittance market is changing at a rapid
pace,” said Pedro De Vasconcelos, Coordinator of the Financing Facility for
Remittances at IFAD, pointing out that technology is transforming the payment
systems and digitalized financial services are creating new opportunities.
“In this context, postal operators play a prominent role in
delivering remittances to rural migrant families, providing them with financial
services they rarely had access to,” Pedro said.
According to De Vasconcelos, the strong presence of post
offices in remote and rural areas is extremely valuable. Their historic
footprint helps build trust in the provision of rural financial services.
In 2017 alone, African migrant workers sent over US$70
billion to their families back home, representing an increase of more than 10
per cent from 2016 and more than 36 per cent over the past decade.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region in
the world to send money home. In 2017 the average cost was 9.3 per cent of the
amount sent.
As a result of the AFPSI joint programme, which has been
implemented over the last five years, the cost of receiving remittances via
post offices in four pilot countries, Benin, Ghana, Madagascar and Senegal,
decreased by 42 per cent and post offices delivered remittance services
at an average cost of less than 5 per cent. This means an additional $35
million were available to migrant families between 2014 and 2016.
"The EU is committed to work with partners to lower
the cost of remittances and promote faster, cheaper and safer transfers. Our
collective objective is to reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs
and eliminate remittance corridors with transfer costs higher than 5 per cent,
as stated in the 2030 Agenda and the European Consensus for Development,"
said Stefano Signore, Head of Unit in charge of Migration and Employment in the
Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development at the EC.
Financial inclusion remains a challenge in Africa.
According to recent estimates, only 41 per cent of the population above 15
years of age has an account and access to formal financial services. In this
context, postal operators have an important role to play, especially in rural
areas. As a result of the joint programme, at least 100,000 adults opened new
postal accounts accessing financial services for the first time.
"Having a savings account and access to credit is
fundamental for families to invest in income-generating activities and build
their future," said Mauro Martini, an IFAD expert on remittances and
migrants’ investments and co-author of the report. "Remittances can be an
engine for development."
Estimates show that while 75 per cent of remittances are
generally spent on basic needs such as food, housing, health and education,
another 25 per cent can be invested in asset-building or activities that
generate income and jobs and transform economies, in particular in rural areas.
The EC began collaborating with IFAD in 2004, with the
intention of increasing the development impact of remittances while enabling
poor households in rural areas to access financial services. Since 2005, the EC
has mobilized euro 9.5 million for IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances,
including the APFSI. A new euro 15 million programme focusing on Africa will be
launched soon to reduce costs further and improve financial inclusion and
impact for development.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
Friday, June 15, 2018
UN Report demands proactive shift in drought management - NaijaAgroNet
The
latest United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has called
for a fundamental shift in the way drought is perceived and managed in the Near
East and North Africa region, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The
agency said in a new report issued today that a more pro-active
approach based on the principles of risk reduction is needed to build greater
resilience to droughts.
Even
though drought is a familiar phenomenon in the region, over the past four
decades, droughts have become more widespread, prolonged and frequent - likely
due to climate change.
The
region is not only highly prone to drought, but also one of the world's most
water-scarce areas, with desert making up three quarters of its territory.
The
FAO's Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water
Department, Rene Castro, was quoted as saying that the Near East and North
Africa's technical, administrative, and financial capacities to deal with
drought are inadequate, rendering farmers and herders - the first and worst hit
when drought strikes - even more vulnerable.
Farmers
and herders, UN reported, face mounting challenges as water becomes scarcer,
land more degraded and eroded, and soils more fragile.
It
lamented that there is still too much focus on recovering from drought rather
than being less susceptible to it, with insufficient funding, preparedness, and
coordination remaining significant constraints, warns the report.
"We
need to perceive and manage droughts differently, and shift from emergency
response to more pro-active policy and long-term planning to reduce risks and
build greater resilience," Castro said, pointing out that "The
report assesses gaps in current drought management and provides a solid base to
help governments rethink policies and reformulate preparedness and response
plans by offering solutions that take into account each country's specific
context."
Launched
ahead of World Day to Combat
Desertification and Drought,
the report was developed by FAO and theWater for Food Daugherty Global Institute at
the University of Nebraska.
It
covers 20 countries in the region - Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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