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Africa May Miss 2015 MDG – UN
Africa is the only continent not on track to meet the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015 because of the impact of the global economic downturn, a UN agency said on Thursday.
Abdoulie Janneh, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said the fall in economic growth has resulted in rising poverty and unemployment in many African countries.
“Last year the African economy grew by an average 1.6 per cent because of the global financial crisis, lower than 2008 when we averaged 4.5 per cent,” Janneh told Reuters at the African Union UNECA joint annual finance minister’s meeting in Lilongwe.
“With such growth, Africa is the only continent not on track to halve poverty by 2015.”
The UN Millennium Development Goals were agreed at a UN summit in 2000 and included targets to raise living standards in African and other poor countries by 2015.
Africa was thought to be largely insulated against the worst effects of the global economic crisis but saw healthy growth projections slashed due to the crisis.
“The global financial crisis has affected growth in Africa, with dire consequences for African countries to reduce poverty,” Janneh said.
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The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has entered into a partnership drive with the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) on six priority crops: maize, rice, cowpeas, cassava, millet, and oil palm across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria in an effort to enhance food production in Nigeria.
The two organisations did this during a two-day workshop on Enhancing Seed Systems for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria, organised by NADF and NASC.
The Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, while speaking at the Workshop, emphasised the urgent need to integrate modern seed technology to counter the existential threats posed by climate change on Nigeria’s food systems.
Highlighting the critical role of innovation and collaboration in shaping the future of Nigeria’s seed sector, the Minister tied the initiative to the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We are witnessing the clear and present existential threats of climate change and its impact on our local food systems. It is evident that climate change is real, and it has therefore become inevitable to integrate modern seed technology to ensure sustainability and food security.
“This gathering speaks of the critical role that innovation and collaboration play in the future of our seed sector in the face of our present challenges as a nation”, he said.
The Minister also outlined the hurdles Nigeria faces in transforming its seed system, including poor distribution channels, inadequate infrastructure, and widespread mistrust in the quality and health impacts of improved seeds.
While commending NADF for its leadership in addressing these issues, Senator Abdullahi said “National Agricultural Development Fund is commended for taking the bull by the horns in addressing critical issues hampering our agricultural development”.
The Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Development Fund, Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, said the six priority crops which are staples in different geopolitical zones in Nigeria, are crucial for achieving food security in the country.
“Through the Seed Systems Enhancement Programme, we aim to provide financial support to drive this transformation. This includes funding for agricultural research institutes to develop and scale breeder seeds for priority crops”, Ibrahim said.
He restated the commitment of the Fund on its comprehensive efforts to enhance Nigeria’s seed system with focus on six priority crops maize, rice, cowpeas, cassava, millet, and oil palm across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
The NADF boss underscored the Fund’s focus on financial support to agricultural research institutes and seed companies to develop, scale, and distribute improved seed varieties.
The Acting Director-General of NASC, Dr. Ishiak Khalid, while emphasising the private sector’s pivotal role, lauded the government’s commitment to enacting policies that strengthen the seed sector.
“As the private sector, we need to be more organised to give life to the beautiful policies and shun any kind of circumvention that may collapse the system”, he said.
The workshop ended with a collective call for action with Stakeholders emphasising the need for robust stakeholder collaboration.
Participants commended NADF for its proactive steps and pledged to support a transformative agenda that ensures sustainable agriculture and food security for Nigeria while advocating for a coordinated approach to drive innovation, improve farmer access, and rebuild trust in the seed system.
The Niger State Programme Coordinator for the Federal Government’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), have expressed concern over the low usage of rice threshing machines by farmers in parts of the Nigeria state.
These machines were provided as part of an initiative to help increase harvest yields and reduce post-harvest losses.
In a statement during a training session for rice farmers in Majingari, Katcha Local Government Area, the Value Chain Agricultural Production Officer, Dr. Lawal Mohammed, said adequate use of the machine would help in food security.
According to Dr. Mohammed, the IFAD programme distributed threshing machines to rice farmers in the eight participating local government areas of Niger State to help reduce losses during harvest.
Many farmers have, however, abandoned the machines in favor of traditional threshing methods, thereby missing out on the benefits of increased efficiency and reduced losses.
The Programme Coordinator lamented that due to the underutilisation of such equipment, Nigeria faces a significant challenge, with up to 40 percent of post-harvest losses in the agricultural sector.
During the training, Hajiya Isah emphasised the importance of adopting best agronomy practices, including the proper use of threshing machines, to minimize losses and improve production, particularly for dry season farming.
A rice farmer from Shiroro Local Government, Mustapha P. Gaiya, reiterated that the thresher machine boosted his harvest and income, adding the benefits of the programme of the programme cannot be over emphasised.
He noted that while some farmers consider the thresher to be slow, he finds it faster and more efficient, allowing him to thresh over 40 bags of rice in a day.
The Lead Consultant for the IFAD programme in Niger State, Prof. Abigail Jirgi, also emphasized the need for farmers to follow best practices throughout the entire rice production process, from harvest to storage, in order to reduce losses.
She urged farmers not to burn rice crop residues, as it depletes soil nutrients, but to allow the residues to decompose and enrich the soil.
Prof. Jirgi also called on community leaders to encourage farmers to adopt these best practices for improved yields and economic growth.
The Majingari community, represented by Mohammed Idris Ndaloke, expressed gratitude for the training and pledged to support the effort to educate local farmers on improving their harvest practices and overall economic prosperity.
The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) has unveiled plans to train five million Nigerian youths in cassava cultivation through its Cassava Value Chain Initiative.
The Director-General of the NNMDA, Prof. Martins Emeje, who announced the initiative, highlighted the agency’s goal of harnessing Nigeria’s vast cassava production potential to spur economic growth and development.
“Nigeria accounts for over 20% of global cassava production, making it the world’s largest producer”, Emeje noted.
He emphasised that the initiative aims to create jobs, generate wealth, and support the pharmaceutical and natural medicine industries by leveraging cassava’s value chain.
The programme will involve collaboration with stakeholders to establish large-scale cassava farms and modern processing facilities.
Emeje, a nanotechnology expert, explained that the project would focus on producing pharmaceutical-grade starch and developing innovative natural medicine products.
“Our strategic approach includes advancing research to produce high-quality starch for pharmaceutical use and creating products that combine cassava-derived starch with natural ingredients”, he said.
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