Agric & Biotech

The recurrent Fulani herdsmen attack on Benue communities may soon be a thing of the past as the State House of Assembly on Thursday, May 4, 2017 passed into law a bill outlawing open grazing in the state. Cited as the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017, the bill which was passed after the House considered the report ...

Should science not be to the advantage of society? Does science always serve the public interest? Nnimmo Bassey, director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), posed these questions in his opening words at a Media Training on Biosafety organised in Abuja recently. The answers to these questions are obvious. The training session went ahead to question whether science was ...

Speaking to media executives in Abuja recently, Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (Convener of Nigerians against GMOs), Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje (Food Sovereignty Programme, Friends of the Earth Nigeria/Africa) and Dr. Ifeyinwa Aniebo (African Health Magazine), jointly demand the protection of food and the environment via the revocation of Monsanto’s GMO permits, as well as the repeal ...

A network of science communicators has called on stakeholders to come together and ensure more public education on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria. Making the call under the auspices of Journalists for Social Development Initiative (JSDI), a non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of awareness around sustainable development, the group stated that criticisms in respect of ...

In his welcome remarks at the Lawyers Roundtable on Biosafety held at the Apo Apartments, Abuja on Tuesday, April 25 2017, Nnimmo Bassey, Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), says that, in the light of the seeming defective NBMA Act, government cannot afford to gamble with the citizen’s biosafety and biosecurity Dead people cannot speak against judicial or ...

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has lodged an appeal to the High Court of South Africa to overturn decisions of the GMO authority, the GMO Appeal Board and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, to commercialise Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) drought tolerant (DT) maize seed. More than 25 000 concerned citizens have signed petitions and submitted objections in ...

Addressing climate change is a key priority for African countries as a region that is highly impacted and hence the need for urgent implementation of the various strategies at local, national and regional levels. The Eastern Africa is home to thousands of pastoralists who herd their livestock in the semi-arid to arid areas. With increased impacts of climate, there is need ...

The Federal Government spent more than N9.5 billion for the distribution of farm inputs to farmers during the dry season farming, an official of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has said. Ohiare Jatto, the Director, Farm Input Support Services Department in the ministry, said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on ...

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has said that billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, may become the largest exporter of rice in the world by 2021. Speaking at the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Morocco over the weekend, Adesina said Africa must focus on agriculture to drive growth and create jobs on the continent. “I remember when ...

The State Programme Coordinator IFAD/VCDP Benue State, Emmanuel Igbaukum, has made a case for harmonising and relocating dry season farmers in Iye-Uvir in Guma Local Government of the state to a central point to be served by the Ake Lake to enhance cost effectiveness and productivity. Mr Igbaukum, who made this known in a chat with news men shortly after ...