Agric & Biotech

To increase the incomes of many of the billion forest-dependent people worldwide the current model for investment in forests must be turned on its head. An initiative of unprecedented scale, led by The Forests Dialogue (TFD), IUCN and  the Growing Forests Partnerships (GFP), has found that optimising the benefits and productivity of forests requires moving from a ‘resource-led’ model to ...

Tanzania will host the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF)) from  September 26 to 28, 2012, the country’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives, Christopher Chiza, and President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Jane Karuku, have disclosed. The meeting is said to be the next milestone in developing African-led food security solutions. At the recent G8 ...

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has decried the alarming rate of deforestation caused by the charcoal business in Ekiti State, even as it demanded prompt action on the part of the state government to stave off crisis between the charcoal merchants and the local communities. This call was made last week at capacity building/stakeholder forums on strategies ...

The implementation of the Nigeria REDD+ Readiness Programme has received the go-ahead, following a recent stakeholder-wide reassessment of the plan in Abuja. Having previously undergone an intensive check to incorporate the comments of the UN-REDD Policy Board, the approved national programme, in line with the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) management procedure, required a critical analytical review of its design ...

African governments have been accused of being complacent about the “covert” activities of the biotechnology industry to undermine food sovereignty on the continent. According to participants at a workshop held in Abuja, the policy frameworks for biotechnology in most African countries are either non-existent, weak or subject to manipulation by multinational corporations promoting genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), and acting in alliance ...

National Coordinator, the Nigeria Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD ) Programme, Salisu Dahiru, has called on state governments in Nigeria to embrace the initiative so as to mitigate the effects of climate change, protect ecosystems, develop communities and reduce poverty. Salisu, who announced that implementation of the Nigerian UN-REDD pilot scheme in Cross River State would commence soon, ...