Agric & Biotech

First report on last year’s New York Declaration on Forests warns progress must accelerate to achieve goals laid out in historic commitment Unprecedented collaboration among corporate, government, indigenous and civil society leaders, often at odds about deforestation, gives hope that pledges to halt global forest loss can be met by 2030, according to a report released on Wednesday by Climate Focus and ...

The Federal Government’s determination to diversify the economy as a result of the challenges in the oil sector has set it to develop immutable strategies that would ensure the creation of no fewer than 25,000 jobs annually from the biotechnology sector. A statement by the Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), Mr. Rufus Ebegba, issued on Tuesday said modern ...

The Ogun State Government has warned contractors working in its forest reserves to adhere strictly to the rules of engagement signed with it. State Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, gave the warning during an assessment tour to the forest reserves at Oja-Odan, Ipake in Ilobi axis of Ilaro, Yewa South and the forest reserve areas J4 and J6 in ...

Fresh hopes have emerged for Nigeria’s floundering agricultural sector, thanks to a new initiative being promoted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is tagged the “GEF-UNDP Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in Nigeria.” According to project officials, the scheme will contribute to the enhancement of long-term environmental sustainability and resilience ...

A recent fact-finding mission by regional human rights groups in the south-western island of Palawan, the last ecological frontier of the Philippines, has revealed a pattern of land grabs and forest destruction by palm oil companies, partly owned by Malaysian and Singaporean investors. Motalib Kimel, Chairman of the local Coalition Against Land Grabbing (CALG) and himself a Taganua leader from Palawan, said: ...

After over 11 years of intellectual gymnastic between experts, policymakers, investors as well as consumers, the Federal Government under the reign of former President Goodluck Jonathan in April, 2015 signed into law the National Biosafety Management Act (NBMA). The objective of the Act is to give legal backing to the practice, proper deployment and development of modern biotechnology activities in ...

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has pledged Togo on regulatory frameworks in the area of the advancement of science, technology and innovation in the country. A high-level advocacy team led by Prof. Aggrey Ambali, who represented the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NEPAD Agency and the Michigan State University, expressed the availability of NEPAD Agency to support the ...

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), civil society groups and communities impacted by oil palm companies in Cross River State have described as worrisome, the influx of oil palm companies in the state and their expansion activities which they have described as “land grab in its most brazen form.” At an advocacy meeting in Calabar (the Capital ...

Public support is crucial if any technology is to be accepted and adopted by those who stand to benefit from it, including modern biotechnology which is relatively new in Nigeria.  Etta Michael Bisong, an environmental journalist based in Abuja, writes on the role of the media in strengthening modern biotechnology practices to provide alternative sources of livelihoods in Nigeria. Many Nigerians ...

Rufus Ebegba, Director-General and CEO of the the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), stresses that the recently passed Biosafety Act not only ensures biosafety in the country, but is a safety valve for harnessing the potentials of modern biotechnology safely The development of a national biosafety regulatory framework for Nigeria dates back to 1994 when the first National Biosafety Guidelines ...