25.9 C
Lagos
Friday, May 2, 2025
Home Blog Page 2135

Green Climate Fund urged to prioritise grassroots, women, youth-led strategies

Michael Simire
-
0
Green Climate Fund urged to prioritise grassroots, women, youth-led strategies

The Global Greengrants Fund (GGF) recently convened a Summit on Women and Climate in Bali, Indonesia.  In a letter to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the GGF, in collaboration with the International Network of Women’s Fund and Alliance of Funds, calls for the creation of a strategy for influencing the GCF to fund grassroots work, as well as indigenous, women’s and youth-led climate adaptation and mitigation ventures. The four-year-old GCF is working on a business plan, prior to the distribution of funds

 

Dear Board of Directors and Alternates to the Green Climate Fund:

Global Greengrants Fund, the International Network of Women’s Funds, and the Alliance of Funds extend our warm greetings and encouragement as you enter your 8th meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund this week.

Nnimmo Bassey of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)
Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of the Board of Directors, Global Greengrants Fund

We write to briefly inform you of a recent Summit on Women and Climate, held on August 2-7, 2014 in Bali, Indonesia in which grassroots women climate leaders and grantmaking organisations that work in more than 170 countries convened to examine the landscape, strategies, and opportunities for increasing funding to women and women-led organisations around the world working to advance solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

As you already know, women in the global south are more adversely affected than men by the impacts of climate change.  And along with other groups, including indigenous peoples and youth, women are underrepresented in the decision-making spaces that establish the priorities for where and how climate finance is allocated.  Furthermore, the contributions of women in the Global South as leaders in strategies of climate resilience, food security, low carbon agriculture, forest protection, and sustainable energy alternatives are largely not visible to typical funders and finance programmes, resulting in a crucial investment opportunity being overlooked.  This has been well documented including in a recent article in the Asia Times entitled, “Carbon funds bypass Asian Indigenous Peoples.”

This problem is one that an already existing infrastructure of independent grantmaking organisations, based in 42 countries, can help address.  These funds have been designed to deliver accessible funding to local environmental and women’s rights solutions in an effective manner and at a low transaction cost.  The Greengrants Alliance of Funds consists of seven environmental funds with capacity to support grassroots environmental work in more than 100 countries through direct grantmaking and capacity building.  The International Network of Women’s Funds unites 42 funds that work in 170 countries to advance women’s rights and empowerment by mobilising funding and capacity building for grassroots women’s organisations.  Together our funds channel tens of millions of dollars a year to local, women-led organisations around the world in an effective manner with minimal transaction costs and we have the capacity to mobilise much more.  In August, we committed to working together to channel more financial resources to local women-led climate initiatives around the world.

In your work this week we ask that you consider the tremendous need for climate finance resources to directly reach the community and village level, and to make further efforts to support initiatives that are led by women, indigenous peoples and youth.

In particular, we urge the Green Climate Fund to:

  • Establish appropriate mechanisms and measureable goals to ensure that a significant percentage of Green Climate Fund resources directly reaches organisations led by women, indigenous peoples and youth to implement their strategies and solutions for adaptation and mitigation.
  • Strengthen the important work already done in the Gender Policy and Action Plan by actively encouraging the involvement of grassroots women leaders in the design and governance structures of Sub-National, National, Regional and International Implementing Agencies and other distribution mechanisms for the Green Climate Fund.
  • Consider, in discussions of modalities that further enhance direct access through funding entities, how the Green Climate Fund could partner with and leverage the existing global infrastructure of grassroots grantmaking organisations to cost-effectively channel resources to small, local, non-governmental organisations that otherwise would find it difficult to access financial support from the Green Climate Fund for their important work.
  • Consider, in operationalising the Fit-for-Purpose Accreditation approach, how intermediaries funding community-led projects with small grants could be more easily accredited to work with Green Climate Fund resources.

We believe that the Green Climate Fund is obligated to directly support the crucial work that women around the world are leading at the local level to address the causes and impacts of climate change. Our own experience, directly funding thousands of such initiatives in more than 170 countries, demonstrates that this is possible to do on a large scale. We look forward to engaging in further dialogue with the Green Climate Fund about strategies to partner with and leverage existing philanthropic infrastructure around the world that is already providing direct financial support to those who are addressing the most pressing climate change challenges of our time.

 

Sincerely,

Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of the Board of Directors, Global Greengrants Fund

Artemisa Castro, Executive Director, Fondo Acción Solidária; Chair, Alliance of Funds, Mexico

Ibis Colindres, Executive Director, Fondo Vinculos Comunitarios, Honduras

Emilienne de Leon Aulina, Executive Director, International Network of Women’s Funds, Mexico

Anouk Frank, Programme Officer for Policy Development, BothENDS, The Netherlands

Aisling Nolan, Operations Manager, Small Change Fund, Canada

Teresa Odendahl, PhD, Executive Director, Global Greengrants Fund, United States

Nonette Royo, The Samdhana Institute, Indonesia

Maria Amalia Souza, Founding Executive Director, Socio-Environmental Fund CASA, Brazil

Stakeholders applaud Biosafety Bill at Senate hearing

Michael Simire
-
0
Stakeholders applaud Biosafety Bill at Senate hearing

A bill for an act to establish the National Biosafety Management Agency appeared to scale a major hurdle last week in Abuja, where it was tabled for public hearing by the Senate Joint Committee on Agriculture & Rural Development, and Science & Technology.

David Mark, Senate President. Photo: Premium Times
David Mark, Senate President. Photo: Premium Times

At the daylong event, a considerable number of speakers from government, research institutions, international agencies and the academia gave the controversial bill the all-clear, pointing out that, when eventually in place, it will do the nation a lot of good.

Biotechnology applies biological agents on human, animal, plant and soil materials for health or agricultural reasons towards achieving positive results. However, the application of biotechnology can also have negative effects leading to contaminations, infections, complications, diseases and death.

But majority of the participants at the public hearing would rather focus on the technology’s numerous advantages, as they identified and supported the process of enactment into law of the National Biosafety Management Agency Bill, 2014.

For instance, Prof Lucy Ogbadu, Director-General/CEO of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), submitted that, besides increase in food supply with less farmland requirement, biotechnology would bring about wealth creation and industrial growth, ensure the discovery and delivery of new medicines and vaccines diagnosis in diseases, as well as finding relevance in the clean-up of oil spills, prevention of deforestation and provision of eco-friendly materials.

According to Prof Ogbadu, who is also Chair, Nigeria chapter of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), the bill seeks to minimise risks to human health, regulate the importation of genetically-modified (GM) products, guard against any socio-economic consequences, offer protection against any adverse effect of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) on the environment, and reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to the principles of international agreements and treaties on biosafety.

“The absence of a Biosafety Law has greatly hampered research and development in modern biotechnology in Nigeria; a biosafety law will therefore enable our research institutes to carry out their statutory functions,” she stated, adding that South Africa (1989), Egypt (1995), Kenya (2009) and Burkina Faso (2008) are among African countries that already have such a law in place.

Ademola Olorunfemi, President of the Nigerian Institute of Engineers (NSE), underlined the need for the application of biotechnology in agriculture in the light of the diminishing interest in preoccupation in agriculture/food production activities in one hand and, on the other, increasing demand for food to cater for increasing population while land mass is fixed.

A group displaying placards calling for the quick passage of the bill
A group displaying placards calling for the quick passage of the bill

“This scenario brings a serious complication to the equation of food and agricultural production and makes it difficult to meet global food demand. It is however necessary to scale up global agricultural and food production, despite inherent odds, via the application of science, technology and engineering. The application of bio-technology and bio-engineering are especially crucial in the production, processing and distribution of agricultural and food materials,” he disclosed.

While calling for legislation, labelling, monitoring, regulation and control framework for GM crop utilisation and administration, Olorunfemi described the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety as a relevant internationally accepted legal framework on biosafety associated with the movement of GM crops across national boundaries.

Prof Garba Sharubutu, President of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN), describes the bill as “important”, saying that it aims to protect human and environmental health.

“It is the view of the Council that if the bill is signed into law, issues that border on research and development can be standardised,” he declared, raising concerns on parts of the bill such as Part I Section 2b, Part II Section 3a and Part III (Structure of the Agency).

Prof Malachy Akoroda, Executive Director, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), noted that the establishment of a National Biosafety Management Agency would act as a clearing house similar to what NAFDAC is doing for food and medicines.

According to him, a general question regarding the coordinated and/or central disposal of hazardous chemicals is missing from the draft bill, he added.

“There are hazardous chemicals arising from works in the molecular laboratory that would need to be centrally disposed as obtainable in the developed country. There is need to properly incorporate these concerns in the bill for this act to cater for this aspect.”

Dr M.B. Yerima, President of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN), expressed support for the bill but would rather prefer the proposed agency to be referred to as National Biosafety Regulatory Agency (NABRA).

“This is particularly so, because biosafety issues border on regulatory approaches. It is the risks that are associated with modern biotechnology applications that are better managed. In this case the idea of the bill is to safeguard the occurrence of the potential risk through the proper regulations,” he stressed.

Dr Yerima likewise underscored the need to have specialised and independent laboratories with the agency for food testing, toxicological testing of pollutants, culture collection and preservation to, according to him, ensure reliability and minimise “cooking of data”.

Prof Shehu Garki Ado, Institutional Biosafety Officer at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University in Samaru-Zaria, insists that Nigeria must take steps towards implementing appropriate biosafety and food quality standards by enacting a bill to that effect.

His words: “The bill will enhance the technical skills of laboratory personnel to ensure judicious use of GM food in the country. Such capacity building activities are part of the efforts to help develop mechanisms for confidence of smallholder farmers and marketers, and make them produce resilient crops for sustainable agriculture in the long run.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD) by leveraging on the potential of the agribusiness and food processing sectors in the country.”

Prof Mohammad Ishiyaku, Programme Leader, Biotechnology Research, IAR, disclosed that instead of the expensive and harmful chemical insecticides, the institute utilised biotechnology tools to develop varieties of cowpea that are highly resistant to Maruca (a pod boring insect), leading to two-four fold higher yield than the non-resistant types. He added that the beans are under experimentation.

He said: “You can never ascertain the safety or otherwise of the products of modern biotechnology such as our insect-resistant beans without a legislation like this. To do inaction in this regard is to shut off our country from immense potential benefits there are in this technology.

“I urge you to disregard those snobbish elites among us who never tasted hunger or poverty in their lives and have no idea what it means to increase a poor farmer’s annual harvest even by one ton. We must provide the room for all technological options for the transformation of our great country which is to pass this bill into law.”

Dr Chris Ugwu, Executive Director, Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP), however contends that absence of provision for public consultation is a key flaw of the bill.

He declared: “Part VIII, Section 6 of the bill has provisions for public display of applications from individuals or corporations intending to import or introduce GMOs into the country. However, Section 6(2) of the bill indicates that the announcement of the display of such applications is not mandatory. Everything in the section is optional. The announcement of where or when the display would be made is optional as well as whether the agency would convene a public hearing on the matter.

“In fact, the bill does not even say if comments made by members of the public that may get to see the application would be considered. Seeing an application by chance and commenting on it cannot be construed as public participation.”

Dr Ugwu alleges that the bill has left wide gaps that would ensure that those who wish to pollute the environment get away with slaps on the wrist sort of chastisement.

“The provision of fines of up to N2.5 million for individuals and N5 million for corporate bodies may appear huge, but they are actually not significant when we consider, as stated in the bill, the ‘potential risks that modern biotechnology may pose to the environment and human health’.”

He added: “The downside of these penalties is that there is no redress for individuals or communities who may be impacted individually or collectively. There is no clear provisions for polluters to be liable and compelled to remediate impacts. Without clear liability and redress provisions, securing our biodiversity will remain unchanged. What happens, for example, when damage is irreversible?

“The bill has provisions for confined field trials and commercial release but is silent on the possibility of large-scale field trials conducted with low or no contaminant measures. Researches have shown that there is a huge potential of GMOs to contaminate nearby farms and, by our farming practices, farmers may simply take the seeds home and mix them with natural varieties.

“Experts fear that from an ecological perspective, GM crops would lead to uncontrolled large-scale spread and persistence of transgenes within the smallholder agricultural systems in Africa. The result would be disastrous and unpredictable recombination and that would be negatively impact on our crop variety.”

Declaring open the forum, Senate President, David Mark, stated that the need to adopt modern and acceptable means of boosting food production to meet up with the growing population as conventional means were proving to be insufficient.

Represented by Senate Committee Chairman on Interior, Senator Bagudu Atiku, the Senate President urged the stakeholders to take cognisance of the economic, environmental and other benefits of biotechnology in their submissions.

“The issue of biotechnology is an international one and Nigeria is signatory to the Cartagena protocol on biosafety. But, we must domesticate the issues involved so as to benefit from the technology,” Mark added.

Senate Committee Chairman on Agriculture, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, said the National Assembly was committed to ensuring that the law which was passed but did not get presidential assent in the life of the Sixth Assembly is passed before the end of the Seventh Assembly.

He explained that the law was necessary to put a framework to regulate biotechnology application in Nigeria, adding, “The bill provides derived benefits from modern biotechnology for economic growth, improved agriculture, jobs and wealth creation, industry growth and sustainable environment.”

Various farmers associations were at the Senate chamber displaying placards calling for the quick passage of the bill.

Syngenta sued for $1bn over China’s rejection of GM corn

Michael Simire
-
0
Syngenta sued for $1bn over China’s rejection of GM corn

US corn prices plummeted as China rejected all shipments containing traces of Syngenta’s MIR162. Farmers from five major corn growing states have filed three class action lawsuits against Syngenta, claiming damages of more than $1 billion.

A corn field
A corn field

Syngenta released MIR162, trade name Agrisure Vipera, in 2009. It is engineered to make a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) protein vip3Aa20 toxic to lepidopteran insect pests (butterflies and moths), and also has a gene pmi (phosphomannose isomerase) from E. coli to allow positive selection for the transgene.

It was created with Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated plant transformation, a particularly hazardous vector system that risks further horizontal gene transfer.

While MIR162 is approved for use in the US, China has not allowed its import into the country.

Syngenta is blamed for destroying the export of US corn to China, which led to depressed prices for domestic corn, according to Volnek Farms, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in Omaha, Nebraska federal court. The two other suits were filed in Iowa and Illinois federal courts.

None of the farmers involved in the lawsuits planted MIR162 seed in their fields in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. But their harvested crop was contaminated with traces of the transgenic trait, and hence unsalable to the Chinese market.

Although Viptera has been planted on only about 3% of US farm acreage, it is difficult to say for sure “that any shipments of US corn will not be contaminated with trace amounts of MIR162”, the Nebraska plaintiff stated.

The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) had encouraged Syngenta to stop selling Viptera, according to the Iowa claim. The NGFA estimated that actions taken in China against US corn have caused prices to drop by 11 cents per bushel.

The Iowa suit also claims that the release of Syngenta’s Viptera caused the US-to-China export market to drop by 85%. Nebraska plaintiffs, too, accuse Syngenta of having crippled the 2013-14 corn export market to China.

The NGFA reported in April 2014 that China had barred nearly 1.45 million tons of corn shipments since 2013.

In 2011, Syngenta requested in federal court that a grain elevator firm, Bunge North America, to remove its signs that said it would not accept Vipera corn. The request was denied.

Concern over the safety of GM food may have played a role in a recent decision by China’s officials to move away from GM production.

In August, China’s Ministry of Agriculture announced it would not continue with GM rice and corn.

By Dr Mae-Wan Ho (co-founder and director of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS), an independent, not-for-profit organisation founded in 1999 and dedicated to providing critical public information on cutting-edge science, and to promoting social accountability and ecological sustainability in science. Since 1994, she has been scientific advisor to the Third World Network.)

‘How BT cotton will transform Nigeria’s economy’

Michael Simire
-
0
‘How BT cotton will transform Nigeria’s economy’

H.A. Kwajaffa, Chairman of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), in a memorandum submitted to the Senate last week in Abuja during a Public Hearing on the Biosafety Bill, makes a case for the genetically-modified cotton (or Biotechnology Cotton), saying that its adoption will revive the presently moribund sector

 

BT Cotton
BT Cotton

Cotton is one of the most important commercial crops in Nigeria with a history of more than 100 years. Cotton used to be a very import-export revenue earner of good part of the 20th century. Prior to the advent of oil boom, indeed through the late 1980s, the cotton value chain sector was the second largest employer of labour after the public sector.

However, due to several factors, which led to the closure of the textile mills, cotton production in the country had also declined. Some other factors that contributed to the decline in cotton production are late planting, low yielding seed, pest disease attack, climate change challenges, and low price offer to cotton farmers. There is also the problem of instability in the marketing system.

The introduction of free market and structural adjustment programme (SAP) around late 1980s helped to some extent to remedy the situation but, to date, the sector never regained its pre-eminent position. SAP also introduced a serious problem of inconsistency in the marketing system which led to the problem of poor quality of Nigerian cotton especially the problem of cotton contamination by polypropylene and uncontrollable adulteration of cotton with foreign matters by farmers and buyers.

Cotton is one of the most labour intensive crops known due to not only to weeding, spraying and other requirements but also due to manual picking followed in the country. It is also one the most capital intensive crops due to the requirement of high doses of insecticides.

Cotton is such a unique crop with multi-dimensional purposes. For example, apart from being raw material for textile fabric, the seed is used for production of nutritious and low cholesterol oil, cake for animal feeds; the stalks are used for cardboards, ceiling, and planks. Therefore, there is no wastage in cotton.

Presently, Nigeria produces short and medium staples, yet long staple cotton is in higher demand worldwide given its application for special fabrics. Consequently, the production of long staple cotton is being encouraged under rain-fed condition in the southern cotton producing zone.

The above notwithstanding, cotton production, processing and marketing remains a major business sector and provides employment and means of livelihood to millions of Nigerians directly or indirectly especially in the Northern parts of the country.

 

Cotton growing areas in Nigeria

Cotton cultivation is very well suited to the Sudan and Northern Guinea Savannah where about 95% of the crop is produced. The development of different varieties of cotton with different maturity and biological characteristics has enhanced the adaptation of the crop to most ecological zones in the country. The cotton growing areas in the country covers about 25 states and they are grouped as follows:

  • Northern Cotton Zone which includes Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Jigawa states;
  • Eastern Cotton Zone included Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Yobe and Taraba states; and,
  • Southern Cotton Zone includes parts of Kwara, Ogun, Nasarawa, Niger, Kogi, Oyo, Benue, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Cotton can be grown on different types of soil provided the site selected is freely drained. Unfortunately, there has been absence of soil test in the country for many rears. This makes cotton a unique crop that can be grown in virtually all parts of the country. But, unfortunately, today, because of the challenges we have highlighted above, we are not getting anything from this crop called “white gold”.

In many countries such as India, Pakistan, China and Brazil, cotton plays a major contribution to their economies. Even though it utilises over 50% of her production domestically, India remains one of the highest exporters of cotton in the world, netting over $6 billion annually. But, with all the potential we have in terms of arable land and human resources in Nigeria, this great source of revenue and employment is neglected.

 

What we stand to gain if Biotechnology Cotton is introduced

  • Increase in the yield: One of the greatest challenges we have today in Nigeria in cotton production is low yield. The average yield of Nigerian cotton is about 800kg/hectare whereas in India, US and China, the yield is about five tons/hectare. In African countries such as Burkina Faso and Egypt where Biotechnology Cotton (BT) has been introduced, over four tons/hectare is achieved.
  • BT cotton reduces the usage of insecticides and therefore makes it cheaper to produce.
  • Increased earning for farmers: Farmers will earn four times more than they are currently earning from cotton. More farmers will return to cotton production and the national production will greatly increase, thereby increasing our foreign exchange earning therefrom.
  • Massive employment generation: Needless to mention that this is what we need to curb the menacing insecurity in the country especially in the North.
  • Reduce drastically rural-urban migration and its attendant adverse social consequences.
  • Increased standard of living for farmers, families and dependants.
  • It will enhance mechanised farming in the country.
  • BT cotton will make cotton production to become a business in Nigeria and encourage more local and foreign investment in the sector.
  • Because of the low production of cotton, over 30 ginneries in the country are closed down. All these will be reactivated and contribute to the economy by providing employment.
  • We will be able to compete with other cotton producing nations all over the world in terms of pricing and quality.
  • Our textile industry will be reactivated as they will be able to source good and relatively cheaper raw materials and thereby compete more effectively with textile products from other parts of the world.

Despite the wonderful work the current administration is doing to transform cotton production, cotton farmers in the country have over the years suffered a great deal and are still suffering. They have only remained in the production just to fulfil cultural practices. If nothing is done to make cotton production attractive, farmers may eventually turn their backs on the business and, at that stage, its revival would be near impossible.

We however still have a glimpse of hope as some older farmers are still in the business. We believe, very strongly, that BT Cotton, if introduced will be the panacea that we urgently require to restore the glory of cotton in Nigeria. We, therefore, recommend that the Biosafety Law should be passed.

COP11: African Lion, Polar Bear, others require strict protection

Michael Simire
-
0
COP11: African Lion, Polar Bear, others require strict protection

The 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CMS COP11) to the UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) will take place from 4-9 November 2014 in Quito, Ecuador.

The African Lion. Photo: images.nationalgeographic.com
The African Lion. Photo: images.nationalgeographic.com

A High Level Ministerial Panel will be held on 3 November to discuss how to reconcile the rights of nature with the green economy in the context of sustainable development.

Topics on the agenda of CMS COP11 include:

Species Proposed for Listing

A total of 32 species have been proposed for listing on the Appendices. Appendix I listing requires strict protection, while Appendix II requires coordinated management by the countries through which the species migrate. At COP11, all eyes are on sawfish, rays and sharks, which account for 21 of the total of 32 proposals under consideration. Other iconic species have been put forward for listing, notably the Polar Bear, which is threatened by disappearing sea ice and the African Lion.

Wildlife crime and poaching have become major threats to the survival of many migratory species worldwide. The COP is expected to strengthen transboundary action to fight poaching and illicit wildlife trade within and beyond borders.

Illegal killing, taking and trade of migratory birds put the survival of viable populations at risk. A proposal to convene an international task force to address this issue will be considered by the COP.

Marine debris injures and kills many migratory marine mammals, turtles, seabirds and sharks. Actions to reduce pollution of the marine environment will be discussed.

Renewable energy technology such as wind farms can have negative impacts on migratory species such as bats, birds, fish, marine turtles, whales and dolphins. Based on best practice examples, new guidelines to minimise the impact of this technology will be presented to the COP.

The Central Asian Mammals Initiative is a new innovative approach which embraces an entire region instead of focusing on individual species. Measures are presented to address key threats to save the last migrations of large mammals such as the Bactrian Camel or the Saiga Antelope in this important region.

Single Species Action Plans for Argali Sheep, Pacific Loggerhead Turtles and the endangered Saker Falcon have been elaborated to be adopted at the conference.

World Food Day 2014: Family farmers key to alleviating global hunger – FAO

Michael Simire
-
0
World Food Day 2014: Family farmers key to alleviating global hunger – FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has recognised family farmers as central to solving global hunger and malnutrition.

Family farmers in Kenya
Family farmers in KenyaFarming

According to FAO, family farming includes all family-based agricultural activities. Family farming is a means of organising agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production, which is managed and operated by a family and is predominantly reliant on family labor. In addition, FAO reports that, based on data from 93 countries, family farmers account for an average of 80 percent of all holdings, and are the main producers of food that is consumed locally.

“The world cannot do without the family farmer,” says Amy McMillen, Partnerships and Outreach Coordinator for FAO. “It’s because of the family farmer that we eat a variety of healthy foods every day. And yet, family farmers still make up the majority of poor and hungry people in the world. We must do more to incentivise, celebrate and exponentially improve the lives of family farmers to ensure all people have access to fresh, healthy food.”

The face of family farming in North America is dynamic. Results from a new survey of 75 North American family farmers, led by Humanitas Global in collaboration with FAO and Food Tank, were unveiled at the Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa last week. The results demonstrate what is at play for those who have stayed on the farm, chosen to leave the farm or taken up farming for the first time. A consistent takeaway from the results demonstrates that North American-based family farmers remain committed to family farming, despite the challenges that exist.

“The survey results and our conversations with farmers reinforce a deep affinity for family farming, but they also show that farmers are torn between a love for the land and trying to make ends meet,” said Nabeeha M. Kazi, President & CEO of Humanitas Global and Chair of the Community for Zero Hunger. “For those who no longer work the family farm, the importance of feeding their communities and the world remains very much part of their identity.”

Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents who have left the family farm said they remain involved in agriculture in their current careers. In addition, a majority of those who have left the family farm said they intend on returning in the future.

“We do not want the universe of family farmers to shrink, and we must have policies, programs and resources to enable family farmers to stay on the farm if they desire to do so and perform at their potential,” says Kazi. “However, we also cannot overlook the power of those who have left the farm. These individuals have tremendous and highly credible voices as we promote and protect the family farm. We should deploy them to inform policy, shape programs and amplify the story of the family farmer in diverse spaces.”

The greatest challenges for family farmers today include the cost of land, labour costs, government regulations and policies, climate change and the inherent risk of farming, as well as the disproportionate amount of work required given the financial returns.

“The survey results show that family farmers do not rely on farming alone to pay the bills,” says Kazi. “Approximately 67 percent of respondents to the survey said that a family member’s income or additional part-time work supplements income from farming.”

On the positive side, a connection with the land and food systems, independence and working outdoors were all cited as the principle advantages of being a farmer. Those who grew up and remained on farms, those who left farms to pursue other careers and new family farmers all spoke of tending to the land and watching food grow as the most fulfilling aspects of being a farmer.

Family farmers are facing economic challenges and beyond. In addition to tools and resources, family farmers are concerned about issues that all Americans worry about – including providing health care for their families and higher education for their children.  And yet, so many people stay on the family farm or are committed to returning, because farming is fulfilling, intellectually stimulating and challenging – and it has shaped their values.

The challenges that family farmers face in the United States and throughout North America mirror the challenges seen globally. Climate change, low profitability and better off-farm opportunities all emerge as the greatest global threats to family farming.

“Recognising the external pressures on family farming, many which the global community can help alleviate, is crucial if we are to make family farming viable and desirable for the next generation,” says McMillan. “FAO celebrates family farmers. We have to be very deliberate and responsive to the needs of the family farmer so they can successfully and profitably do what they love, and that love is feeding and nourishing the world.”

‘Smallholder farmers are key to sustainable management of world’s natural resources’

Michael Simire
-
0
‘Smallholder farmers are key to sustainable management of world’s natural resources’

Smallholder farmers throughout the world play a key role in maintaining natural resources through the use of sustainable practices, and can significantly contribute the conservation of biodiversity, the Convention on Biological Diversity stressed on Thursday, in a joint press conference with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), held in the margins of COP 12 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on the occasion of the World Food Day 2014.

Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity

The theme for this year, “Family farming: Feeding the world, caring for the Earth”, seeks to raise the profile of the more than 500 million family farms, which produce about 80 percent of the world’s food and are crucial to ensure global food security.

“These 500 million families of farmers should be considered key players in the management of the world’s biodiversity – they are the largest group of biodiversity managers.  Achieving the Aichi biodiversity targets relevant to agriculture will require their efforts,” said Eduardo Mansur, Director of FAO Forest Assessment, Management and Conservation Division.

Achieving food security is intrinsically linked to the conservation of biodiversity. Family farms use a vast array of plant varieties and animal breeds in the most diverse and challenging environmental conditions. By using these breeds and varieties, family farmers conserve a broad genetic diversity. These genetic resources are indispensable for breeding new varieties and breeds and allow people to cope with present and future environmental and social changes.

 

Towards achieving Aichi biodiversity targets

Family farmers also possess unique knowledge and understanding of the local ecology and land capacity, which allows them to manage diverse landscapes. Their sustainable management of land and fisheries makes family farmers important contributors to the achievement of sustainable development and the global biodiversity goals known as the Aichi Targets.

The 20 targets, which are due in 2020, include having all fish stocks managed and harvested sustainably, as well as areas under agriculture and forestry. They also aim to halve the rate of loss of all natural habitats and significantly reducing degradation and fragmentation. Through practices like crop rotation and using alternatives to chemical pesticides, family farmers prevent soil erosion and degradation of ecosystems.

Sustainable farming practices also increase the resilience of ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification.

“Supporting the work of family farmers throughout the world would contribute substantially to eradicating poverty and to reaching global food security.  These important stakeholders also have a role in implementing many of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, such as contributing to developing and implementing sustainable agriculture, forestry and aquaculture practices, maintaining genetic resources for food and agriculture, to reduce the loss of natural habitats and others,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Negotiations towards new climate agreement resume in Bonn

Michael Simire
-
0
Negotiations towards new climate agreement resume in Bonn

The final round of formal negotiations before the UN climate convention conference in Lima, Peru takes place next week in the German city of Bonn.

Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary

The ‘October session’, running from 20 to 25 October, will give governments the important opportunity to further develop a cohesive text of a new draft climate agreement. The elements must be clear by the Climate Change Conference to be held in Lima, Peru, in December this year. This clarity will serve as the foundation for the construction of the negotiating text.

During 2015 this draft will form the basis for negotiating a new universal climate agreement set to be inked in Paris, France at the end of the year.

As part of this, governments will work towards getting clarity on what each country will contribute towards the agreement in line with its national circumstances, especially in terms of emission reductions. Governments had previously agreed to keep global temperature increases below 2C.

Countries are set to put forward what they intend to contribute to the 2015 agreement in the form of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) early next year.

The ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of the contributions, in other words the form, not the content, needs to be formally agreed in Lima to ensure that countries can provide this crucial information with confidence early next year.

Next week’s meeting, being held at the headquarters of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will also engage Parties on two special themes.

These are carbon capture, storage and use, and the so called non-CO2 gases like methane and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) – replacement gases in products like refrigerants that are friendly to the ozone layer but are powerful global warming gases.

The two topics will bring government experts into direct dialogue with experts from United Nations agencies, NGOs and the private sector.

They form part of a series of Technical Experts Meetings (TEMs) that have been held throughout 2014 which have previously covered policies able to raise ambition in fields from renewable energy and energy efficiency to urban and land use issues.

The aim of the TEMs process, part of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), is to assist nations in their efforts to raise ambition up to 2020 when the new agreement is set to enter into effect. They have done this by fostering on-going engagement of governments, experts and actors in the implementation of government policies and they therefore have the potential to carry the growing momentum for climate action forward in a concrete, action-oriented manner.

The TEMs fall squarely within the growing momentum for climate action as was witnessed at the recently concluded Summit on Climate Change by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

, said: “I welcome Parties to Bonn next week knowing that further progress towards a draft agreement will contribute to making Lima the success it needs to be.”

“2014 has been an extraordinary year of momentum by governments supported by climate action from cities and communities to corporations and the finance sector – our meeting next week will I am sure concretely carry forward that sense of optimism, dynamism and determination as we look forward to COP 20 in Peru in one month’s time,” she added.

The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) will hold the sixth part of its second session from 20-25 October 2014 in Bonn, Germany.

Lagos government hospitals demand litres of kerosene from expectant mothers

Michael Simire
-
0
Lagos government hospitals demand litres of kerosene from expectant mothers

A considerable number of Lagosians are facing a range of challenges in the bid to access proper health care services.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State (left) inaugurating a health facility
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State (left) inaugurating a health facility

A visit to two primary health centres in Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State reveals that ridiculous demands, lack of medical workers and epileptic power supply are among obstacles militating against effective health delivery in the neighbourhood.

Alimosho is the largest LGA in the state with 30 primary health centres catering for its over two million residents. It accounts for majority of votes during the 2011 general election that resulted in the re-election of Governor Babatunde Fashola. But, alas, the council area can barely boast of standard health care services.

For instance, the Orisunbare Health Care Centre, situated along Ejigbo Road, was established in 2008 and is meant to cater for an estimated 40,000 residents. However, it has only one medical doctor, who is a youth service corp member. The health centre recently started a 24-hour service delivery after a Ward Health Committee was set up. The Ward Health Committee members, who were selected from the community development association in Oguntade/Bameke Ward in Alimosho, were trained by the Lagos State Civil Society Partnership (LASCOP).

According to Miss Chichi Nkire, a member of LASCOP, the Ward Health Committee members, after undergoing training in Simple Management Skills, were tasked with the function of liaising between the health centre and residents in their communities.

“They work towards the smooth running operations of the health centre by mobilising community members to make use of the health centre and also work with community leaders to simplify concept that may seem worrisome to residents. For example, they are still some families that will not bring their children for immunisation and other essential treatments. We hold meetings with the Baales (traditional leaders) to educate them on the need for children to be immunised against killer diseases and all these treatments are free,” she disclosed.

Head of the Ward Health Committee in Orisunbare Health Centre, Alhaja Hafsat Adebisi, said before they were trained the health centre was not rendering antenatal and immunisation services due to the state of the facilities. But, after the training, they learnt how to mobilise resources and, through communal efforts, were able to raise money in wiring and installing ceiling fans.

“Mothers used to feel uncomfortable in bringing their babies because the health centre was always hot and people will be sweating, but we took care of that. We have also partnered with a fuel station in the community to supply fuel that we use in powering the generator donated to the health centre. All these we were able to achieve through communal assistance. Our health centre now operates a 24-hour service but we believe we can do more. We want residents to know that there is a functional health centre in the community and it is for their benefit but if it is not in a good condition nobody will want to come,” she stressed.

The Alabata Primary Health Care Centre situated along Akowonjo Road in Alimosho also operates a 24-hour service. According to the Chief Matron, Mrs Grace Okpadotun, the health facility receives an average of 250 patients daily with some other health care services being accessed in Isheri due to lack of space.

“We have limited space for our operations, but the number of patients that come here daily is overwhelming. But we are managing to attend to them the best way we can,” she disclosed.

Medical Officer for Health in Alimosho, Dr. Kayode Odufunwa, explained that paucity of funds, epileptic power supply and lack of space are among the key challenges facing effective delivery of healthcare services in the council.

“We have some fridges given to us by donor agencies and they are being powered by solar energy. These are used in storing vaccines and other essential drugs that need to be preserved in a cool place. We believe we can do more in ensuring that residents of Alimosho get the best of health care services.

In a chat with some women attending antenatal care, it was discovered that among requirements listed for child delivery is half a gallon of kerosene. When asked the need for it, the women said the hospital uses it in boiling hot water to bathe babies or to prepare tea.

Mr. John Okowehor, whose wife is a patient in the hospital, confirmed the woman’s claims, saying that he was once mandated to bring 10 litres of kerosene when his wife put to bed some years ago.

“It is an old practice and I don’t think they will ever stop it,” he lamented.

Reacting to the kerosene requirement for child delivery services, Okpadotun said that hot water is required for bathing the women after child birth “and we use the kerosene to boil water for them.”

“Is it my money that I will use to buy kerosene for them?” she demanded.

Recently, at a Roundtable with journalists, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, said he was not aware that women were asked to donate litres of kerosene as requirements for child delivery services. However, even as we speak, the petroleum product is top on the list of requirements for expecting mothers at the Alabata Primary Health Care Centre in Alimosho.

Residents in the most populated local government area in Lagos are however optimistic that, one day, primary health centres within their community would be functional, properly staffed and well equipped.

By Tina Armstrong-Ogbonna

Hand washing reduces disease contraction by 30 per cent – Expert

admin
-
0
Hand washing reduces disease contraction by 30 per cent – Expert

hand washingThe Director, Public Health and Disease Control, Ebonyi Ministry of Health, Dr Chris Achi, said that regular hand washing reduces risk of contracting infectious diseases by more than 30 per cent.

 

Achi made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abakaliki on the occasion of 2014 World Hand Washing Day.

 

He said the event was to create awareness on importance of regular hand washing to personal and environmental hygiene.

 

According to him, regular hand washing contributed about 30 per cent in reduction of deadly infectious diseases, stressing that human hands usually became the first contact with micro organisms that cause infectious diseases.

 

The director said that regular use of clean running water and antiseptic soaps could reduce the dangers of contracting diseases.

 

“The idea behind observing Oct. 15 every year as World Hand Washing Day is simply to raise global awareness of importance of cleaning our hands regularly.

 

“Our hands perform a lot of activities and constitute the first contact between us, other animate and inanimate objects within the environment.

 

“Often times we use our hands to touch the micro organisms that cause these infectious diseases and thereby contract them.

 

“When we indulge in regular hand washing we will enhance our personal hygiene and cleanliness and thereby reduce the risk of contracting these infectious diseases,’’ Achi said.

 

He advised Nigerians to cultivate the habit of regularly washing their hands before putting anything in their mouth and after using the toilets to stay healthy always.

 

He also called on people to ensure thorough washing of food items such as vegetables and fruits as well as their cooking utensils as a way of ensuring proper maintenance of safe hygiene.

 

He noted that one of the surest ways of staying healthy and keeping away from infectious diseases was observing proper personal and environmental hygiene.

 

“When we observe the basic rules of personal and environmental hygiene, we will stay healthy and free from diseases.

 

“A healthy people are a healthy nation and healthy nation is a wealthy nation,’’ the expert said.

 

He said that the ministry had embarked on sensitisation campaigns especially to the rural communities to educate the people on importance of maintaining simple personal and environmental hygiene.

 

“We have intensified our sensitisation campaigns on sanitary and personal hygiene especially at our rural communities.

 

“The outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in some parts of West Africa including Nigeria and occurrence of other haemorrhagic fever like Lassa fever and Gastroenteritis informed our reinforcement of sensitisation campaigns programme.

 

“When they have more knowledge about these diseases and how to prevent and control them; the more they live healthier and disease-free live,’’ Achi said.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the United Nation (UN) through the World Health Organisation (WHO) has on Oct 15, 2008, declared Oct. 15 as World Hand Washing Day annually.

 

The aim is to raise global awareness on importance of regular hand washing and its contributions in ensuring personal hygiene of individuals.

1...2,1342,1352,136...2,206Page 2,135 of 2,206

TV Report

Archives

2025 EnviroNews Nigeria. All Rights Reserved.

×