Mercy Corps, a global group working to achieve a real and lasting impact in the world’s toughest humanitarian emergencies says many communities in East Africa are still struggling to protect against the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The group which has been responding to almost every global natural disaster in the last 20 years, including the Nepal earthquake, the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, points out strains on the food supply chain, the idea of an additional threat to this region already challenged with food shortages seems unimaginable. This…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
The combative Rivers State Government under the watch of Nyesom Wike, a seeming vociferous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor on Wednesday ignited a political fire in the state without substantiating its claims with credible security reports. Unarguably, Rivers is the capital of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and very strategic to the petroleum-led economy of the country. But, despite its economic status, the state has been suffering a worrisome bloodletting politics of the contending political gladiators. The political heat in the state is coming from the Ikwerre axis of the big oil and gas state whose son, Celestine Omehia, rose…
Four agencies of the United Nations have launched Tech Access Partnership (TAP) as part of a coordinated approach to strengthen developing countries’ responses to the rampaging COVID-19 and increase access to lifesaving health technologies. The four UN agencies are the UN Technology Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), The UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries is, however, a global organisation dedicated to enhancing the contribution of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development in the world’s least developed countries. The bank became operational in 2018 and serves the…
In Africa, aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnut will soon be a thing of the past. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has come to the rescue in efforts to reduce the contamination in Tanzania. The essence is to enhance the country’s food safety and security during this challenging time for the agriculture sector due to ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. Through its office in Tanzania, IITA produced 10 tons of AflasafeTZ, the natural and safe product that reduces aflatoxin contamination by over 90% in maize and groundnut for use in the country this cropping season. This was after the company contracted…
One in every nine people goes to bed hungry each night, so declares Mercy Corps, a global civic group. According to it, those going to bed hungry include the 20 million people currently at risk of famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria. Mercy Corps is, however, working to achieve a real and lasting impact in the world’s toughest humanitarian emergencies. The group has been responding to almost every global natural disaster in the last 20 years, including the Nepal earthquake, the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. …
Nigeria is likely to record 10,000 positive cases of COVID-19 by the end of this May. The number of infected persons in the country is already racing towards the 10,000 mark. Apparently worried, a top executive of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has outlined what the world needs at this time of the disturbing COVID-19 crisis. Director of IITA East Africa hub, Victor Manyong, is claiming that circular bio-economy is what the world now needs as it advances in technology, finance, and population. However, Nigeria’s total number of COVID-19 infections has zoomed to 6401 as on Tuesday, with…
Bukavu, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently bracing to produce 20 tons of tilapia per week by the end of this 2020. This will be done through the Tilapia Production in Cages Project implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and partners. The tilapia project is financially supported by the Fond de la Promotion de l’Industrie (FPI) as part of the 100 Days programme of DR Congo’s President, Felix Tshisekedi. On April 24, the South Kivu provincial Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Livestock, Marcelin Amani Bahaya, embarked on a tour of the different sites…
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in a new analysis is urging developing countries to transform their ad hoc COVID-19 crisis response measures into comprehensive social protection systems. According to ILO, the crisis has exposed devastating gaps in social protection coverage in developing countries, and ‘’recovery will only be sustained and future crises prevented if they can transform their ad hoc crisis response measures into comprehensive social protection systems.’’ Two briefing papers released by the ILO warn that the current gaps in social protection could compromise recovery plans, expose millions to poverty, and affect global readiness to cope with similar crises…
Afro-Honduran and indigenous communities are joining efforts to contain the spread of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. Working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Pan American Health Organisation, they have translated disease prevention information into the Garífuna language, as well as the Misquito, Tawahka and Chortí languages. This information is being used by health workers, community radio networks, television programmes and youth advocates to promote safe behaviours. This is all because as countries grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities are among the most vulnerable, with many facing poverty, poor health-care access and limited information. That…
Millions of starving people around the world are increasingly struggling to have access to food as incomes fall and food prices rise due to the merciless COVID-19 pandemic. This is happening even when the pandemic’s full-scale and long-term impact on food security is yet to be revealed. Yet, evidence shows that in countries already hit by acute hunger, citizens are struggling to get food. Apparently shaken, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is seeking $350 million to scale up hunger-fighting and livelihoods-boosting activities in food crisis contexts where COVID-19’s impact could be devastating. Nigeria is certainly not an exception.…
The construction sector is holding a great promise in kick-starting economies ravaged by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. A Technical Specialist, Employment Intensive Investment Programme, at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Employment Policy Department, Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song, says past crises have shown that. ‘’Although households and private sector businesses may be reluctant to invest while the economic future is uncertain, governments can increase investments in infrastructure projects, particularly maintenance schemes because these usually involve simpler and quicker approval processes’’, he said. Lieuw-Kie-Song made this known on Work in Progress, a blog of ILO where experts share insights about the world of work…
Simonetta Zarrilli of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and an Associate Professor, Akdeniz University founded in 1982, Nursel Aydiner-Avsar, say tourism has ground to a halt globally, and for many small islands developing states (SIDS) this is their only economic lifeline. Akdeniz is a campus university in Antalya Province of Turkey. It is the leading higher education and scientific research centre of the West Mediterranean region of Turkey. However, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) reports that during the first quarter of this year, $80 billion were lost in export revenues from tourism and there were 67 million fewer arrivals…
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Development Economist, Jayati Ghosh, says the unprecedented existential threats of COVID-19 require unprecedented and globally co-ordinated responses. Writing on Work in Progress, a blog of ILO where experts share insights about the world of work and the state of the global economy, she argues that if there is one message from the pandemic that we cannot ignore (and which is even more significant when it comes to dealing with climate change), ‘’it is that an absence of solidarity will affect people across all nations badly.’’ On the blog that also provides a forum for ILO experts to…
Chairman of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Board of Trustees, Dr Amos Namanga Ngongi, says the Institute under the leadership of its Director-General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, has expanded its programmes to scale up delivery. Lauding the Institute’s leadership and proven record of accomplishment in agricultural research during a spring board meeting, which took place recently, the chair said IITA’s budget has equally doubled. During the virtual meeting, he pointed out that the Institute has achieved excellent results in several areas, both financially and programmatically. While highlighting the critical period the Institute is going through with the COVID-19 pandemic,…
Amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, whenever essential workers are being discussed in social circles, medical doctors and nurses are frequently mentioned. Yet, some other key workers go largely unnoticed. Fairtrade International, a group that is concerned with changing the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries is busy spotlighting the other unnoticed frontline heroes of the pandemic! Though the services of the medical and health workers are unarguably critical, Fairtrade is however of the view those of its heroes are equally critical. According to it, ‘’from garment…
The authorities are providing free transportation for pregnant women visiting hospitals in Antananarivo and Toamasina in Madagascar. To gesture is aimed at improving women’s access to life-saving maternal health services. That is why the Ministry of Public Health and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stepped in to arrest the ugly situation in the country. Madagascar is still battling with the menace of a high maternal death rate. UNFPA says lack of skilled care is one contributor to the country’s high maternal death rate, which is 353 deaths per 100,000 live births (by comparison, the global average is 216 deaths per 100,000…
Four years ago, Meryem, a Syrian refugee fled the grinding conflict in their home country, Syria, with her family to settle in a tent in southern Turkey. Hoping for a better life, they settled in Adana, Turkey. But one day, her husband left home and never returned. Meryem says her family struggles to maintain their health under even normal circumstances. Now, with more than127,000 cases of COVID-19 in Turkey, she is even more concerned about creating a healthy environment for her children. Alone with two small children, Meryem moved to the village of Yeşiltepe, in Mersin, where she had some…
In Yemen, health workers, already stretched to the limit by five years of grinding conflict, are sounding the alarm that the COVID-19 pandemic could spell catastrophe for the country. Last April 10, the country announced its first laboratory-confirmed case of the ravaging disease. Since then, 34 more cases and seven deaths have been reported. Dr. Amani Omar, at Azan Health Centre in rural Hajjah, says, “if the coronavirus spreads in Yemen, it will be a humanitarian disaster beyond our imagination.” She is the facility’s first-ever female general physician. “As doctors, we know how disastrous it would be. We do not…
Thousands of migrant traders across Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, are being held hostage by the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic. For many of them, the lifeline to their families has been ‘arrested’ by official measures to contain the virus. For instance, a Senegalese trader, Malick, who was accustomed to travelling to Mauritania weekly for commerce is now stranded due to the pandemic. Mobility across the arid African Sahel region is a long-standing tradition and is considered a critical livelihood and adaptation strategy for millions in one of the world’s harshest environments. With governments mandating significant restrictions of movement to contain…
The rampaging COVID-19 pandemic is currently threatening the lives of children in many detention facilities around the world. A global rights group, Human Rights Watch is raising concern about the plight of detained children as the pandemic recorded 288 new cases in Nigeria on Friday. With this development, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the country now has a total number of 5,445 confirmed infections. Aside from the rising cases, NCDC also reported that three patients were confirmed dead from the virus, thus bringing the total number of fatalities in Nigeria to 171. Happily, 1320 patients have been…
Despite COVID-19 uncertainties, Fairtrade International says farmers and workers worldwide are helping their communities to be stronger against the pandemic. Fairtrade is however concerned with changing the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries. According to the group, ‘’COVID-19 has brought a new normal for farmers and agricultural workers around the world. Some are still working away to put food on our tables, with a limited workforce and enhanced safety. ‘’Others have been forced cease activities altogether until further notice. And yet, even in these uncertain times,…
In light of the COVID-19 crisis, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General, Mukhisa Kituyi, discusses how to rejuvenate the global economy and trade in an interview with Didem Eryar Unlu of the Turkish newspaper Dünya. The global shutdown has harmed economies and civilizations and we are now heading to slow re=openings. This will be a different world. What should be the lessons that we should take from COVID-19 crisis? A: It’s too early to know exactly just how much the post-COVID-19 world will be different, but some important lessons have already become clear. First, the pandemic has reminded us…
Farmers and workers in developing countries are to benefit from two funding mechanisms with initial investments of 3.1 million Euro. The funds are intended to meet their immediate needs and those of their communities in the face of the rampaging global COVID-19 pandemic. Fairtrade International made the launch of Fairtrade Producer Relief Fund and Fairtrade Producer Resilience Fund known during the World Fair Trade Day. Fairtrade is however concerned with changing the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries. CEO of Fairtrade International, Darío Soto Abril, says…
A new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on the blue economy says the crisis is offering opportunities to make fishing industries more sustainable. But, measures to curb the spread of the pandemic have hit fishers real hard. Before the pandemic struck, exports of fisheries products had seen strong growth, increasing by 11% from $136 billion in 2013 to $152 billion in 2017, with more than 50% originating in developing countries. But exports for 2020 are expected to drop by at least one third, with global demand down due to the…
A post-doctoral scientist, Feyisara Eyiwumi Oni, has highlighted the need to invest in reducing post-harvest losses and waste. Food waste has become a scourge with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations estimating that 45% (about 1.3 billion tons) of harvested fruits, vegetables, roots, and tubers are lost annually. These post-harvest losses may involve a loss in quantity over time or quality losses of important nutrients, which may be due to contamination, such as from mycotoxins. In sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated post-harvest losses of fresh produce occur between production and retail sites due to certain socioeconomic factors…
A weekly intelligence report on Nigeria’s Politics and Security by Menas Associates has exposed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. Menas is a political risk consultancy that provides actionable intelligence for its clients, from country entry strategies to due diligence, stakeholder analysis, political risk reports and exit strategies. It has been helping multinational companies operate in the Middle-East, Africa, and other emerging markets since the late 1970s. Its intelligence report says neither Osinbajo nor Mustapha has the kind of unfettered access to President Muhammadu Buhari that his late Chief of Staff, Abba…
The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging the capacity of individual multilateral agencies, and the collective power of the multilateral system to come together and deliver as one when under pressure. The pandemic is also exceptionally good at revealing the inherent weaknesses of each individual country’s social and economic systems, and their ability to respond. Director of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV), Maria-Helena André, said so on Work in Progress, a blog of ILO where experts share insights about the world of work and the state of the global economy. ILO aims to promote rights at work, encourage decent…
Five students of Fasola Grammar School in Oyo State have been trained by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the use of machines for agricultural productivity. The training which took place at the school coincided with the visit of the state’s agriculture and education commissioners. The training is a project of CGIAR-IITA Start Them Early Programme (STEP). But, the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected school and STEP activities due to the measures put in place by different countries to combat the pandemic. STEP extracurricular and club activities have been suspended for over a month, so…
The lack of a national e-commerce strategy is holding Tanzania back, a new assessment by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has observed. Also, the country has neither mainstreamed e-commerce into its national and sectoral development plans nor into inter-ministerial or public-private sector dialogue, further throttling progress. However, UNCTAD in the assessment says Tanzania is well-positioned to integrate into the global digital economy, thanks to its growing economy and a rapidly developing innovation ecosystem. The assessment of the country’s readiness to engage in e-commerce has revealed its potential to become a leading contender in online trade in…
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says countries are increasingly recognising the need to implement reforms to ease the flow of critical goods and services. Such critical goods and services include medical supplies and key agricultural products, across borders, while managing the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic consequences. But sadly in Nigeria, the country’s disease control agency has reported six new deaths from COVID-19, thus bringing the tally to 158 nationwide. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday also announced 146 new cases of the disease that has now raised the country’s tally to 4,787 infected persons. Of…
