Early this May, the first US cherries of the season arrived in China by air freight. Those who know better say US cherries arrive on the Chinese market around the same time as domestic cherries. Manager Yang, a spokesperson for Gaobeidian Xinfadi Agricultural Wholesale Market, recently talked about current conditions in the Chinese cherry market. “Cherries from Dalian have already entered the Chinese market three months ago. The glasshouse cherries from Dalian enter the market in small volumes in early February. ”That is towards the end of the Chilean cherry season. When the market demand increased the price reached around…
Author: Akpan Akata
Researchers at University of Alberta have uncovered a link between the expression of the protein galectin-9 (gal-9) and whether a cancer patient will benefit from immunotherapy. The discovery could help inform physicians about which patients will likely respond to immunotherapy, and lead to better treatment options. Shokrollah Elahi, a member of the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta (CRINA), collaborated with oncology professor John Walker on Phase 2 clinical trial that examined 40 patients with virus-associated solid tumours (VASTs) who were put on immunotherapy. They found there was a direct link between patients with high levels of gal-9 and those…
Peter FabriciusIs, a Consultant with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is asking a some what very pertinent question at the moment. His question is, is it time to bring the UN Security Council into the bitter dispute over Ethiopia’s dam? The question is coming as tensions are once again growing among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, along with the water in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The annual rainy season is already here. Ethiopia will almost certainly undertake a second filling of the 74 billion cubic metre capacity reservoir if there is no prior agreement otherwise among the three…
By Akanimo Sampson Professor Zhen (Jason) He, of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, USA is currently questioning what is generally known as waste water. “Why is it waste?”, he asked. This is coming as a dual-function electrode in a microbial fuel cell combines two previously separated functions. Now, it seems whether wastewater is full of “waste” is a matter of perspective. “It’s organic materials,” He said, and those can provide energy in a number of ways. Then there’s the other valuable resource in wastewater. He’s…
Soon, climate-resilient bean crop is likely to be with us in Nigeria. This is so because scientists in the United Kingdom (UK) have already developed beans that may be able to use up to 40 percent less water. This will make them a more reliable food crop during droughts. The project was executed in response to ongoing concerns in Latin America, where beans and other legumes provide high-quality nutrition in the region. It resulted in scientists from the University of Sheffield have created a climate-resilient bean to support food security in the area. The Pod Yield Project examined the differences…
Butternut squash is flooding the United Kingdom (UK) at the moment, with big volumes coming in from both South Africa and Brazil. Market watchers say it is in huge oversupply. “The reason for the oversupply is that last year there was a shortage which was due to lockdowns creating more demand in retail and less supply, so this year big volumes have been planted and are now flooding the market,” according to Daniel Badger, Managing Director from VitaFresh Produce. “The butternut squash is very good quality, but sales to food service are still limited with only outside dining open, sales are…
Diabetes patients have been enduring multiple, painful finger pricks each day to measure their blood glucose. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sensors have developed a device that can measure glucose in sweat with the touch of a fingertip, and then a personalised algorithm provides an accurate estimate of blood glucose levels. According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 34 million children and adults in the US have diabetes. Although self-monitoring of blood glucose is a critical part of diabetes management, the pain and inconvenience caused by finger-stick blood sampling can keep people from testing as often as they should. Scientists have…
This season in Zimbabwe, there is an overall increase in acreage and production under horticultural crops with the area under emerging crops such as blueberries increasing across the provinces. This is a good sign, with the national government, through the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) also set to revive horticultural production with a focus on exports, as well as improved household nutrition. Horticulture used to be a major export earner, with regular cargo flights to Europe. A boost to all this will be given through the Zimbabwe Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan, which is targeted at reconfiguring the horticulture industry…
Market watchers say European harvests of blueberries face issues in supply caused by cold spells of weather, while an excellent US harvest arrives to a market lacking in other berries, much to their advantage. Spain in particular predicted a 40/50% increase in harvest, which has failed to materialise. Demand and consumption remain good across the board, creating high prices due to the lower supply in many countries. Spain is the main blueberry supplier to the UK market at the moment, but it has been a slow start to the season. This is due to the cold weather in Spain in…
Local avocado oil firm in Tanzania is said to be adding value to farm produce. This is coming as Zimbabwean farmers are being encouraged to grow passion fruit. Marketing experts are claiming that the fruit has a ready foreign market. This was confirmed by Anglistone Sibanda, the chief executive officer of Green Afrique Technologies, during a training workshop for farmers interested in becoming passion fruit growers for the export market. “We are saying farmers must diversify and have products that have a ready and high-paying export market. There is great demand for Zimbabwean horticultural products in Europe, with passion fruit…
There are still discrepancies over the Syria chemical weapons declaration nearly eight years on. The United Nations Security Council has heard new evidence in longstanding international efforts to eradicate Syria’s chemical weapons programme, including the results of an investigation into the possible of use of chlorine gas in the city of Saraqib in 2018. Izuni Nakamitsu the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, updated members on recent developments in the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria. Those efforts were first mandated by the Council in resolution 2118 (2013), which explicitly called for the destruction of…
African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has welcomed a report published by the UK House of Commons’ International Development Committee on Britain’s support to the Bank Group. The report was prepared by the Sub-Committee on the Work of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). The report recognises the Bank’s effectiveness in responding to the pandemic and encourages the British government to work with it to ensure that momentum is not lost in 2021. It notes “we are heartened by the evidence of concerted and determined efforts on the part of the African Development Bank to mitigate the worst effects…
Bananas and broccoli growers in Kenya have been advised to seize opportunities in the South Korean market, after a sales deal was struck by the two nations. Trade Permanent Secretary, Johnson Weru said Korea in 2018 opened a window for imports of the two commodities from Kenya as part of a bilateral agreement between the two nations. However, he has concluded that the volume of exports of these two products [bananas and broccoli] is ‘dismally small’. The PS said the two produce do not face strict restrictions as is the case with other fresh commodities meant for export, noting that…
Julian Omalla produces one of Uganda’s most popular fruit drinks, sold under the brand name Cheers and boasting a loyal customer base of over 5 million people. Affectionately known by many as Mama Cheers” the 56-year-old founder and chief executive director of Delight Uganda Limited is one of the east African nattion’s foremost female entrepreneurs. And thanks to her long-standing experience and runaway success in the industry, the Ugandan government awarded her company a $4 million grant in February to construct a fresh juice factory in northern Uganda. The government also allocated her another $6 million to procure equipment, with 50% of the…
Attendees of a recent Fashionomics Africa webinar heard that more than 280 million online shoppers in Africa represent a huge opportunity for e-commerce development on the continent, Fashionomics Africa joined forces with DHL Express and industry experts for the webinar held for fashion entrepreneurs looking to expand into regional and international markets. The webinar, adapted for a virtual audience, included a masterclass training delivered by Sammy Thuita, E-Commerce Business Development Manager at DHL Express, a world-leading transport and logistics company. The session also featured key interventions from Moulaye Tabouré and Samuel Mensah, the respective founders of Afrikrea and Ananse, both…
The world is currently being plaque by a shortage of midwives. According to a new United Nations report, the shortage is around 900,000. The rampaging COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation with many midwives being redeployed to help plug vital gaps in other health services. The 2021 State of the World’s Midwifery report by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organisation (WHO), and the International Confederation of Midwives, said that fully resourcing midwife-delivered care by 2035 will avert roughly two-thirds of maternal, newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives per year. Executive Director of UNFPA, Natalia Kanem, highlighted the “enormous…
With unabating security challenges in Nigeria, skyrocketing food prices is combining to put many homes across the country at risk. Prices of essential food items are getting out of the reach of most Nigerians, and the government does not seem to have any immediate solution. The way things are, ravaging hunger is likely to compound the security situation in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch. Nigeria is however, not alone in the zooming food prices. International food commodity prices rose for the 11th consecutive month in April, with sugar leading the increase and cereals resuming their upward trend, the Food and…
A top figure of the Islamic State group fueling Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria has been captured by the police in Istanbul, Turkey. Local media described him as the slain leader’s “right-hand man”. The development is coming as Sudan suspended an agreement that allowed Russia to construct a naval base off the coast of the Red Sea, Middle Eastern media reported. A senior Sudanese military official said his country had informed Moscow about the suspension, citing the need for thorough review by the parliament. He debunked rumors that the construction of the base already had begun and that Russian aircraft brought equipment…
United Nations human rights office, OHCHR, is voicing deep alarm over the violence in the city of Cali in Colombia, as a number of people were reportedly killed and wounded when police opened fire on demonstrators. This is happening as OHCHR, last February welcomed progress on the investigation in people falsely presented as having been killed in combat as “an important step in fighting impunity”. So-called “false positives” cases refer to civilians that have been extrajudicially killed by the Colombian army and then falsely labelled as enemies in order to inflate body counts and receive promotions or other benefits. “Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which was set up to prosecute crimes committed during the armed…
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) sealed a memorandum of understanding for future collaboration to promote agricultural infrastructure development and skills training for women and youth. The agreement will also advance climate-smart agriculture in Africa. FAO Director-General, Qu Dongyu and BADEA Director-General Sidi Ould Tah signed the agreement on 29 April in a virtual ceremony during a high-level dialogue organized by the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa and the CGIAR global partnership. ”Africa is a top…
Just three months after the first case was reported in North Kivu, the 12th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been officially declared. World Health Organisation (WHO) says the latest outbreak which was announced on Monday, marks the end of the country’s fourth outbreak of the deadly disease in less than three years. The virus – an often-fatal illness spread through contact with bodily fluids, which kills, on average, around half of those infected – re-emerged in February, nine months after another outbreak in the same province was declared over. In a press release, WHO congratulated…
When COVID-19 lockdown restrictions hit Côte d’Ivoire last year, the main headache of Hortense Koné, manager of a small restaurant in Abobo Belleville, north of the country’s economic capital Abidjan, was how to pay her water and electricity bills. But a decision by the Ivorian government to cover water and electricity bills for households in the lower income brackets brought her some relief. “With the lockdown, the curfew and the ban on opening bars and nightclubs to counter coronavirus, frankly, I had no more income. So, there was nothing to survive on in the situation. I couldn’t pay my water…
The deal between the United Nations and the government of Ethiopia for “unimpeded, sustained and secure access” for humanitarian supplies to reach those in need across areas now under its control in Tigray appears to have collapsed. Early last December, the global body announced that agreement has been reached with the Ethiopian to allow “unimpeded, sustained and secure access” for humanitarian supplies to reach those in need across areas now under its control in Tigray. At the moment, the Deputy UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, says a “complex and unpredictable security situation” in Tigray has continued to impede the delivery of life-saving assistance…
Prospects for an outbreak of cancer epidemic in the oil-bearing communities of the vastly polluted Niger Delta are currently not impossible, going by a worrisome report. A new report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARCWHO), part of the UN World Health OrganiSation (WHO) says people working in the petroleum industry or living near petroleum facilities are at increased risk of developing several different cancer types. The findings add to increasing evidence of the health consequences of air pollution from petroleum extraction and refining. Types of cancer risk The review identified an increased risk of mesothelioma, skin melanoma,…
A civic society group, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), has taken a swipe on the Buhari Presidency and the security forces on their handling of the serious security challenge confronting Nigeria. According to the group, the security forces are stretched across the entire direction of the country, confronting all manners of insecurity, adding that the security forces are apparently, ‘’beaten and overwhelmed’’. ‘’At the political level, the government appears to have given up with nothing more than empty threats and press statements issued from the Presidential Villa’’, PLAC said on its website. Continuing, the group said in the space…
What could make a Juliet in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city bathe her Romeo with hot oil? Pre-meditated evil? Tongues are already wagging in parts of the city as a Juliet bathed her married Romeo with hot oil. Some who appear to know the secret love tango between the two are even claiming that the Juliet has been planning to deal with the Romeo who is presently in pains. Eye-witnesses say the Romeo was seen without a shirt having suffered burns on the skin on his back and stomach with some parts peeling already. They are saying that it is not…
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says three global crises are currently threatening lives on earth. According to UNEP the three crises are climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. They are reportedly reinforcing each other and driving further damage to the environment and to our health. UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, told an online discussion that the “significant and pathbreaking” information contained in the UN agency’s synthesis report Making Peace With Nature, not only breaks down the science, but also shines a light on “the kind of gearshifts” needed for a steady trajectory forward. This includes reaching for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG…
International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that natural gas markets experienced significant supply-demand tensions in the initial months of this year. This is even after a record drop in global demand of about 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2020. IEA is however, committed to shaping a secure and sustainable energy future for all According to the energy agency, colder-than-expected temperatures and tighter supply led to price rallies and spikes, first in Northeast Asia in January and then in North America in February. These winter storms provided some short-term support to natural gas demand, but market fundamentals for 2021 remain fragile.…
The biting economic situation in Nigeria has pushed a 38-year-old Kelfari Jediel, to allegedly stab his uncle’s son, Parambiu Alexander, 20, to death while fighting over a mere N150. He has been arrested by the Nigeria Police in Adamawa State for murder. High cost of living in the country and the dwindling of consumers’ purchasing power, are pushing most people into the extreme. Presently, incomes of most Nigerians can only afford less than 30 per cent of their usual consumption. The zooming inflation has further dehumanized the poor of the poor, and the authorities appear to be helpless The tragic incident…
Some surviving descendants of Sodom and Gomorrah appear to have found themselves across many cities and bustling urban centres of the world. Is not no lesson was learnt about the ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. This seems to be so following what is currently happening to some hookup girls. One of them, obviously from ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, is in serious trouble after her nude pictures and videos hit online and Twitter agenda boys are not keeping their cool over the sensual images. Surprisingly, some sources say she did not drop those images and videos on the social media by herself. An unidentified guy is said…
