Regional workshop on Fall Armyworm Curriculum Development for Farmer Field Schools in Africa

The coming 21-25th July 2017, a workshop will be held in Accra, Ghana in order to develop a Farmer Field School curriculum on the ecological management of the Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera Frugiperda, J.E. Smith. Indeed, after a first appearance in Nigeria in early 2016, FAW is now present in 22 African countries, in most of the sub-regions. Ecological pest management strategies need to be put in place to avoid significant damages to agriculture and food security in those regions and to reduce the risk of overuse of chemical pesticides.

The main objectives of the workshop are as follows:

• Develop a training curricula for FAW integrated pest management for use by trained facilitators in ongoing FFS across Africa
• Build capacity of participating senior FFS trainers on FAW
• Develop a strategy plan for roll-out of the FAW management response in Africa through FFS and training of extension workers

FAO plays a central role in facilitating a coordinated response to the FAW outbreak in Africa. Long, medium and short-term actions have been identified in order to build an integrated and effective response including: monitoring and early warning systems, mass education campaigns, farmer training on use of an agro-ecosystem approach through Farmer Field Schools, and impact assessment.

For further detailed information, please contact: mona.chaya@fao.org and allan.hruska@fao.org (FAW response), anne-sophie.poisot@fao.org (Farmer Field Schools)

More information on FAW here.

ZNFU: “Zero rate agriculture needed to make Zambia breadbasket”

20 000+ farmers to gather at Agritech Expo in Chisamba next week

“The only way we can achieve the status of being a breadbasket is to zero rate agriculture” says Mr Jervis Zimba, President of the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU), the owners of the upcoming Agritech Expo Zambia, in Chisamba from 27-29 April.

In a press release, the run-up to the fourth edition of the massive open air farming exhibition in the heart of Zambia’s farming hub, Mr Zimba says the main challenge facing farmers today is the cost of production that is becoming higher while returns are becoming lower.

“The farmers have no control over the prices and therefore their returns are always diminishing,” Mr Zimba explains, “and we are engaging with Government how to reduce the cost of production. And we have always told Government, if you want agriculture to be the mainstay of the economy, then instead of introducing this tax and that tax, they need to zero rate agriculture completely. If there is a zero rate for a couple of years we will see investments coming through. We are hoping that in the next budget perhaps, they can lend us an ear. The only way we can achieve the status of being a breadbasket is to zero rate agriculture.”

Slight surpluses
The ZNFU President says the region has struggled for the past two seasons because of the drought, adding “but this year we seem to have a good season and therefore I think in terms of maize, which is our staple crop, we should be able to have some surpluses for exports. Of course, generally, the outlook for the region seems to be good as all the countries might post slight surpluses or reduced imports from markets that we have been importing before.”

Passion and patience for agri
Mr Zimba, who has been a fulltime farmer since 1992, says he inherited his love of farming from his parents, who were also teachers. “Agriculture is purely a passion” he adds, “if you have no passion for agriculture, and patience, you can never, never like it.”

The ZNFU President encourages farmers of all scales to visit Agritech Expo at GART next week, to which entry is free:  “We as ZNFU are pushing the agenda of diversification. Most of our farmers are small scale, and they want to grow maize, cotton and soybeans. But now we are seeing that our farmers are trying to diversify to other crops.  And we are looking at the issue of mechanisation, getting away from the old traditional way of doing our work.”

The full interview with Mr Zimba is available here: http://www.agritech-expo.com/ZNFU-interview2017

In the heart of Zambia’s agri-hub
Agritech Expo at GART in Chisamba will once again offer free, interactive workshops offering practical advice as well as live demonstrations to help farmers combat challenges such as the armyworm, explore new technologies such as aquaculture as well as learn from experts on improving efficiency of operations and yields on their farms.

Last year, the event drew a record-breaking attendance of 17 605 visitors. This year even more small-scale, emerging and commercial farmers are expected to descend on the GART research centre where the latest farming products and services will be showcased. The three-day expo will furthermore feature an even greater international presence with international pavilions from Germany, Zimbabwe, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the UK and France already confirmed.

As in previous years, Agritech Expo enjoys extensive support from the agri industry with well-known suppliers AFGRI and John Deere returning as platinum sponsors again. Confirmed gold sponsors are Action Auto, Agricon, BHBW, Case Construction, Case Agriculture, Gourock and SARO.

Multi-award winning Agritech Expo
Agritech Expo Zambia recently won two coveted awards at the AAXO ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Awards in Johannesburg which honour excellence in the exhibition and events industry on the continent. Agritech Expo won for Best Trade & Consumer Exhibition +12000 sqm and for Distinction in Social Responsibility.

The expo has an outreach programme at the local Golden Valley Basic School, where, with the assistance of numerous event sponsors, it is assisting the school with much needed infrastructure upgrades, equipment supplies and management of the school’s farm.

Agritech Expo Zambia is owned by the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and is organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. Other well-known agri events by Spintelligent include Agritech Expo Tanzania and Agribusiness Congress East Africa.

Why can't I follow people?

By Brenda Zulu

If you attempt to follow an account and see a prompt that says You are unable to follow more people at this time, there are two likely scenarios:

• Your account may be locked. We may lock an account, which prohibits actions like following, if it appears to be compromised or if it is in violation of the Twitter Rules or Terms of Service. Read more about this here.
• You may have hit a follow limit. Twitter has imposed reasonable limits to help prevent system strain and to limit abuse. Read more about follow limits below.
• Twitter's technical follow limits:

1. Every account can follow 2,000 users total. Once you’ve followed 2,000 users, there are limits to the number of additional users you can follow. This number is different for each account and is based on your ratio of followers to following; this ratio is not published. Follow limits cannot be lifted by Twitter and everyone is subject to limits, even high profile and API accounts.
2. Every Twitter account is technically unable to follow more than 1,000 users per day, in addition to the account-based limits above. Please note that this is just a technical limit to prevent egregious abuse from spam accounts.
3. Accounts are also prohibited from aggressively following other users. Our Follow Limits and Best Practices Page has more information on Twitter’s following rules.

What to do if you've hit a follow limit:

If you've reached the account-based follow limit (2,000 users), you’ll need to wait until you yourself have more followers before you can follow additional users. Follow limits are system-wide; Support cannot remove or adjust your follow limits.

To follow one or two additional users, unfollow a few accounts you're currently following. Please note, however, that regularly following and unfollowing many accounts at a time is a violation of the Twitter Rules and can result in account suspension.

Why Twitter limits following behavior:

These limits help us improve site performance and reliability and help us make Twitter a nice place for everyone. We’ve included a more in-depth discussion of why we have follow limits in our Following rules and best practices article.

What to expect if you're "whitelisted":

Some API administrators have whitelist status so that their applications can function without hitting system limits for direct messages and API requests per hour. Whitelisting does not increase the follow limits and all accounts are subject to the same follow limits and rules. You can find information on our current update, DM, and API requests in our Twitter limits (API, updates, and following article.

UNESCO calls to combat online and offline violence against women and girls

By Brenda Zulu

 

© Shutterstock

73 percent of women have already been exposed to, or have experienced, some form of online violence. Online violence against women exists in many forms, including online harassment, public shaming, sexual assaults and induced suicides. In the European Union, 9 million women -some as young as 15 years old- have experienced online violence. In response to these worrying trends, the Broadband Commission Working Group on Gender launched today a report titled ‘Combatting Online Violence Against Women and Girls: A Worldwide Wake-Up Call.’

In a press release on 24th September 2015, the United Nations Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Gender released its report on combatting cyber violence against women at United Nations Headquarters in New York. UNESCO’s Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova, serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission alongside ITU Secretary-General, Mr Houlin Zhao. The report aims to mobilize the public and private sectors to establish concrete strategies aimed at confronting the threat posed by cyber-violence. 

“Violence against girls and women – offline as well as online – is an affront to individual dignity, a violation of human rights and a barrier to development. Cyber violence is complex – our action must be equally multi-dimensional” said UNESCO’s Director for Gender Equality, Ms Saniye Gülser Corat, on the occasion of the launch of the report.

The report highlights how online violence against women has caused the Internet to become a “chilling space” that permits anonymous cruelty and consequently impedes the freedom of women to participate in the uptake of broadband services. This has led to a call to reclaim and expand the freedoms offered by the Internet. 

The report emphasizes the need to address complacency and hostility towards the issue of cyber-violence. Despite the rapid spread of the Internet, law enforcement agencies have largely responded inappropriately to the threat of cyber violence against women. One in five female Internet users lives in countries where harassment and abuse of women online is extremely unlikely to be punished. In many countries, women are reluctant to report their victimization for fear of social repercussions. The report warns that without effective legal and social controls of online anti-social and criminal behaviors, online violence will continue to grow as a threat to women. The report sets out three key recommendations for establishing a global framework to counter online violence. These are:

• Sensitization – Preventing cyber violence against women through training, learning, campaigning and community development to promote changes in social attitudes and behavior,
• Safeguards – Implementing oversight and maintaining a responsible Internet infrastructure through technical solutions and more informed customer care practices, while ensuring the respect of other freedoms and rights,
• Sanctions – Develop and uphold laws, regulations and governance mechanisms to deter perpetrators from committing these acts. 

The report contends that the implementation and enforcement of these measures will ensure that women and girls have an equal platform to participate in online activities. The inclusion of gender equality as a stand-alone goal in the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals demonstrates the significance of gender equality as a developmental tool in itself. UNESCO therefore commends the report’s recommendations as a timely reminder of the importance of gender equality to sustainable development.

Links

• UNESCO and Gender Equality: Website

eLearning Africa Report: ICTs boosting growth but teachers reluctant to change

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the key to improving education and thus boosting growth across Africa – but there is still widespread reluctance among teachers, trainers and managers to abandon traditional methods in favour of new solutions.

That is one of the key findings in this year’s eLearning Africa Report, which will be launched this evening (Wednesday) at the eLearning Africa conference in Addis Ababa by the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Dr Debretsion Gebremichael. A sneak preview of the report will also be given to African education and information technology ministers at the 8^th eLearning Africa Ministerial Round Table today.

“Worryingly,” say the report’s editors, Harold Elletson and Annika Burgess, “our survey of 1500 African education and ICT professionals shows that, despite the importance of ICT in education, there is insufficient awareness in many schools, colleges, institutions and government departments of the benefits it brings.”

57 per cent of those surveyed by eLearning Africa said that educators in their own countries are still not “sufficiently aware of the benefits of using ICT in education” – although 95 per cent agreed that “ICTs are the key to improving education” in their own country.

“Reluctance,” according to the report, was “a major theme emerging from teachers and educators; many revealed that their attitude towards ICTs in education was not always shared throughout their institution.”

The report identifies a number of obstacles, preventing the greater use of ICTs in education and training. These include the cost of services and equipment, poor infrastructure and a lack of awareness about how best to use ICT for teaching and learning. 74 per cent of teachers also said they were not provided with enough support to improve their digital literacy. Only a third (33 per cent) of primary school teachers said they had been properly taught digital skills.

“Whilst the failure of teachers and educational institutions to take up the technological challenge is disappointing,” says Elletson, “there is little doubt that in many African countries, the contribution ICTs are making to improving training is having a significant impact on performance and growth in key sectors.”

In the agricultural sector, for example, 91 per cent of survey respondents involved in farming say that ICTs have led to increased yields, 87 per cent say they have helped them to develop new business opportunities and 71 per cent say they have used them to adopt new farming techniques. They may be having a wider environmental benefit too – 90 per cent say that ICTs contribute to better food security and sustainable development in their region.

“It is clear that, with a greater focus on using ICTs effectively to improve education and training, African economies can benefit substantially,” says Burgess.

The Report concludes that “raising the awareness and skills of teachers – and learners – is crucial for ICT integration to be successful. A lack of awareness about the benefits, as well as the lack of digital skills, leads to reluctance to embrace them.”

The eLearning Africa Report, which also includes columns by leading figures in African education, news, features and interviews, will be officially launched this evening and available to the public from May 21 at www.elearning-africa.com/report.

Journalists can request an advance digital copy by contacting Andrea Ricciarelli.  

15-year campaign to wipe out livestock disease to be launched

By Brenda Zulu

The world can definitively stamp out a plague that devastates sheep and goats, freeing hundreds of millions of rural families from one of the major risks to their food security and livelihood. 

 

FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) will outline a strategy for the total eradication of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) by 2030 at a an international conference starting today in Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire, where so-called goat plague was first diagnosed in the 1940s. 

 

PPR has expanded rapidly in the past 15 years, is now present in around 70 countries across South and East Asia, Africa and the Middle East and if left uncontrolled will likely make inroads into Europe (acc to FAO/OIE advocacy doc).  If flocks are not vaccinated, it can kill as many as 90 percent of the animals it infects.

 

Until now, rinderpest is the only animal disease to have been eradicated. FAO and OIE led the campaign and declared that catastrophic cattle plague, the cause of famines and the collapse of empires, effectively extinct in 2011. 

 

“If the major achievement of eradicating rinderpest can be replicated for another major transboundary animal disease such as PPR, the positive impact on the livelihoods of farmers and food and nutrition security for all communities, Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations’ Zero Hunger Challenge will be substantial,,” said FAO Assistant Director-General for Africa Bukar Tijani at the start of the FAO and OIE International Conference for the Control and Eradication of PPR (31 March-2 April 2015).

 

“It is of utmost importance for the success of the PPR control and eradication campaign to count on robust and well-resourced veterinary services and vaccines that comply with the international standards of the OIE” said OIE Director General Bernard Vallat. 

 

Virus with widespread impacts in the crosshairs

 

The technical tools to achieve eradication are already available, according to FAO and OIE livestock health experts. PPR is a virus closely related to Rinderpest, sharing traits that make it an apt target for an outright eradication campaign: An inexpensive, safe and reliable vaccine exists, as do simple diagnostic tests, while the virus has a relatively short infectious phase and does not survive for long outside a host.  

 

There are ample economic incentives to target complete eradication of PPR. Some 2.1 billion small ruminants worldwide – 80 percent of them in affected regions - represent an important asset for a third of poor rural households in developing countries. Goats and sheep readily adapt to harsh environments, require little fixed-capital investment such as barns, provide year-round protein and dairy products as well as income from wool and leather, improve fertility of the soil, and serve as a “mobile bank”.  As women often own and tend sheep and goats, the animals have an important role in the pursuit of greater gender equity.

 

The disease, which provokes high fever, rapid emaciation and respiratory collapse, causes annual global losses of between $1.45 billion and $2.1 billion each year, a figure that does not include indirect losses linked to restrictions on trade and livestock mobility triggered by outbreaks. 

 

FAO and OIE also note the campaign will bolster veterinary systems in local settings to national level as their role is essential in the success of the campaign. 

 

Without a concerted effort aimed at eradication, the global price tag for poorly-targeted PPR vaccinations are anyway likely to run between $4 and $5.5 billion over the next 15 years.  Within this range, FAO and OIE believe that if properly targeted and coordinated, these efforts can focussed to eliminate once and for all the scourge of PPR and not have the current costs associated with battling out PPR outbreaks or new incursions. 

 

Political commitment needed

 

The campaign’s success requires political commitment in providing financial and human resources, including effective outreach schemes to deliver vaccines and secure the collaboration of both vulnerable peoples in rural areas as well as of researchers and pharmaceutical companies. 

Representatives from around 70 countries are attending the Abidjan conference, along with representatives from donor agencies, the scientific community, the private sector and civil society. 

 

 

NEPAD and FAO launch project on youth rural transformation and unemployment at the 11th CAADP Platform

 By Brenda Zulu

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), launched a 4-year project to help with youth rural transformation and unemployment. 

The project hopes to promote decent rural employment for youths in Cameroun, Benin, Niger and Malawi. Youths include both women and men as there is need to promote the Africa Union theme on Women empowerment.

 The USD$ 4 million project is funded by the African Solidarity Trust Fund launched in 2013 as a unique Africa-led initiative to improve agriculture and food security across the continent. It includes contributions from Equatorial Guinea ($30 million), Angola ($10 million) and a symbolic contribution by civil society organizations in the Republic of the Congo.

Since its inception, the Fund has already provided financing for projects in 30 countries including building resilience for conflict affected rural communities, reducing rural poverty through youth employment opportunities and building best practices to increase crop and livestock production.

Administered by FAO in partnership with key collaborators, the Fund aims to pool resources from Africa's strongest economies and use them across the continent to implement initiatives in the framework of the African Union's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) to boost agricultural productivity and food security in the region.

It is governed by a steering committee currently consisting of Equatorial Guinea, Angola, the Chair of the Africa Group, the Chair of the Regional Conference for Africa, the African Union and FAO.

Speaking at the signing ceremony for the project, NEPAD's chief executive officer, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, said that NEPAD was going to tap into FAO 's knowledge. 

Activities include helping countries to draw up and implement policies to boost enterprise development in rural areas and the transfer of entrepreneurship skills. 

"This programme is a concrete way to empower young men and women with the necessary capacities and skills to engage in the socio-economic transformation of their countries. The joint implementation of the programme demonstrates the strong partnership that exists between FAO and the NEPAD Agency," Mayaki said.

The collaboration between NEPAD and FAO will go a long way in ensuring that the youth, Africa’s future, are not forgotten. It is by creating an economic environment that stimulates initiatives - particularly by conducting transparent and foreseeable policies - and at the same time by regulating the market in order to deal with market failures that we will attain results and impact through the new thrust given to our farmers, entrepreneurs and youth.”

The project – which will see over 100 000 young men and women in rural Benin, Cameroon, Malawi and Niger benefit - is anchored in the Rural Futures Program of NEPAD. Rural transformation is at the heart of this Programe where equity and inclusiveness where rural men and women can develop their potential and thrive.

Agriculture and agribusiness transformation required

FAO Assistant Director General for Africa Mr Bukar Tijani said, “Today marks an important milestone in moving forward and upward in terms of empowering youth in these four countries - especially women, as 2015 is the African Union’s year of women empowerment. This is actually also one of the concrete ways that we can see the declarations made in Malabo in mid-2014, coming to fruition by opening new paths for African youth within the agricultural arena”.

Over half of the continent’s population is below 25 years and approximately 11 million young Africans will join the labour market every year for the next decade. Despite strong economic growth in many African countries, wage employment is limited and agriculture and agribusiness continue to provide income and employment for over 60 percent of Sub Saharan Africa’s population.

However, the laborious, subsistence-oriented small-scale agriculture is often not the preferred choice of work for many young people. If Africa is to reap from this demographic dividend, it will need to attract young people in to the agri-food sector. This will require transforming the agriculture and agribusiness sector to be more modern, profitable and efficient capable of providing decent employment opportunities for this young labour force. 

Africa leaders need to set policies that encourage skills development in the agriculture sector to train the youth in different aspects of agribusiness and ‘Agripreneurship’ along agriculture value chains for them to take agriculture as a business. The emphasis of this project is on acquisition of skills along specific value chains and the transition of the trainees into business in the sector. 

Activities include helping countries to draw up and implement policies to boost enterprise development in rural areas and the transfer of entrepreneurship skills. 

Meanwhile, Tijani  declared the Youth Empowerment Project operational at its launch on 26th March 2015 young farmers and those involved in Agri business called for access to land, credit, training, knowledge transfer and sex generated data.

Launching the NEPAD Women in Agri Business Program to support the AU theme Esterine and Rhoda Peace emphasized o

Ending Hunger by 2025

In 2012 the African Union Commission, NEPAD Agency, the Lula Institute and FAO formed a partnership aimed at ending hunger in the continent. A year later, the four partners organised a high-level meeting of ministers - in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - leading to a declaration to end hunger and a road map for implementation.

This Declaration was subsequently endorsed at the 2014 African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and incorporated as the “Commitment to Ending Hunger in Africa by 2025” in the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods. In providing a model for advancing the Commitment to Ending Hunger by 2025, it contributes to the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which aims to boost agricultural productivity and food security on the continent.