The National Arbovirus and Vectors Research Centre (NAVRC) has conducted inaugural workshop for State Disease Vector Surveillance Officers to boost active surveillance of vectors of diseases of public health importance in Nigeria. The Coordinator of the centre, Dr Emeka Asadu said in a statement on Thursday in Abuja that the training was also to provide skilled state level manpower for active surveillance of vectors of diseases in the country. Asadu stated that active surveillance of disease vectors would serve as early warning system that would enable government and key stakeholders to take preemptive action to forestall outbreak of serious infectious…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Over 32,500 rural households in the Bagoué, Poro, Tchologo, Hambol and Gbêkê regions will benefit from a financial agreement signed today between the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Cote d’Ivoire to increase the incomes and food and nutrition security of rural households. The programme will promote market-oriented agriculture and help farmers add value to their products, as a way to reduce rural poverty and stimulate economic growth in the programme areas. The financing agreement for the Agricultural Value Chains Development Programme (PADFA) was signed in Rome by Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD, and Seydou Cissé, Permanent Representative…
On World Water Day 2018, a new report released by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) shows that sustainable investment in freshwater ecosystems in developing countries helps farmers reduce the impact from floods, droughts and water pollution. The Water Advantage: Seeking Sustainable Solutions for Water Stress, which draws evidence from a review of IFAD-supported projects in six countries, shows that sustainable solutions such as drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting and saltwater tolerant crops will go a long way to protecting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and food security for millions of people around the world. “For smallholder farmers in developing…
The Federal Government in collaboration with key stakeholders and partners have pledged to achieve a Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) of 27 percent among women by 2020. The Chairman Board of Trustees, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP), Alhaji Sani Jabbi made this known while briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja. With a theme, “Towards the Nigeria renewed Family Planning (FP) Commitment” the event was aimed at enabling healthy timing, spacing of births, and to limit the number of births among women of reproductive age. Jabbi said Nigeria joined other Member Countries of the FP 2020 global community to…
Oil prices rose up on Tuesday, supported by concerns that tensions in the Middle East could lead to supply disruptions. Hopes that behind-the-scenes talks between the United States and China will prevent a looming trade war between the world’s two biggest economies also supported global markets, including crude oil futures. Brent sweet crude futures were at 70.20 dollars per barrel while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 65.69 dollars a barrel . James Mick, Managing Director and Energy Portfolio Manager with asset management firm Tortoise, said “rising geopolitical tensions” were driving up oil prices. The biggest risk…
By Abdulrazak Ibrahim The Fourth Industrial Revolution is creating a new era, fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds. Breakthroughs in different fields – including artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and gene editing – are creating waves of disruption, forcing politicians, business leaders and regulators around the world to react to paradigm shifts created by these technologies. Perhaps none of them is more significant than the gene editing technology known as CRISPR, recognized as a game changer for the biotechnology industry. And although the various breakthroughs have emerged primarily in the US and Europe, Nigeria is a strategic destination and market…
Kano government said it has dispatched a Rapid Response Team to check the authenticity of a reported case of a strange killer disease in Dawakin Tofa Local Government area of the state The state Commissioner of Health, Dr Kabiru Getso made this known through the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Alhaji Isma’il Gwammaja on Tuesday in Kano. He said that the story of the reported outbreak of the strange disease was reported through the media and that prompted the Commissioner to direct the rapid response team to swing into action with a view to ascertaining the veracity of the…
The Country Director of WaterAid, Dr ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye said in Abuja on Tuesday that shrinking of Lake Chad would threating livelihoods of people in the region and raises the need for improved strategies to manage the water resource to remedy losses, WaterAid has said. “Lake Chad, the largest fresh water reservoir, is an important resource shared by Nigeria and other benefiting countries within the region. The lake sustains a lot of people, who are largely farmers, fishermen and livestock breeders. The speedy shrinking of the basin is threatening the resources and livelihoods of millions of people who are living there.…
China has met its 2020 carbon intensity target three years ahead of schedule last year, the official Media agency reported on Tuesday, citing the country’s top climate official Xie Zhenhua. China cuts its 2005 carbon intensity level, or the amount of climate-warming carbon dioxide it produces per unit of economic growth, by 46 per cent in 2017, Xie told forum in Shanghai on Tuesday. China is the world’s biggest energy consumer. Carbon intensity fell 5.1 per cent in 2017 compared to the previous year, the media said, suggesting that China’s war on pollution also helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions. China…
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted partly cloudy weather conditions over the central states of the country on Tuesday morning with sunny and hazy conditions over Yola. The Agency’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Monday also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 31 to 38 and 21 to 24 degrees Celsius respectively. According to the agency, the southern states would experience partly cloudy to cloudy morning with day and night temperatures in the range of 31 to 36 and 22 to 26 degrees Celsius respectively. It also predicted prospect of localised…