Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe

BidcoTruth Coalition unites groups to demand accountability for Bidco A Ugandan group of more than 100 farmers lost their land to Bidco KAMPALA, Uganda, May 31, 2016/ — The Bidco Truth Coalition, an online activist organisation, has launchedwww.No2Bidco.org, a platform dedicated to charting the human rights and environmental violations of Bidco Africa, the Kenya-based edible oil producer headed by CEO Vimal Shah. No2Bidco.org includes a catalogue of Bidco’s violations, including illegal labour practices in Kenya, deforestation in Uganda and tax evasion across East Africa. The platform also provides visitors with the ability to add their voices to a global campaign of petitions…

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Tillers Distributed to Farmers By Abdallah el-Kurebe As part of activities to mark Democracy Day, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state on Sunday distributed farm implements and other poverty eradication tools to farmers and women, respectively. While the implement included 1,350 pumping machines, 1,000 tiller machines, the poverty eradication tools were 265 tricycles to beneficiaries in the 23 local government areas of the state. Earlier in his Democracy Day broadcast, the governor said that the challenges of dwindling revenue sources owing to the fall in oil prices, was why his administration was focusing on agriculture. According to Tambuwal, the…

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Maize farm By Abdallah el-Kurebe In ending poverty in Africa, one overriding theme in declarations is “the need for modernization and optimization of Africa’s agriculture. At the same time, it ensures the productivity of the very ecosystems that underpin agricultural productivity are safeguarded for future generations,” editorial of African Development magazine. Ending poverty in Africa requires strict adherence to continental blueprints, which include Mapoto and Malabo and AMCEN Cairo Declarations, the AU Agenda 2063, etc. Although FAO views Africa as having strode in tackling hunger by a 30 percent propotional drop of its people that were facing hunger between…

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Participants at the training workshop By Abdallah el-Kurebe The Cassava Weed Management Project of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is training African researchers on advances in weed science, drawing from the expertise of US and Nigerian researchers, thereby enlivening the legacies of Charles Darwin and making him proud. Launched in 2014, the Project, as part of its sustainability program, is building bridges across researchers from developed and developing countries with a view to narrowing the knowledge gap and, by extension, raising the capacity of weed scientists through training and knowledge sharing. A press relelase issued by Godwin Atser,…

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By Abdallah el-Kurebe In Ghana, many people, especially women, who live along the coastal areas are engaged in fish smoking, known as ‘Namhowfo’ in Akan, one of the languages spoken in the country. As a means of living, fish smoking as it were, was done by traditional, inefficient smoking stoves. This method affects both human health and the environment. < Wire mesh  According to the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), in Ghana like in other countries, traditional fish smoking stoves had exposed women to harmful smoke. This causes 16,600 deaths annually, in addition to environmental degradation, which comes in form of…

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Ghana’s President Mahama By Abdallah el-Kurebe Accra, Ghana – May 23, 2016: Ghana plans to install a total of 56,000 solar systems, two million solar lanterns and 200 mini-grids in pursuance with achieving the global target of access to affordable and clean energy by the year 2030. The country has already 80 percent energy access, acting Director, Renewable Energy at the country’s Energy Commission, Kwabena Otu-Danquah has disclosed. Otu-Danquah, who represented Ghana’s Ministry of Power, stated this in a Keynote Address at the opening of a Smart Villages West Africa Regional Workshop organised by the Smart Villages Initiatives in…

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By Abdallah el-Kurebe One hundred beneficiaries in Sokoto on Thursday received resettlement starter packs and cash incentives through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE’s) Community Based Training Scheme (CBTS) Artisan Resettlement and Mentoring Scheme (ARMS). Under the CBTS, 50 trained youth received starter packs for skills acquired in knitting, barbing, dyeing, dibila/snacks and sobo making machines. According to the acting Director-General of NDE, Kunle Obayan who was represented, “one hundred persons previously trained by the NDE but were not immediately resettled, will receive cash enhancement in the form of soft loan to improve their already existing businesses under (ARMS).” He…

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Sokoto IPP Plant Under Construction By Abdallah el-Kurebe The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) said it has invested N3.3 billion worth of equipment to boost power infrastructure in Sokoto state. The project, executed under the Federal Government’s Integrated Power Projects (IPP) scheme, achieved substantial success because of the tremendous commitment shown by the state government to it’s success, a General Manager in the firm, Alhaji Muhammad Bunza, has said. “The N3.3 billion expenditure has resulted in the construction of three power substations in three locations in different parts of the state. The locations are Gagi and Farfaru in Sokoto…

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