By Tunde Oguntola of Leadership newspaper, Nigeria Federal government has assured that the use of Genetic Modified Foods (GMOs) do not pose any health risk to Nigerians. Speaking during a courtesy visit to LEADERSHIP corporate headquarters yesterday, the Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Rufus Ebegba, said that highly reputed world regulatory agencies and organisations that study the safety of food supply, including World Health Organisation (WHO), US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and America Medical Association (AMA) have found genetically modified food ingredients safe with no negative health effects associated with their use. Ebegba stated that GMOs…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
By Abdallah el-Kurebe Abidjan, Cote I’Voire – April 7, 2016: – The Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jose Graziano da Silva has stated that although Africa had made great strides in tackling hunger by achieving a 30 percent drop in the proportion of its people that were facing hunger between the period of 1990-2015, climate change, conflict and social inequality continue to present major challenges in the continent’s quest for a future that would be free from hunger and want. Da Silva, speaking on Thursday at the opening ceremony of a Ministerial Roundtable of FAO’s…
It is with serious concern that our attention was drawn on a publication credited to some anti-GM groups published in the Guardian Newspaper entitled“Dangers of Genetically Modified Crops to Nigeria”-Part 1. The said publication appeared on the 22nd March, 2016. The sheer ignorance expressed by the authors necessitated our response on the issue. First of all the authors’ understanding of GM crops to mean invasive scientific manipulation of plant or animal genes at molecular level to withstand unhealthy doses of pesticides is not correct. But it is correct to say that the genes are sourced from bacteria or any biological source depending on desirability.…
Dr. Kormawa By Abdallah el-Kurebe Dr. Patrick Kormawa is the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO’s) Sub-regional Coordinator for Eastern Africa and Representative to the African Union (AU) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). He spoke with elkurebedotcom.wordpress.com at the 29th FAO Regional Conference for Africa in Abidjan, Core de I’Voire on the role of PPP in strengthening agriculture in the sub-region.Excerpts: What is PPP in the context of the FAO? The PPP is a formal relationship between the private sector entity and the public sector. The public sector is defined as the government (local, state or federal), depending on the relationship…
Ibrahima Coulibaly By Abdallah el-Kurebe Abidjan, Cote de I’Voire: April 5, 2016 – The vice president of the West African Network of Farmers Organisations (ROPPA), Ibrahima Coulibaly has lamented against African governments’ alleged incoherent policies In an exclusive interview with Newsdiaryonlineduring the ongoing FAO Regional Conference for Africa in Abidjan, Cote de I’Voire, Coulibaly said that although everything is a challenge for a smallholder farmer in African agriculture and although Nigerian farmers have all opportunities, incoherent policies by governments in the region are big. “The biggest challenge in our regional agriculture is incoherent policies. We have all opportunities; we have all the tools to…
R-L: Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, presenting a gift to the Director General, Health Services in Uganda’s Ministry of Health, Dr. Aceng Jane Ruth By Abdallah el-Kurebe A medical team from Uganda is visiting Sokoto to study the Nigerian state’s success in the application, management and control of misoprostol, the drug used in stopping bleeding in women during child birth. Sokoto’s use of the drug has been hailed by public health officials and development partners as one of the most successful in sub Saharan Africa, with over 90 percent success rate which has led to saving of lives of both…
FAO’s Asst Director General and Regional Bukar Tijani By Abdallah el-Kurebe Abidjan, Cote de I’Voire – April 4, 2016: As Fifty-four African ministers of Agriculture and various stakeholders are gathered in Abidjan, capital of Cote de I’Voire, for the 29th Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO’s) Regional Conference for Africa to take stock of the progress made so far in the area of improving the continent’s food and nutrition security. Institutions, regional and civil society organisations, including technical experts would discuss on priority areas and agree on actions to be taken in the next two years at the conference that has a theme:…
Dr. Ouedraogo & Prof. Makinde By Abdallah el-Kurebe A new Head of Office for the African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE), an agency under the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) Dr. Jeremy Tinga Ouedraogo has been appointed. Ouedraogo takes over from Prof. Diran Makinde, the immediate past Director of ABNE since 2009, who will now serve as Senior Advisor to NEPAD’s CEO in Midrand, South Africa. A statement signed and issued by Jean Keberé, Communications Officer for NEPAD Agency ABNE said that instead of Ouagadougou, the new Head of Regional Office would be based in Dakar, where a new…
Cotton By Abdallah el-Kurebe The Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) has expressed its support for the environmental release and commercialization of genetically modified Bt Cotton, which is known to be resistant against pests for Nigerian farmers. A position paper signed by the Acting Director General of the Association, Hamma Kwajaffa noted that while the Nigerian textile industry was a strategic non-oil sector and the largest after oil and agriculture, it was also the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Association, the cotton potential in Nigeria was because of the country’s blessed abundant raw materials, specially cotton and polyester…
Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation About 100 groups representing some five million Nigerians, comprising farmers, faith-based organisations, civil society groups, students and local community groups, have lodged an opposition to Monsanto’s attempts to introduce genetically modified (GM) cotton and maize into Nigeria’s food and farming systems. In written objections submitted to the biosafety regulators, the groups have cited numerous health and environmental concerns and alleged failure of these crops, especially GM cotton, in Africa. Monsanto Agricultural Nigeria Limited has applied to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) for the environmental release and placing in the market…