The President of African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), Akinwumi A. Adesina, and the Bank’s Board of Governors held a high-level session on “Climate and Disaster Risk Financing” focusing on the Role of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) (www.AfricanRiskCapacity.org) and the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Program (ADRiFi) on Wednesdayin Busan, Korea. The high-level session, part of the 53rd African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings underway in Busan, Korea, provided a platform for African Ministers of Finance, the Economy and Planning, who form its Board of Governors, to extend ongoing discussions between the Bank and regional member countries on the importance of disaster risk financing…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Europe can no longer turn its back on the benefits of genetically modified crops – Observer editorial For a generation, a campaign by the green movement against the growing of genetically modified crops has held sway across Europe. These foodstuffs are a threat to health, the environment and the small independent farmer, NGOs have argued. As result, virtually no GM crops have been grown on Europe’s farms for the past 25 years. Yet hard evidence to support what is, in all but name, a ban on these vilified forms of plant life is thin on the ground. In fact, most scientific reports…
Market update: Good business prospects for the agrofood, plastics and packaging industries in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa According to GTAI Germany Trade & Invest of 16 May 2018, Côte d’Ivoire is becoming the bread basket of West Africa(https://goo.gl/kJPmWm). Agriculture and the food industry, especially in Abidjan, have been very dynamic for years, both in production and processing. Further investments will follow. Both sectors also enjoy a prominent regional position as they also supply the other francophone countries of the region, such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Togo and Benin. The increasing demand for food throughout the rather homogenous French-speaking…
A new study conducted by a team of scientists from Wageningen University & Research and Teagasc, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority reveals that a potato variety genetically engineered to resist potato blight can help reduce the use of chemical fungicides by up to 90 percent. The approach uses two tools: a genetically modified (GM) potato along with a new pest management strategy. Potato blight, caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans, causes significant losses to potato farmers worldwide. Farmers resort to spraying their crops with fungicides on a weekly basis to control the disease. The international team of scientists developed the IPM2.0 approach which involves growing…
The Africa Innovation Summit (AIS) (www.AfricaInnovationSummit.com) today announced the innovators selected from across the continent to exhibit their solutions at the forum, which will take place from 6 to 8 June 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda under the esteemed patronage of His Excellences President Paul Kagame and Pedro Pires (ex-President of Cabo Verde and 2011 Mo Ibrahim Laureate). The AIS serves as a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue and a catalyst for coalition and action towards building robust innovation ecosystems in Africa. AIS 2018 will focus on innovation as a tool to address Africa’s pressing challenges. An important aspect of AIS 2018 will focus…
The 53rd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) opened in Busan, Korea, on Monday with a call on African Governments to create the right environment for the private sector to lead the continent’s industrial revolution. Participants also advocated for a balance between the role of the State and the private sector. Korea was presented as a good model for industrialization which African countries can learn from. “Korea’s example is incredible. Korea was as poor as any African country in the 1960s with a low per capital income. Today, thanks to the determination of its people and its commitment…
The African Development Bank (AfDB) (www.AFDB.org) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (www.UNIDO.org) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday, May 21 to step up collaboration to boost Africa’s industrialization. “The Bank launched in 2016 its Industrialization Strategy for Africa 2016-2025, which was the outcome of collaborative work with UNIDO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The signing of the present MoU is key to our Strategy’s implementation,” said African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina. “The Bank already benefits enormously from UNIDO’s expertise in developing policies, programmes and knowledge tools which supports our member countries…
“Africa’s role is pivotal to feeding the world’s growing population and repairing the problem of global food security,” says Martin Richenhagen, President, Chairman and CEO of AGCO, Your Agriculture Company (NYSE:AGCO) (www.AGCOcorp.com), a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment. In a keynote speech, Mr Richenhagen outlined AGCO’s vision and strategy for advancing African agricultural prosperity, at the official opening of the company’s new Africa headquarters in Johannesburg on 21 May 2018. “With global sales of US$8.3 billion, AGCO is making major investments in Africa to engineer food security and support sustainable productivity through technology and innovation,” explained Mr Richenhagen.…
New Delhi, May 23, 2018: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has strongly condemned the killing of innocent protesters in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. The residents of the area were protesting against the proposed doubling of capacity of the Vedanta group’s Sterlite copper plant. Further, citing long-festering pollution concerns, they were demanding permanent closure of the plant. “We condemn the killing of innocent protestors. Considering the history of this plant, the residents were justified in protesting against the expansion. This plant has polluted the environment and flouted standards with impunity for the past 20 years”, said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE. The 400,000-tonne-capacity…
Scientists say among organ transplant patients, those receiving new lungs face a higher rate of organ failure and death compared with people undergoing heart, kidney and liver transplants, and one of the culprits is inflammation that damages the newly transplanted lung. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have uncovered the precise cells that flow into and harm the lung soon after transplant. Studying mice that had undergone lung transplants, the researchers found that monocytes are rapidly released from the spleen after lung transplantation. These cells infiltrate the newly transplanted…