By Abdallah el-Kurebe As a follow up to the awareness campaign on rural energy for policymakers in Eastern Africa, held in Arusha, Tanzania in June last year, SmartVillages Initiative has launched a Smart Villages and Practical Action off-grid village energy workshop in Nepal. The Arusha workshop explored the East African/Tanzanian environment for village energy, local case studies, challenges and opportunities, with a view to formulating policy recommendations for policymakers, funders, NGOs and other stakeholders in that region. The Smart Villages Kathmandu Workshop held on April 10th was directed at learning “from the Nepalese expertise in off-grid energy provision that might…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
By Abdallah el-Kurebe A three-day Post-Durban Dialogue on climate change and agriculture, aimed at examining the outcome of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP 17) held in Durban in November-December 2011, has opened in Arusha, Tanzania. Jointly organized by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); the East African Community, (EAC) in collaboration with Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS-EA) and a global programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), According to a statement, the Dialogue which brought climate change and agriculture experts from nine Eastern Africa…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe Journalists, farmers, scientists, biosafety regulators and agribusiness companies from Argentina, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and the US gathered in Brazil between March 16th and 20th 2015 for the Biotechnology and Science Communication Confidence Building Project. This meeting was meant to enable African countries learn about and improve on their food security strategies through confidence building in modern biotechnology as well as optimizing best communication practices and policies to guide in the deployment of biotech/GM crops in Africa. The choice of Brazil for the meeting was the country’s rating by the International Service for the Acquisition…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe Key Facts ¤ The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society.” – The board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). ¤ Climate Change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter ¤ Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress ¤ Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy-use choices…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe The New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has described the United State’s climate action plan – the ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions’ (INDCs) as grossly inadequate. It also sees US, which has a history of being the world’s largest polluter of the environment, as doing less to address climate change. A release issued by CSE on April 1, 2015, observed that the INDCs was a replication of “its earlier pledge made in November 2014, which is “neither fair nor ambitious, and way short of what is needed to keep global warming under 2 degree centigrade.” According…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe The management of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) has lamented that the Hospital should not be part of the ongoing national strike of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU). The Chief Managing Director (CMD) of the Hospital, Dr. Yakubu Ahmed told news men in his office on Saturday that far as the management of UDUTH was concerned, all demands of the Union had been met. “UDUTH should not be part of the strike. We should not be part of the strike in any case. This is because we have met all the demands of the Union.…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe Oil is described as ‘Black Gold’ while Cotton is ‘White Gold’. While Nigeria is blessed with both, the former is threatening the nation’s economic strength while there are glittering economic opportunities in the later. From a population of 4.4 billion people in 1980, the world dwindling economies is being further threatened with a population explosion of 7.1 billion, presently. More so, the World Bank and FAO report reveals that arable land is declining – from 0.4 hectares in 1961 to a projected less than 0.13 hectares per person in 2050, thereby creating a damning gap of economic…
Agroforestry: African Agric Ministers Need To Own Orphan Crops By Abdallah el-Kurebe As the African Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA) graduates the first batch of plant breeders, at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Kenya, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has suggested that there is the need for the Ministers of Agriculture in Africa to own orphan crops. Speaking at the end of a six weeks training of 21 scientists from 2leven countries and 19 institutions, Director of NEPAD’s African Biosafety Network of Expertise, Dr. Diran Makinde who represented NEPAD CEO Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki stated…
NACOTAN urges NASS to pass the biosafety law before 2015 elections By Abdallah el-Kurebe The President of National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), Alhaji Hamma Ali Kwajaffa has called on the National Assembly to speed up the passage of Biosafety Bill before the 2015 general elections. He made the appeal in Abuja at the Cotton Value Chain Forum organised by Monsanto Seed Company and NACOTAN on Monday. The theme of the Forum is “Positioning Nigeria’s Cotton Industry Value Chain for Economic Transformation.” Kwajaffa observed that looking at Burkina Faso’s agriculture sector, which has been dominated by the cotton segment, “Nigeria…
I’ll Use Agriculture To Fight Poverty – Says Amb. Wali By Abdallah el-Kurebe The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State, Amb. Abdallah Wali has said that if elected as governor of the state in 2015, he will use agriculture to fight poverty. Speaking with Journalists in Sokoto on Saturday, he said that agriculture would be his main focus of developing the state as well as reverse the trend where Sokoto is regarded as one of the poorest states in Nigeria. “Ninety percent of our land is arable. Goronyo dam can be fully put to use…