European Commission

29 May- 02 June: EU GreenWeek 2017

30 May and 31 May: Citizens Energy Forum

31 May: cities for food system innovation green jobs

31 May: Coreper I and Coreper II

01 June: Workshop on Climate action in agriculture and forestry

Council of the EU and European Council

31 May: Marine Protected Areas: Opportunities and Initiatives

European Parliament

29 May and 01 June: Committee Meeting

31 May and 01 June: Plenary Session

A Brussels Development Briefing, on the topic “Youth in agribusiness: shaping the future of agriculture” was organised on the 18th of May 2017 from 09:00 to 13:00, at the ACP Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. This Briefing was be co-organised by CTA, the ACP Secretariat, European Commission (DG DEVCO) and Concord.

Is the federal government leaving prosperity on the table by refusing to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement? Earlier this month in Kaduna, on a day Facebook predicted late rainfall, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States), Mr. Michel Arrion took to the podium at a trade and investment seminar for the Kaduna business community. In attendance were the crème de la crème of the state's industrial workforce, manufacturers, and business owners. Arrion, a tall, majestic presence, was enchanting. The primary aim of the seminar was to help Kaduna's business community see the glorious beauty of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), a trade deal negotiated and completed over a period of 14 years between the EU and ECOWAS, but which the Nigerian Government had failed to sign off on.

The Cameroonian government will soon launch a development programme for its horticultural sector, financed by the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), we learned at the end of a workshop organised in Douala on 16 and 17 May. The meeting, we learned, was meant to identify the levers on which it is necessary to act, to give an impulse to the development of horticulture in Cameroon. Labelled “Fit For Market” (FFM), this programme is meant to support the horticultural sectors in African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries, whose main horticultural products exported to European Union territories are increasingly in demand.

The European Union (EU) and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) introduced a food fortification opportunity for nutrition sensitive food system in The Gambia to overcome under-nutrition, at a ceremony held at the Senegambia Beach Hotel on Wednesday. In his remarks, Darrell Sexstone, programme manager for Agriculture Food and Nutrition security, climate change and institutional support at the EU delegates, said the effect of poor nutrition represents one of the most serious and preventable tragedies of the time. He said millions of children survive but grow up stunted with a low height for their age and impaired mental development.