With the world on the brink of an unprecedented four famines, donor countries must urgently step up efforts to tackle the structural causes of hunger and poverty. Food security and sustainable agriculture are among the European Union’s key priorities for development cooperation. The EU is committed to longterm solutions, including empowering smallholders, in particular women, and supporting environmentally sustainable approaches in agriculture. In practice, however, its development aid to the agricultural sector does not live up to its commitments. An Oxfam analysis of more than 7,500 EU-funded projects reveals a significant lack of transparency in reporting, casting doubt on the accountability of the EU’s aid.
At a bare floored restaurant on the edge of the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon, I asked the owner what there was to eat. She gestured to a poster on the wall. It was an illustrated guide of 44 animal species under threat from poaching and over-hunting, but for the restaurant it served as a menu. Each animal she pointed to was available to order. The Dja, and other forests in Central Africa's Congo Basin, are a breadbasket for millions of people living in the region. At nearly 2 million square kilometres, the area of tropical forest in the Congo Basin is the second largest in the world after the Amazon. Besides supplying bushmeat, these forests provide building materials, medicine, wild fruits, vegetables and spices.
The Government of Mozambique, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have announced a new project that will strengthen sustainable forest management and contribute to Mozambique achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 on forests. The $6 million project is part of the World Bank-funded $47 million Mozambique Forest Investment Project. The project aims to stem the rapid pace of deforestation and support investment in the forest sector while creating new income and livelihood opportunities from sustainable forest management for rural communities.
The European Union says it will provide $ 17 million to countries in the West African sub-region to enhance fisheries and maritime activities in the region. The programme, covering six years would enable industry operators to organize and cooperate on fisheries management. The European Union Representative, Stephania Marone, disclosed this in Abuja, at a workshop on Regional Policy Dialogue for the Development of ECOWAS Fisheries and Aquaculture. She said that security in the the region will be maintained as the fishery sector is strategic to regional economic stability. The EU assistance could lead to increased fish production and preservation.
Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries will benefit from the 50 million-euro European Union (EU) fund set up to ensure sustainable fisheries development and marine security, an EU official says. Mrs Stefania Marrone, Head of Regional Cooperation Section in the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday. Marrone spoke on the sidelines of the meeting on “Regional Policy Process for the Development of ECOWAS Fisheries and Aquaculture Regional Policy and Strategy Frame Work of ECOWAP’’. She said that the programme would be implemented in various West African countries within a six-year period
Sahel Capital, fund manager for the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (“FAFIN”), is pleased to announce the successful $65.9 million final close of its debut fund. As part of this close, the African Development Bank, CDC Group, and the Dutch Good Growth Fund have jointly committed $31 million to FAFIN, joining existing co‐sponsors of the fund to drive agricultural transformation in Nigeria. As part of this round, KfW Development Bank has also offered to increase its commitments to FAFIN by an additional $10 million, subject to final approvals, which if provided would increase the fund size to $76 million by December 2017.
Countries from the Indian Ocean Islands and East Africa have come together to develop strategies to tackle illegal fishing and increase accountability in fisheries practices. For two days, representatives from the fishing industry, civil society, governments and fishing administrations from Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique, met on Mahe Island, Seychelles, to discuss the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), a global initiative to tackle illegal fishing. African countries are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and depletion of fish stock due to opaque and unregulated fishing practices by both foreign companies as well as local communities. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the fisheries sector in Africa employs more than 12 million people. However, the depletion of fish stock in Africa is a major push factor in the migration of young people to Europe and elsewhere.
Government and Unilever today announced a Joint Vision to transform the Twifo Oil Palm Plantation (TOPP) into a state-of-the-art sustainable palm oil plantation. Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Unilever Global CEO, Paul Polman, agreed on a Joint Vision, outlining their support for the development of a sustainable palm oil industry in Ghana. Under this Joint Vision, Unilever and the Government of Ghana will work together to develop the plantation, support smallholder farmers, and help ensure a positive impact on the local economy.Dr Bawumia commended Unilever for the support it has offered the Ghanaian economy over the years through its continuous presence and operations in Ghana.
Negotiations for a new fisheries deal between the European Union (EU) and Guinea-Bissau (GB) have been put on hold due to unrealistic economic and technical conditions proposed by authorities of the African country, reported Europêche. The European fishing vessel owners expect that the discussion of this new agreement, which would allow around 50 EU vessels to continue fishing important species such as tuna, cephalopods, horse mackerel or shrimp in GB's waters for the next years in a transparent legal framework, can resume and lead to a realistic agreement beneficial for both parties in the near future. "Our fishing vessel owners are willing to continue operating in GB waters under the most transparent fisheries agreement in the world.
Farmers are set to benefit from the Africa Improved Foods (AIF), a food processing factory that was unveiled Wednesday. Speaking at the official unveiling of the plant, various officials said the Kigali Special Economic Zone-based factory will be fed by raw materials produced locally. Officials said sourcing raw materials from local farmers is a key element that will benefit not only the producers but the country as well as the manufacturer. However, it was noted that local farmers still lack the capacity to satisfy the needs of the factory. AIF Rwanda is a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and a consortium of four international partners; Royal DSM, Dutch development bank-FMO, CDC Group plc (the UK government’s Development Finance Institution) and IFC.