FRESH DAILY NEWSLETTER 18TH - 25TH AUGUST - FOOD AND HEALTH

Good Day,


I hope this reaches you in good health and happiness. This past weeks have been extremely busy weeks for us. The communities we are delivering to are expanding and our well laid delivery plans would need to be re designed to get maximum efficiency on our end which would translate to less fuel consumption and more off time for my staff. I sincerely apologize to those estates we have not been able to keep to a set delivery dates. I PROMISE WE WOULD BE BETTER. We have been able to sign up a new restaurant in Wuse II . They are called Uncle D's restaurant and wholly dedicated to selling organically grown food, the owner is a chef passionate about food it's worth giving them a try at some point.


During last weeks deliveries I have learnt alot about food and health from some of you. It's always taken for granted that food is the best form of medicine, I dedicate this weeks edition of our newsletter to re-enforce that amongst our community. The rates at which stomach ulcers, high blood pressure and diabetes is been diagnosed amongst us has reached epidemic proportions. BP tablets are been bought like sweets, I met a 22 year old patient in a hospital diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. He looked healthy and virile as far as my eyes could see by the prognosis was damning. The good news is that since the problem is our food, we can always reverse the trend. Taking time out to plan a proper diet and delve deeper into our food is the best preventive and curative measures we can take. I heard someone say we are the most overfed and yet under-nourished generation and I totally agree. The food we eat needs to have the right nutrients and released properly without exposing us to toxins. Vegetables and fruits are vital to a diet that promotes optimum health. You can find out more about what vegetables are would aid you in claiming back your health from here

Our range of vegetables are expanding thanks to a generous contribution of organic seeds delivered to us by one of our supporters. We now have more rocket salad seeds which by the way Americans call Aragula for some weird reason, more varieties of lettuce, more tomatoes and yellow pepper. Yes we finally have yellow sweet peppers and in a couple of months we would be filling your boxes with an extra burst of sunshine.


Thanks a lot for choosing us and continue claim back your health and food systems. Building sustainable communities and a better world can only be achieved when we have optimum health.

Peace, Love and Blessings

Kabir Onimisi ADEMOH

NEWSLETTER 12TH - 19TH July - Touching The Soil

Good Day To You,

Staying in touch with the soil is the surest way to shape our world.
With the fast pace of life nowadays, it's easy to feel like we are been shaped by a world that holds little regard for our dearest opinions. There is more and more of everything giving us less than ever before.

Lucky for you and me, we have found a way to shape our lives, our communities and consequently our world through the most abundant tool available to us - the soil. The soil holds all of our collective history and information. The soil yields us our food and through reconnecting with the farmers and farms that provide our food we get to touch the soil again, appreciate it's beauty, and it's value to our existence.

Farming sustainably and bio-intensively means we respect the soil and try to preserve it's properties. The dangers of our conventional food consumption and production patterns is apparent in the pollution of our soil. We wouldn't need to think outside the box into hydroponics and genetic engineering , if we amend and preserve the soil properly as farmers.
This is not an easy task and at times it's not cheap. Fresh Daily constantly encounters losses because we refuse to use pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones and inorganic fertilizers when manure, composting and careful planning can still produce tasty, healthy crops for our families. We like all other organic farmers have decided to maintain the integrity of the earth we have to grow not bigger but better. So sometimes we would incur loss of crops, some weeks we would have less quantities but always, always you would be guaranteed tasty, healthy food delivered to your door.

The soil is our tool of shaping that world one meal at a time to mirror our own will and beliefs. I hope you enjoy your produce this week and before you rinse your vegetables take a moment to appreciate the soil caked on your delivery.
Wishing you all health, happiness and blessings

Regards

Kabir Onimisi Ademoh

Waste, Storage Facilities and Food Prices

The next food revolution is here: stemming the tide of food waste. Roughly 70 percent of the food produced in Nigeria never reach our plates. This is in contrast to the high amount of malnourishment and hunger amongst vulnerable sections of the population.

The shopping, cooking, and eating habits of every day consumers are responsible for the bulk of wasted food, which is actually good news—it means we have the power to make a significant and immediate change in the food waste equation.
Of course there are also big structural issues at play—from regulations that encourage grocery stores, market sellers and transporters to discard food prematurely due to quality issues, storage challenges or aesthetics reasons.

Recently traders at the boundary market between Kogi and Benue states have called on the states and federal government to enhance storage facilities for their food produce. A substantial amount of their products are lost as post harvest losses due to this problem. They travel several kilometers from the hinterland to the market with their farm products, and on a good day the market for yam, garri, cassava flour and tomatoes go well and they smile home, but on other not so good days, when the market go sour, the products, especially garri and tomatoes, are wasted for lack of storage facilities.

The traders who made their position known to the government when speaking to LEADERSHIP in Lokoja, yesterday, noted that for sometime now even at the expense of sacrificing other things to engage in farming, there is no encouragement from the government both at the local or national level.

The leader of the market women, Alhaja Junai Shaibu, who narrated the harrowing experience of what the traders go through every market day pointed out that the quick intervention of the governments for the traders will be the provision of storage facilities for their unsold products.

It is time we started reducing our food waste by adopting new ways e.g. purchasing directly from farmers, preservation by partially cooking, sun drying and other affordable ways we could use in reducing food waste footprint in our homes, lives and economy. This alone cannot solve the problem as storage still needs to be addressed by the government and investors in agriculture.

N12bn Worth of ‘Strange Projects’ Discovered in Agriculture Ministry’s Budget

Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh and his team have reportedly found 386 strange additions worth N12.6 billion in the ministry’s budget proposals – which were believed to have been inserted by the National Assembly.

The said projects were allegedly fixed into the budget after the N40.918 billion earlier proposed had been reduced to N31.618 billion.

A source told the Nation Newspapers that Ogbeh and his team were shocked at the strange inclusion found in the budget after they discovered about 3 projects that aren’t linked with agriculture in the budget.

Some of the projects are erosion control in Federal University, Kashere, Kwadon and Garin Alhaji at N200 million, N100 million and N45 million.

A source reportedly told the news outfit that: “In the Agric sector, 386 projects were inserted, which totalled about N12.6 billion.”

“While N5.3 billion of the main ministry’s budget is taken away, about N7.2 billion is infused into almost 40 agencies and parastatals of the agric ministry.”

Also, 58 boreholes for 29 rural communities worth N175 million as well as another 50 boreholes for 50 communities worth N150.4 million were also added to the budget.

According to the source “curiously, the communities are not named.”

“Similarly, of the N90 million allocated to the Cocoa Research Institute in Ibadan, various sums are allotted the following ýof the seven sub-heads: provision of rubber seeds and seedling in Igbotako, Okitipupa, (N5m), training and empowerment of youths in poultry farming in Oluyole, Ibadan(N20m) and provision of cassava processing plant in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State(N10m).”

“Of the four sub-heads under the Rubber Research Institute, Benin, two areas are equally outside the focus of rubber. These are training and empowerment of youth and women in fish farming in Ndokwa, Delta State as well as fabrication and installation of cassava processing machines in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State at N10m and N20m.”


“Also, N1 billion was allocated to two projects in Kwara South Senatorial District, including the construction of rural roads for N700 million as well as empowerment of women and youths in agricultural products for N300 million.”

Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee has revealed that the projects were fixed into the budget without the knowledge of the committee’s members.

“We are happy that the Speaker hinted that the issue of the budget will be revisited this week. But what some of us want is the understanding of Nigerians on this matter.”

“The issue of this controversial budget has to be carefully done this time around because some persons who think they were smarter had already led the entire parliament into collision with the executive and indeed Nigerians.”

“They have done this by inserting projects without the knowledge of others either in the appropriation or relevant sectoral committees and presenting same as the collective decision of the house or the entire parliament.”

“To the best of my knowledge, as a member of both the appropriation and agriculture committees in the House of Representatives, I did know that we reduced the ministry’s N40.9 billion proposal by about N9.3 billion.”

“But the surprise here is that while a decision was not taken where to infuse the reduced sum, some of us were surprised to see that so many projects were passed on to the President for assent, which he declined.”

“The implication is that if the President did not insist on details, most National Assembly members would not have had the opportunity to know what went behind them.”

The Budget Minister, Udoma Udoma is expected to meet with the president on Monday, April 18 to brief him on the impasse.


Article by

Adebayo Emuleomo for ynaija.com

Poultry In Motion – The Inner Workings of Our Favourite Bird

Chickens are the most popular livestock in the world. We all love them; fried, grilled, sautéed, peppersouped, suya-ed, skewered, shredded, marinated, with fgarlic, with cumin, with maggi, with rosemary, in soup. Okay you get my drift. The list goes on but it’s always tasty. But have you ever thought of them as more than just meat or a source of fresh eggs? In 2004, chickens became the first bird to have their full genome sequenced, uncorking a deluge of scientific inquiry into their physiology, as well as their social behaviors and even their psychological dimensions. Some people believe that are smarter than your toddler and exhibit learning and communication behaviors on par with primates. Now that’s a food for thought.
Based on my religious inclination, I believe everything has a soul but yet I am not able to answer why the chicken crossed the road. But here are some curious facts

1. Communication - All that clucking is not random—chickens have a language of their own. Scientists claim that in addition to saying “cluck,” chickens “pok,” “brawk,” and “squawk.” And from these basic syllables, chickens are capable of at least 30 different calls. Imagine what your chicken is announcing “INTRUDER ! INTRUDER!!” Every time you go to pick an egg

2. Do Chickens Have Feelings- Yes, says British researcher Jo Edgar, who determined that hens, at least, experience empathy. He designed an experiment that simulated chick stress and found that the mother hens behaved as if they themselves were experiencing the pain—a classic sign of empathy. Chickens are also known to display mourning behavior when another chicken in the flock dies, and they will show signs of depression if they are removed from the flock and placed in solitary quarters.

3. A surprising number of people suffer from fear of chickens, a condition known as alektorophobia, which may not be as unreasonable as it sounds given what scientists have been discovering about them. Recent research has shown that chickens can distinguish between more than 100 faces of their own species and of humans, so they know who you are and will remember you if you treat them badly. They’ve demonstrated complex problem-solving skills and have super-sensory powers, such as telescopic eyesight (like birds of prey) and nearly 360-degree vision (like owls). Chickens are the closest living relatives of the Tyrannosaurus rex (researchers determined this in 2007 by testing proteins from a particularly well-preserved T-rex leg bone), and they outnumber human beings on the planet 3 to 1. There hasn’t yet been an Orwellian uprising of chickens revolting against farmers due to poor coop conditions, but to all those that use tiny “battery” cages, cut off beaks, and engage in other atrocities common to industrial chicken farming—watch out, your birds may be plotting against you.

4. Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road – This is still one question scientists don’t have a theory for. I guess we just have to settle for poultry in motion

Ps. If you have found this interesting or put a smile on your face, please drop a comment to let us know. This was inspired by The Modern Farmer article by Brian Barth

VIDEO; Gardening Without Cutlass-GROWING Wild Okro

So I came across this inspiring young man growing Okro in the wild employing No-till cultivation method. This is such an amazing step as it reduces the energy input from the farm and conserves the integrity of the biological composition of the soil. No-till cultivation is gaining prominence in a lot of organic and bio-intensive circles. This young man even though motivated by profit is making a big move.
Salut to Mr Jerry Osazee!

Fuel, Food And Optimism

The fuel scarcity is hitting everyone hard. The small to medium scale businesses are really struggling as well and like the rest of the country we are begging for respite. Fuel scarcity also poses a major threat to our food security. The cost of transporting food round the country would increase which would also spike the food costs. Not good news at all at the moment. Losses are been incurred everywhere in the country.

I came across a news article regarding these losses from the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) which made it clear to the government that the issue of unavailability of petroleum products and its importation portrays our country in bad light. It shows us up as an incompetent manager of our resources.

“NNPC from the comments of it’s officials may have given up. We may seriously need to divest our refineries. Businesses and our economy are being battered from all sides. Forex, energy supply, infrastructure, security concerns. The list is endless.” He said
Businesses especially MSME’s have lost over N30B through inadequate supply of petroleum products. Labour productivity is low as employees have stayed off work since the hike of fares by providers and when they come, they are always late. NNPC banned the use of containers to buy petrol without considering that most households and small businesses run on petrol generating sets. This has forced them to close shops. Buying with kegs is not the cause of scarcity but inadequate supply of products.
According to Tony Ejinkeonye, NNPC over the years has not proffered any meaningful solution. They are fond of treating symptoms instead of addressing the issue, he concluded.

The fate of a business owner in Nigeria at the moment reminds me of a Late Koffi Awnoor verse;
"If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me
The firewood of this world Is for only those who can take heart
That is why not all can gather it"


Naija, we are still pregnant with hope!

Meet The Modern Farmer From Uganda

Lanyero Family Plot
Gulu Region, Northern Uganda


Christine Lanyero was only a teenager in 1987 when Joseph Kony’s brutal Lord’s Resistance Army occupied the Gulu-region village where her family farmed. After the LRA killed Lanyero’s father, she walked nearly 250 miles to a refugee camp outside the city of Kampala.

But in August of 2014, the camp’s land was sold for development. With financial aid from a U.S.-based nonprofit, Lanyero—along with 31 other women and their families—journeyed north to their ancestral lands, which are once again considered safe.


Lanyero, her husband, and her five children moved into a new mud-brick and thatch hut steps away from where she grew up, and she planted maize, groundnuts, cassava, and soybeans. Like the majority of women in Northern Uganda, Lanyero digs food (dig is the local word for farm) to feed her household, and often walks long distances to sell surplus at regional markets. Every day, she carries jerricans over a mile each way to the nearest borehole to gather water. “It is difficult to start over and make a life again,” she says. “This has not been easy. The digging is challenging, and the market is far away. Everything is far away.”

Christine is just an example of a growing trend of modern farmers who seem to be characterized by the sheer will to grow food against the odds of environment, social hindrances and lack of access to land either due to cost or land grab challenges. Christine's story shows us that there is a way and more importantly she isn't alone; there are many people in her situation and many individuals and organizations that have dedicated their time and effort to help work together and solve these problems.

Do you know any modern farmers around you that would benefit from support and a network to help improve their farming methods and improve quality of life, please contact me and lets see what we can all achieve together. Lets keep growing.
KOA

The nonprofit After the Bulldozers—founded by a 16-year-old girl in Danville, California—helped Lanyero and more than 200 others.

The Story of Agriculture and The Green Economy

Ever wondered about the green economy and agricultures role in it ? This video by the Farming first team sheds light on this topic




THe future of our world depends on addressing global challenges now..

Jovana Farms; A Mushroom Farming Start-Up Company

My personal experience as an agric entrepreneur has proved that farming mushroom, antelope, quail, rabbit, grass cutter, snail, laboratory rat and guinea pig is second nature.In the case of mushroom cultivation, its production gives smallholder farmers a big chance to increase their income, improve their health and offers an alternative means of livelihood to urban and rural farmers.

The process of growing mushroom is one of the easiest ways to earn a living and not much physical strength is required in its production.The potentials in mushroom farming makes it an investor delight as a viable money making option. Investment in mushroom production will in the long run contribute to food security, wealth, and health and employment creation.Getting started on a mushroom farm is a potentially lucrative way of getting into the farming business. This kind of farming is highly remunerative enterprise with quick return.

There are many types of mushrooms and they can be categorized into Four Saprotrophic, Mycorrhizal, Parasitic, and Entophytic. Edible mushrooms are considered as healthy food because their mineral content is higher than that of meat or fish and most vegetables.

Nigeria job seekers can succeed in overcoming the challenges of poverty and unemployment through micro, small and medium scale rat breeding. But first we must empower our people with the right resources and skills then they’ll be able to create a brighter future for themselves and for the country.Good market. Many opportunities abound in the growth of mushrooms as many hospitality industries in the country still import the product to add to their meals. Majority of big hotels in Nigeria have mushrooms in their daily menu, but this mushrooms came from abroad, this means local production will have a ready market. There is opportunity to even export mushroom, once you can produce good quality that can be exported to Europe and America.

More farmers are of late going into the farming of mushrooms, a neglected and forgotten healthy food, which is not only improving the financial status of the producers but the health of the consumers’ as well.The rate at which Nigerians have shown interest in the eating of mushrooms is given a massive boost to production of the delicacy.ViabilityThe technology for the cultivation of mushroom species could be easily adopted by individuals, co-operative societies, families, and famers, schools in the rural and urban centers without difficulties. The cultivation of the mushroom can be done all year round as sources of the mushrooms are from agricultural wastes which are always available in abundance in Nigeria.The high rate of returns and low cost of investment as well as farming them are some of the reasons many farmers are fast resorting to mushroom cultivation these days.Prince Arinze Onebunne, is the CEO Jovana Farms and can be reached on E-mail:info@jovanafarm.com.

‘MOST AGRICULTURAL POLICIES AREN’T WORKING’

Hope Abah, a versatile and prolific young journalist with Daily Trust who frequently covers Agricultural reports, caught up with Dr. Simon Penda of the University of Agriculture, Markurdi an expert in agric business and financial management to discuss policies, problems and the state of Agricultural sector in Nigeria.


Excerpts:


What solution would you suggest to the agricultural transformation effort of Nigeria, given its potential as an agrarian economy?


Agriculture contributes up to 40 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than 80 percent of the Nigerian population is engaged in agriculture. The funny thing however is that we have remained an importing nation, which means that the production is not enough even to feed the entire population. As economic planners, we are thinking that with the resources at our advantage, Nigeria should not only be able to feed its people but it should be able to earn income from agriculture not even oil - its main economic stay. The problems are wide; farmers have not been supported properly, the seeds today are not the type that would bring optimal yield and so per hectare yield in Nigeria is still very low. I had an experience when I visited a crop research institute in Vietnam. I discovered from the researchers that a per hectare yield of rice in that country is eight tons and they produce three times in a year which totals 24 tons per hectare in a year. But, in Nigeria the rice yield per hectare in a year is just two tons maximally and we produce once in a year because we depend on rain-fed agriculture. This means that we must improve on our irrigation system because depending on rainfall agriculture will not move us any forward considering that of the country’s arable land which amounts to 80 million hectares only 8 percent is currently irrigated.


How do you evaluate the federal government’s efforts in tackling the situation?


As far as I am concerned, I would say categorically that most agricultural policies introduced by past and present governments are not working very well. Despite the huge resources, wide land for agriculture and even though we have a large population of potential youths as workforce, we still remain the highest importing nation in the world. What do you think will make these policies effective?We must as a matter of fact face the challenges that this country is ours. Corruption is the bane of what has placed Nigeria in its current position.


The University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM) occupies at least 8,000 hectares of land with very large portion of it not utilized. What can be done to put it into use as a research institute?


Most of the agricultural institutes in the country have large land for research and practice. But as you are already aware, agriculture is capital intensive. So, if the universities are not supported to go into direct farming, it would be difficult to utilize the space. It is regrettable that universities in the country, including universities of agriculture are poorly funded such that the land is available but other inputs to develop it are lacking. I can speak for the University of Agriculture, Makurdi that we are blessed with a large land up to 8,000 hectares and if government can support the university, it has the capacity to feed the state.How much employment do you think would be generated if UAM cultivates 2,000 hectares for each of the three senatorial zones of the state?Agriculture is a sector that can employ a whole lot of idle hands. So, if the university for instance cultivates 2000 hectares for every zone of the three districts in the state under irrigation which would produce three times in the year, the result will be overwhelming. From the people who would harvest, those who will take produce to the stores and those who do other jobs in the farms, I can assure you that there would be massive employment such that I can not quantify. This is because a 2,000 hectare farm cannot create less than 2,000 jobs.


How do you think our local farmers can be supported to increase production?


I will like to say that supporting local farmers does not end with fertilizer. The beginning is actually done with research. Agricultural institutes in the country should be financially supported to conduct researches. Some of them have even conducted researches that have brought about good varieties but to get them to the farmers has become a problem. To multiply these seeds has also become a problem. So government has to support the researches and ensure that the seeds get to the farmers so that they get good varieties for planting.Fertilizer is another issue which is militating against farmers’ capacity to generate bumper harvest as oftentimes government would talk about input for farmers when actually they did not get it at all. A lot of inputs have to be considered such that we must shift from primitive to mechanized agriculture. If we take a country like Indonesia for example, they use 240 tractors for 1000 hectares while Nigeria uses 10 tractors for 1000 hectares. So agriculture in Nigeria needs a lot of government support. Before oil, agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy.


Do you think the lost glory of this sector can be restored?

There was a time when agriculture boomed in this country but we never sustained the production due to the advent of oil which caused everyone to surrender even as farmers too relaxed. The thinking of the country totally shifted to making money from something else other than agriculture. I think that consciousness that we will feed ourselves has to be developed first in order to see any changes; the consciousness when Nigerians would have to choose between local and foreign rice, which is the stage of repair that would enable us as a country to feed ourselves and the whole world.


What harm do you think the delay by government to accent to the bio-safety act portends to the country’s quest to rely on agriculture?


I don’t think that it is a delay so to speak. I want to believe that there is something government wants to see in the bill fashioned properly before the presidency accents to it. It is not just to accent to the bill in a hurry but it must be given to farmers in a way that it becomes sustainable. Despite the belief by some that Genetically Modified foods which the bill is expected to give passage are poisonous, Nigerians are consuming the products already. However, I don’t think that is why the presidency is yet to sign the act. Policy makers do have their reasons which I do not know.





Published on Thursday, 25 July 2013 by Hope Abah, Makurdi Daily Trust Agriculture section.

FAO Award For Nigeria's Work Towards Ensuring Food Security

The Food and Agricultural Organization has commended and handed an award to the Federal Government of Nigeria for its sustained work towards ensuring food security to its citizenry. FAO data shows a noticeable drop in number of chronically under nourished individuals in the country from 19.31 million. (1990 -1992) to 13.38 million (2010-2012) which translates to a drop from 19.3% of the population to an impressive 8.5%. This positive figures indicates that the country is moving faster than the forecasted targets of 9.7% by 2015 in line with the MDG projects

The Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development Adewunmi Adesina confirmed this while handing over the award to the President. In his speech, he acknowledged the role played by policies enacted by the present government to ensure a consistent push towards reaching the goal of improved domestic food production industries and food security.

9 million metric tons of food has been added to the production chain within the last two years to our domestic food supply, and the success of dry season rice production in the country was a major talking point at the FAO summit in Rome earlier this week. In the last two years, Nigeria has managed to produce 1.8 million metric tons of rice per day which is 55 per cent of the target set for achieving self sufficiency in rice production by 2015.

The Minister, clearly excited by the award still had an eye on the greater picture stating that as long as any Nigerian goes to bed without food, the job of the government was still not completed. The President, Jonathan Goodluck was very appreciative of the minister and his team. 

"Let me use this unique opportunity to tell Nigerians and the rest of the World that we appreciate this award. We are yet to reach where we want to go but surely, we will get there."

Enough food for everyone: The Big IF campaign

On Thursday the 6th June, I received a text from a friend I hadn't seen in a while asking me to come along to a festival of sorts, promising drinks, food and music. So of course I immediately said yes and sent the text on to another friend so that we could really make a day of it.

What I hadn't realised is that my friend had greatly understated what the day was about and so on Saturday the 8th June I found myself amongst a 45,000 strong crowd campaigning against world hunger in one of London's most beautiful spaces Hyde Park. (Organised by a coalition of almost 200 organisations http://enoughfoodif.org/who-we-are)

So with the day having a heavier meaning then what I had initially planned for, I embraced the event full throttle and what followed was at the very least an education and at best an awakening of sorts from my sheltered bubble.

The three of us started out at Marble Arch station, and basically followed the crowds until we were literally at the front of the stage. Speakers included Danny Boyle and Bill Gates and a host of other dignitaries. The emphatic Myleene Klass presented the event. They shared their thoughts with us on the campaign, throwing in facts and figures to an attentive crowd. Like did you know that a child dies every 15s from hunger? No me neither..

Picture 1: the view from the stage overlooking the attendees of the Big If Campaign

Emotive videos were shown intermittently, the footage showed children of all different races from various countries in the third world suffering from severe malnutrition. Many of the children looked as if they had suffered horrific burns injuries, the kind that are caused by hot water but in actual fact these patches were caused by hunger. On large screens we watched as mothers reacted to burying their children due to being unable to provide them with enough food to make it into adulthood, we saw a father describe his anguish at having to listen to his daughter crying every hour of everyday as there just wasn't any food for him to give her.

But here's the crux, there is enough food. There's enough food in the world in order to prevent these deaths and ensure that no one goes hungry. However, our world leaders are not doing enough about it. This is why this campaign is different from others that I have attended, seen on TV or the usual. You see they weren't asking for financial contributions from the crowd. No, what they wanted was our voices, our voices to be used collectively to be heard loud and clear by David Cameron and the other G8 leaders all attending the G8 summit in London that weekend. We were urged to act as one, and send tweets to David Cameron and sending text messages to a number displayed on screen in order to add our names to a petition.

The campaign achieved a degree of success, a further 2.7 billion pounds was pledged to tackling this issue by the G8 leaders. Although, I'm not sure what issues this poses as David Cameron is not best known for his problem solving ability, in actual fact he's more of a tornado taking the UK back to Victorian times but that's a story for another day. So back to the day in Hyde Park, the sun bore down on us whilst we carried our placards with provocative messages and our paper windmills each petal supposed to represent the millions of children that die every year due to hunger.

The show closed and we headed down past Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain, where children played in the water and were having fun with their parents. I couldn't help but compare these happy children with the ones I'd just seen on the video footage at the Big IF Campaign stage and wondering if this inequality would end in my lifetime. Reaching the paper flower garden, which was a visual delight we milled around for a while talking to the volunteers and other attendees. Then we headed off as a group and in the search of food.

Picture 2: The Paper Flower Garden created by the Big IF Campaign volunteers

Stumbling across a pub on the Kings Road, we had picked up a few more people along the way and we all ordered are drinks and food. Chatting away, sharing our sentiments and getting to know these new acquaintances looked to be a good ending to the day. However, I often find that I become full very quickly and regularly leave about a quarter of my food uneaten when dinning out. I did this again at the pub, and one of the members commented in jest 'Ivy, how can you waste your food after the event we have just been too?'. It was this flippant remark that was the most poignant of the day as although I know my friend was joking, there was a latent truth to the question. While there are those of us that can afford to buy a spontaneous meal, there are still so many people wondering where there next meal is coming from. The gap is so wide its easy to switch off and wait for a miracle.

We already produce enough food to feed the world, but the policies and conditions that ensures that poverty and inequality exists in our world need to be changed to put a stop to hunger globally. Advocating for this change togehter, we could become that miracle.

Rally your friends and let our voices be heard

Tweet/write to world leaders

Sign up to the BIG IF Campaign

Let's just do all we can to shorten the gap between the haves and have not's.

Ivy Nwanze
June 2013

Follow Ivy @IvyNz

Today's Hunger and Tommorow's Food

The food of the future are being discussed and designed while most are still wondering about todays food. The recent troubles of the global seeds giants Mosanto, against the backlash of popular opinion mainly powered by campaigns ochestrated over social networks (facebook, avaaz, twitter, etc) served as a reminder of unresolved debates about food and intellectual property patents and by a further stretch -organic agricultural methods vs conventional farming methods. 

A shift in policy emphasizing on re-investment and revamping of the agricultural sector has been noticed globally. "Food security" has slowly crept into the discourse of sustainability, climate change and the future ecomomy. The need for crops and livestock that can adapt to climatic changes and adverse conditions have gained prime importance amongst the first world economies. The developing economies, still battling hunger, poverty and unemployment face an uneviable task of proffering solutions for todays poor and ensuring the security of tommorow's food. Raising productivity of farmers in an emerging economies like ours is one way of reducing hunger, but that is just one head of the beast. Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality and definitely not due to lack of food. The world already produces enough to feed 10 billion people (the forecast for global population by 2050) but most of that population can't afford to buy this food. The reality is, most farmers live below the poverty lines. Combating hunger would require policies to foremostly address the conditions that ensure poverty amongst over 70% of our population. Access to sizeable plots of land for cultivation, financial facilities tailored to the peculiar needs of farmers, proper training and education are practical ways to reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of farmers.

The allusion that genetically selected or modified food is a ready made solution to overcoming the issues of food security is unfounded and probably wrong. The possibility that the crops our poor farmers would use in future are being patented today is extremely worrisome, this could go a long way in controlling the price and demands of tommorows food. Recently a news report in The Guardian annouced bodly :" The future wellbeing of millions of Africans may rest in the unlikely hands of a vegan hippy scientist working for a sweet company who plans to map and then give away the genetic data of 100 traditional crops"

These crops include yam, cassava and cocoa. The man of the moment : Howard-Yana Shapiro described rather poetically as "The Hippy from Mars". Since he joined Mars (Yes! the multibillion dollar sweets and chocolate factory), Shapiro has been credited with making the company go sustainable. Based on his influence as the Director Of Agriculture for Mars, the company announced it would "contribute $10m to a project to map the cacao tree genome and publish it for free to speed up the development of quicker-growing and more resilient varieties." The only snag to projects like these, is that while its a laudable step to include Yams, Cassava and other tropical crops that are not of interest to the other seed and food corporations, the main motivation for Mars is quite apparent - a steady supply of cocoa. While over three fourth of the world's cocoa is produced in Africa (mainly Ghana and Ivory Coast), the final products i.e. coffee, chocolate bars and beverages are consumed mainly by the first world economies. Those who can afford this products and actively purchase them represent quaint outliers of the overall populations here.

Decoding these 'orphan crop' genomes could make a huge difference to the national and global economy, saving millions of lives in Africa from poverty would require concerted investments on Agricultural training and developing an entrepreneurial approach towards agriculture. It is only then we can begin to influence the R&D departments that are churning out tommorow's food. It is only then we can assure today's food.

The 17th FOODAGRO International Trade Exhibition

The 17th FOODAGRO International Trade Exhibition on Food, Hotel & Kitchen is the largest Trade event held annually in Tanzania, concurrently held with East Africa Trade Exhibition (EAITE).

This is an ideal exhibition for agro-entrepreneurs aiming to launch a food product or showcase a unique service to a larger audience and meet with potential investors in the agricultural sector all over Africa and the world.

The exhibition attracts exhibitors from more than 30 countries and visitors from all over East & Central Africa, thus giving exhibitors an excellent opportunity to explore several countries in one time. Over the past few years, Tanzania has emerged as a major regional trade centre. This is mainly due to a very friendly and business like atmosphere it offers to foreign investors and products. Duties are considerably low and re-exports to neighbouring countries are either very low or exempted. An enticing mix of consumer interaction and industry presence, the show boasts not only the highest attendance per day, but also the highest business dealings per individual. Trade visitors from all over East & Central African countries are being invited directly and in collaboration with several regional trade bodies in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia, Mozambique & Congo.

This year’s show has an exciting line-up of both local and international companies and is an ideal platform for product launches, finding new buyers & distributors, promoting brand names & image, updating existing customers and updating oneself with the latest in the industry. The FOODAGRO AFRICA 2013 is the place to learn more about what’s new on the food, hotel, and kitchen & agriculture scene and present your own products to consumers and potential clients. The experience and comments of exhibitors at previous events indicate substantial gains from unexpected foreign visitors and we strongly feel that a rise in such statistics would ensure business especially for the foreign participants who form almost 80 - 85% of the exhibition.

Are you a daring young agro-entrepreneur with products and services you want the rest of Africa and the world to know about? Looking for international partners? Or a possible kick-starters? This could be the networking opportunity you have been looking for. Exhibition starts from the 6th - 8th June, 2013 in Diamond Jubilee Hall, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. Time: 10 AM TO 06 PM (Business Visitors Only)

“Where Is My Food Coming From” Agro-Entrepreneurship and Youth Unemployment In Nigeria

Nigeria is home to the largest African population on the continent, with a vast majority of its population been classified as young people (0-35) . As youth unemployment rises and an increase in numbers of young people migrating to cities continues, infrastructure is being strained; this is most evident in Lagos (former country’s capital). According to one report, Lagos is the second fastest growing city in Africa and seventh in the world.

Government initiatives and aides cannot meet the demands placed on roads, sanitation, education, health facilities and employment in the urban setting. General agricultural performance within the country is dismal, forcing the youth to leave the fields in search of stable employment in populated cities. This situation is contributing to a generation of youth dysfunction and disorientation (Adeyemi, 2012).

The majority of Nigerian youth are neither interested in farming nor in agricultural professions. The inability to attain an agricultural “revolution” or increase the desire of youth to take up agriculture is created by the continued rural-urban migration that has been taking place over the last few decades. Employment opportunities for youth continue to decline, but expansion of the agricultural sector will bring major improvements.

The Youth Agro Entrepreneurs (YAE) is a social enterprise incubator that aims to rebrand farming as a viable profession for a new generation of farmers by teaching Agricultural practices and business skills required to support the development of a sustainable agricultural enterprise.

In a study conducted by YAE, it was established that youths in Nigeria are eager to secure employment in this sector, but they need to be assured that agriculture can be a better means of earning money. The report explores the current climate of the agricultural industry and why agriculture has become unattractive for young people who are leaving school.

Agricultural training has to be revamped not only to make food available to millions of poor and hungry people, but also to create opportunities for youth to produce cash crops for local and international markets.

There is tremendous deficiency in youth employment engagement initiatives, as well as a crippled agricultural industry. Addressing the deficiencies will be a huge feat. However, with innovative, creative, and meaningful decisions by leaders, advocates, and policy-makers, the nation can begin to provide the necessary training, tools, incentives, and information to motivate the youth to participate in a viable and productive industry—agriculture.

“Where Is My Food Coming From” is a poetry/video fusion by Spoken Word poet, Onimisi “Wordsmith” Ademoh aimed at drawing the attention of the public to an important discussion which would help shape the policies and future of these sector of our emerging economy.


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Connect on twitter @youthagroent
youthagroentrepreneurs@live.co.uk
youthagroent@gmail.com

ONIMISI
onimisi.wordsmith@gmail.com
http://www.onimisi.com
onimsiwordsmith@twitter

Written & Performed by Onimisi
Directed & Edited by Benedict Raja Obazele
Sound Engineering by Stephen Ameh Jnr
Photography by Blaize Itodo
Make Up by Grace Eno Egbo-Egbo
Executive Prodcuer & Sponsors : Youth Agro Entrepreneurs.