llIf GUARDIAN, Sunday. Novem~r 4,2012
Why We Are Worried ByWHO's Bill On Tobacco Planting, By Nigerian Farmers By"'ff~iltse
rep!l!So!nts a depanure tram the orlgillal goal;u il ~ks 10 .m1ficl.t!ly miuee un: ~upvlyoflo W(COWllhOUl prUVklmggruwers.lny viable al· II'm.ltl\"O tosuppon their rJ.ml1!es.. b despllt'l!Swnares thar demand rortobdlto wlll
OnWIl.dIIllfl:nt 01 the FCTC~ <lmde 17, Whldl
was to provide " ..'<:hllical and flll,lIICl,ll .. UI\ tolnceloaid the C'Conomlc lralllilllullOr Il)I-WIU.1AN utlh\! Nigl'rlan lndeP'!'ndent luwlw MtllwtHm, RaSlll'l-tl I!.a.we, has baccogrowe~ and ....,orl~naSolddline In IObaccoprodunlonconsumptloli fe~ultl.'d In (alll'ti onlile govl'mmem {I,) O\lIXl)e prolo .....erdemand lor our crop. IXI!>I.'tI World Heolith Ofgolnisal on (Wl-IO),s -liowt'Yer.lJie proposal undcrwnSII.ler,1I10n hollll~\\Iork COIlVt:1l1l0n on rob,ll:co Control K.:lt I. VI hlCh In: )dId Ihle.ltell~ Ihe Ih'dl· Joodsul OWl j() million iarmers wurldWldt: S~ai..JIJg olll~yill, OyuSLII~,lIUr1ng the rt'lent wurld rob,u~oGr~n' D.I~8aJuI'l' 5,ud mole IhanlO million r<lrm!'!") olcrWoS the world hve on tobacco cul!IVaIJOIl. TIu' people. he Solid, would be Ihrown OUI of lObs If Ule W110's 10llH'nLJonis Implemented. ,Ire ulling on federal government tu oPjXJ)C th~ propos.1l by the WHO Ih.-II threatens the livelihoOds of more than]O miloon tobacco growers and farm worke~ 11us pwpowi w1l1 be: voted on In less than two"'et:l.lallhI'WIIO m«tlngin Seoul, Soulh KoI'(a . .... \Ie ,lre i&boUI HOO doing this work in Oyo Stolte.. Wt: don'l wall( the eradlc.luon oflohir.((0 punung. We w-tnt IOdo [he planung until we h.:ive other CoUh crops to culm'ale. Although, al)"ln from lobacco, we plant other crops Ike CoUSol\'il, uulzeand yam. '"We appeallo federal government to stand bylOoocco fannel'SagahiSllhc bill \4JHO wallis 10 pus Into I.lw soon. Even the dura lion alloraled rorpLamlngoftob.lcco should be: 6p.lncfed. Wewant to ~ aUowed to plant like we used to; wr Wdnt 10 plant
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I Ie saJd th .. ~i.mon·s letler .... ~ .tddfCUl-d
10 lhe MlIu~tcrof Agr1culrure.md N.lIur:a.1 R£soun:es. Dr. Ak.lllwUnll Mesma, who he W'1:.s:i tosuppon lobano gro.....ers ....Ve Lmend to follow up with another letter. We u!...:d lht' good ollke of one of the senalors In the sWle.lhe~SI.lIt'gOl.·ernlll .. m lSawareabout lhemaller. hedlsckbed..
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froIllMaldIIOAugust.~
Spei&kmg funheron how the iam1ers h.1ve been resuicted, he said: "'Some of us used to cultiV<ltt IWO 10 Ih~ hectares of!.md a year. But recently il w.tS r-educed loan hC'Ct4Jre. We Sl:ek opponunuy lO.tirour Views on the advanLlges of growing 10bilcco. WHO Iw not hew the voice of growen and has gone off lrack. in pursuing Ilbsurd proposal that is contrary to Its origiIld.1 mandate.8ab.redeKnbed the planned Lawasdra· cuniall,SOIoying Ih.-at it would throw 800 members of the .usoc\.1tion out or tab If II comcs to t:ffea. He also claimed that ~ members pay over N5 nuHlon in fonnof 1iW:S 10 the governmem yeady while argu-mg II"",,! the: policy would dlso affect J1d. lion.ill'lonomlfi. Ill' wid the fanners are Willing to work with Ihe gO\'emmelll to ftnd ,w luuon to the Iob.i.uo chalknge If Ihelropmions an wughL III' salllius JS.l.ociallon haswnllen the gO\leounent uver the m .. ner but th.u ills ~110 getd Ibpun~. llc noted thelt over 10,000 NlgendllS dire( lIy or indlr~'Ct Iy del~nd on IUbauo fOI ~u"vlVaJ. lie said th.lt Nigenan tobacco iamlers would not w.tteh their sources of livmgdeStrayed but will join othen In different paru of the world 10)top the p.tSSilge of lhe new [OnlienUOIl. 8dbreconullut'd: "Tobacco growlIIg has be going 011 ,S.Ince 1960 but the Nigen.m IOOepencfent Tobacco Association are coming togelher forthe fiot time.. We suppon the
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Power Supply May Drop At Dry Season, Says Minister Fro. HbehI Onyedib, AbuJI NDlCAnONS emerged .llihe weekend that electriCIty supply could drop, as soon as Ihe dry season sets IU. Minister of Slate (or Power, Darius Ish"ku, disdOSlo"d. this whe.n the Good Govt:mance Tour te"m,led by Mmister of Information, Mr. lahMan MaKu, visited Ihe World Bank ilSSISted subsLltlO1l III Karu. He nOled thai power supply hdS been suo ble because of the rainy ~.uon, which made some or the hydro power pl"nts function .11 full c.apacity. !shaku observed that arrangements hdYe
Attributes Improvement To Rainy Season
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bel!n concluded 10 get more (lOwer from Iherm.ll slallons to me-et up with ~hon"ge that would emanale 011 hydro stations, -We have prepolled to lurn on our therm .. 1 stauons because, nght now, we are generat· Ing more than Is even needed. By Ihe time dry ~ason comes, we wm get mort' power from the Ihennal SLllioru to meet up with shortage from hydro power StJUOIlS. We have eliminated some of the problems assoclated with gas." He SUled !fiat the country prr-senuy gener· ales about 4,100MW of electricity, adding
Ulat mass ....e work IS gOlng on III K.lmil1o reholbilitate turbines. Ishaku Solid thai JO new indel>endent power pl.tnts, when compleled, would deliver 4,noMW of electricity to Nigenans. Maku observ~'1.1 thill the rederal govern· ment, about nine monlhs ago, awarded comrau for 01 PowerTransmisslon SubsraIton lor lafia, wondenng why there Is no ey. idence the contractor has commenced work. He Solid efforts i&1'1! bo!mg made 10 ensure st.bility In power supply In the country.
Study Reveals How Agriculture, Food Production Contribute 29 Percent Of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions By K...t Tqg Oropo A S the world prepare for anoth!"f round IlDr dun.ate change negotl.llions In Doha, QoiI<lr,LHer this month, a new analys:is r~ laxd by the Consultative Group on Inter· lIationdl Agricultural Rrsearch (CGlAR) Programme on Climate Change,Agriculture dud Food Sl:c:urity (CCAFS). has revedled Iholt fcedlng Iht." world ndeasH up to 17,000 megatonnes of carbon dloJdde Into the atmosphere annually. 8uI while the emissions -footprint" of food production needs to be redueiNI," comp..nlon policy brief by CCAFS lays out how climate chi&nge will require a com· plete recalibrarlon of where specific crops olre grown .md livestock are raisw.. Tageme:r, 'dlmate Ow\ge.tnd Food Systerns' md 'Reallbntlng Food Production
In the Developing World: Globill Wilrmlllg Will Change More Than JUSllhe Climate', shed new light on Ihe intenwlnlng evolu· noll.S of dlmale change and the world's food system and their potentii&llmpact on hu· manity's relationship with food. -Oim.ate Change mltlga.tion and adapta· tion are critical priorities. Farmen around Ihe world, especlolily small· holder f.armers in developing countrle:s, need access to tlle loltest science, more resources a.nd advanced ttthnology. This resean::h ~rves U illl urgent c,,11 for negoliators at the upcoming United Nations Framework Conventloll on dlmate Cha.nge(UNFCCC) In Doha,- uJd CG\fS's program dlrKtor, Bruce campbell. -We ~ cOming to tums with the f.an Ihdt agriculture Is a O1tlet1 pL1yuln dimale change.. Not only are emisslons!rom~·
ture much larger than prevJously estlmaled, bUI with wealher records beln$ set every month as rt'glonal climates ..dillSt and rUd, Ihert lS an urgent need for research thal helps smallhOlder £armers .. ddpl to Ihe new nonnaL - Solid Ule CEO of the CGIARCon50r· Ilum, Fra.nk Rljsberma.n. As. Cann ... rs and food producers adolpl and rttdlibrate their responses 10 c1imoiltl' change and Its many challeufes, the cullurt." of foOd a.nd what is e.aten wll need to adJusl or change completely as different crops i&re nised to compens.ate for new growing con· ditions. -.t\e problems that climate eIIi&nge produces In the fields will be tackled In Indus· uuliziNI countries. It is the sma11holdu l'a.rmen In AfrIca and South Asia and the urbao poo r who spend too much oft:helr wages on
food; Ihese are Ihe people who Will have less 10 eat in the near future unless we adolpt at a much f,mer poice: said CCAFS' regIOnal program le.tder for West Alnci&, Raben ZOug· mon!. While previous studies have looked a.t the contrlbullon of dgnculture to emissions, 'CIi· mate Clange anaFood SY5lems' assesses the entire (ood system's emissions ~footprint" in tOLaI somewhere berwccn oil fifth and third of the g~nho~ gases emitted by people on this plolnet. This figure dccounts for every aspect of food produruon and disrributionIndudlng growing crops and raising liveSlOClt, manufacturing fenlllzer, and storing. tnnspon:1ng and rerrigentillg food. ~rlcul· ture ..ccounts for .round 80 percent these emissions, bUI the combined contribudon of tanspon. refrigen.tion. consumer pnctices and waste mallol&ement is groWIng.
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