fRIDAY. DECEMBER 16, lO l l
Food
CriSIS :
M
IWONs of I=t!Ople in West Africa (ould be protected from a ~erious food crisis if prepon;tions are scaled up across VolE'st Africa, O,uam said today. V.'ith early IndiClltors pointing to ZI likely food crisis in 20 12, with people a t particulilrly high risk in Mauritani~ . Niger. Burkina Faso. Mall a:1d Chad. now is the time to invest in preventative measures, the agency said. Governments aLrOSS the region. who have already recognised the serioumess of the coming crisis, should scale up efforts to make sure people have money to buy food, receive animal feed for their livestock and emergency food is stocked and ready to be distributed. Mamadou Biteyc, Oxfam Humanitarian Lead In West Africa. said,"The situation is looking extreme l ~' .vonying for millions of people in West Africa. but the worst is not yet inevitable The crisis has been identifiEd early. and we know that 1here are cost-effective measures that c"n be taken nou.' t·) protect those most vu!nera lie. This ti me we can act bdore the emergency hits. ~ Early warning S),ostems have idenlilied a lange of facto rs Ihat are cor tribuling to the coming cri,:is. Low rainfaU and watel levels. poor harvests "nd lack of pasture. high .foool prices and 1I drop in renittances Irom migrants are aI causing serious problems. According 10 nationa l early w"ming systems. cereal pJOduction s down compared to th e f ve year average. with M-1uritani3 and Chad showing ,--eficits of over 50% compare j 10 last
year. Ni!l ti onal food reserves are d.,ngerously low. wh ile prices of some k~' cere<lls i!lre up 10 40% highe r than the five yea r average. While evaluations "re still ongoing 10 identify those at most risk. early reports suggest six miUion people in Niger and 2 .9 million people In Mali live in areas vulnerable to the coming crisis, while in Mauriti!lnia 700.000 people - over one ~ quarter o f the population • are reported as at risk of seve re food insecurity. In Burkina Faso. official estimates are to be released soon but "re likely to include over two miUion people al risk o f being directly affected. In Chad, 13 out of22 regions could be affected by food insecurity. The Sahel region of West Africa last experienced., major food crisis in 2010. which affected ten mi llion people. Biteye i!ldded. ~People are stiD recovering from the last crisis in 2010 and are incredibly vulnerable to any extra shocks such as rising food prices. poor h.,rvesls or the death of their animals. These people need help now
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to build the ir resilience before next year. Acting early could make a huge difference . ~ Oxfam is gearing up its work to address immedialely the needs of the most vulnerable people The agency is working in some of the affected areas helping communities to Increase their resilience 10 the coming crisis Zlnd getting ready to provide food gssistance. For example. in the Gorgel region of r.,'lauritania, 1.300 women, as pari of cooperatives. are benefiting from irrigation systems whkh pump water from the river for their veget"lJble gardens. [n Burkin., Faso Odam has already st"rled a response, with the support of ECHO, 10 help 50,000 people access food . Whilst an early response to the coming crisis is CJ1.Jciai to protect people in 2012, adam illso warned thi!l\ preventing futurecriseswou!d require action to i!lddress the root causes and provide !onge r~term suppo rt for the poorest people in ., region where 300.000 children die from malnutrition·related diseZ1Se5 in a 'non-crisis' year.
Climate change blamed for dead trees in Africa
TREES
are dying in the Sahel. a region in Nrica south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused dimale change is 10 blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California. Berkeley. ~ Rainfallin the Sahel has dropped 20·30 percent in the 20 th Century. theworld's
"Venus unveils new products N the characteristic m.,nner of an intem.,tion;,] brand se t to reclllim lost" .,rketing grounds as a wsult o f quietness In Ihe m.,rket space. Venus. a premium cosmetic brand fDrn the stable of PZ CusSlns has introduced 1\110 n'~ skin care product lines into the Nigerian marke t a$ ' veil as a te levision commelci:ll ) and other marketing ffil' ntras to drive the brand. which has Just staged a come back. The introduction of new Venus skinQuenc, ligh t moislurising range "nd new Ve nus PerfectTone genUe loning range is biLsed on the oukome of icle ntinc research on Afric.ln skln and its un iq ue climate. These products ha'le been designed specifically to meel the needs of the African skin using unique technologies and natural ingredie lts. Explaining the uniqueness of tre new addition, the ~"rketing Director of Pl Cussons Nigeria, Elena Ha ritonova said, "Our fOlmulations are specifically designed 10 show you your skin at ils ~bsolute best thereby he lpi ng yo u
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Millions at risk in West Africa -Oxfam
diS(:over the fu ll beautify polential you have. They are especially made to work In harmony with your skin and care for it gently. The secret of our success is therefore in the careful selection of high quality component and ingredients for our products and their perfect balance in our formulations." On custom-made care, staled MWe Haritonovi!l believe that your whole body deserves custom·made care, therefore we design products to do a specific job on a specific bod y part. So you have special products to care for your body and special products 10 care for your face. All working together as a total beauty care system." For New Venus Moislurising Skin Quench ran ge. Marketing Manager, Regional Brands-PZ Cussens Mrs. Miklred Bagshllw, said it uses Ihe moisture release technology. a unique formula that adapts to the level of moistu re In the skin and provides the ex.!Icl amount of moisture it needs to be be"utiful ~ It also conti!lins pure sea extracts which refresh and revive the ski n."
most severe long·term drought since measurements from rainfall gauges begi!ln in the mid-lBOOs." said study lead author Patrkk Goru.alel., who conducted the study while he was a visili ngscholar a t LJC Berkeley's Center for Forestry. ~Previous research already est.,blished climate change as the primary cause of the drought, which has overwhelmed the resilience of the trees." The stud~ which is scheduled for publication Friday. Dec. 16,intheJoumai of Arid Environments, Wi!lS based upon climate change records. aerial pho tos dating back to 1954, recent sateJlitl! Images and old-fashioned that included footwork counting and measuring ovef 1.500 trees in the field . The researchers focused on six countries in the Sahel, from Senegal In West Africa to Chad in Central Africa. i!lt sites where the average temperature warmed up by 0.8 degrees Celsius and ra infall fell as much as 48 percent. They found that one in six trees died between 1954 and 2002. In addition. one in five tree species disappeared locally, lind indigenous frull lind timber lrees that require more moisture look the biggest hit. Hottel, d ri er conditiOn!! dominated population gnd soil factors in explaining lrel! mortality, the authors found. Their resu lts indicale thai climate change is shifting vegetation zones south to'o....ard moister areas.
,,; COO N ONDO STATE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION BOARD ODA ROAD, AKURE
Ondo State Uni versa l Basic Education Board hereby invites registered, ex perienced and reputable contractors to tender for the under-li sted jobs: 1. JOB DESCRIPTION LOT I: Construction of a Caring Heart Mega Primary School at Awosi.ka Memorial Primary Schoo l, Ondo LOT 2: Cons truction o f a Caring Heart Mega Prima ry School at Akurc High School Compound, Akure. LOT 3: Construction of a Caring Heart tvlega Primary School at St. Jose ph Primary School, Isua-Akoko LOT 4: Construction ofa Caring I'!cart f\ lega Primary School at Igbekebo LOT 5: Construction of a Caring Heart Mega P rimary Schoo l Ikere Road, Ijarc LOT 6: Construction of a Caring I-l l.!art t.ilega Primary School at St. Victor Primary Sc hool. Iju LOT 7: Compl etion of a six-classroom block at t." let llOdis\ Primary School, Iju. LOT 8: Complete Renovation and fencing of St. Anthony Primary School, Akure.
2. REQUrnEMENTS FOR TENDERING In terested contrnctor must subm it along w ith the ir te nders the following documents :
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Evidence of registration o f company with Corporate Affairs Comm iss ion. (ii) Registration with D ndo State Ministry of Works for 20 II . (ii i) 3 Years Tax Clearance Cet1ificale (2009, 201 0 and 2011). (iv) Evidence of paymen t of3 Years Development Levy (2009. 20 10 and 20 11 ). (v) Receipt of pa yment o f non-reflmdable Tet!der Fee of N20.000.00 for each Lot. (vi) Evidence of execution of simi lar projects. Interested bidders can obtain contract details from Stale Universal Basic Education Board (S UB EB), Planning, Research and Slatistics Dcpartment, Oke-Eda, Akure aft er sbow ing evidence of payment of Tender fee s.
All tender documen ts should be submiued in sealed. waxed envelop marked SU BEB/U BECiPRSiCHlIl and a lso indicate tbe LOT Number o n to p comer o f the envelop . IAddre,,,cd to, The Secre l.-uy. Stale Tenders Board. Cabinet and Specia l Services Department. Governor's Ollice. Akure, Dndo State.
5. SUBMISSION DATE tenders must be submitted on o r before 12 noon, January, 5 20 12. Please note that tlte violation of any of the nbove conditio ns IIlny render a tcnder inva lid and govcnunent is no l bou nd 10 accep llhe lowest bid or give reasons for rejecting any tender.
Mr. Nirall Adeye mo For: Chairman