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"a n~ uard, FlUDI\Y. OCTOBER 14. ZOl'
BUSINESS/ AGRICULTURE ,_
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Rice experts in Africa adopt new way of doing business JIMOH BABA11JNDE with ilg~cr
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s pl'lrt 0 1 e global pro . gramme 'l n rice science that has laid o ut concrete il1ld quantiriable key impac ts lo hene£il the poor, the hungry, Hnd the envi ronment in the next 25 years rice experts in ,\frica Imve adopted a mOle Inleriliscipli nary and product_oriented approach in order 10 deliver gre/!lter development impac!s. The i nn ovdlive program known as tile Global Rice Sci· ence Pdrtnel3bip (GRiSP) aims 10 mobilize L"f' vely best of Ule world's riee science aud involve Ule widest range of stakeholders po~ible ir tile technology generation an-t dissemineLion pJlJC'eSS 10 address, among OUIcrs, Nric;,'!.'s m.,jor rice development c hclleng'3. ''We a':l~noW!edge Ule ulgen1.1' 10 conduct r~edfCh activitie!'! dilfcrently - to do more and to do belter; given the increi\sing poverty Unoughout the wOlld," s tated AfricaRk:e Director General. Dr. Papa . \bdoulaye Seck. 'GRiSP prop~es a new g lobal ilppronch to r'3earch lind we .'\re part of Uili- program." Laying empbl!Sis on Ule need for pooling 1Ilielligence to beller exploit the comparatIVe lid· vantages of all the partners to flddress more efficienUy Ule COIIstri:1ints to riCE production, Dr. Seck spell out 1 0 conditions tilat ine essential br CRiSP to becolne a l>1Icces:;ful plogrnm and ellllUre <I high degree of satisfaction among rice farmeTS and co nsum e rs I'uoug hou t the world.
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TIle conditions include the lleed to respect the divelsily of partnerships, regional differences and institutionl'll identities ill Ule GRiSp, while rejecting "hegemonic Ulinking ." " It is only Ule synUlesis o f these dilfenmces that will make us move forward ," Dr. Seck said et the recen t GRiSP Nrica Science Forum held at AfrlcaRice in ColonOll, Benin. The conditions also specify the need for equildbl.e resource al· location besed 011 the real requ irements of th e vmiOU5 regions; the urgency to strengthen Ule capdcity of African stakeholders; Ule significant role of thc national partners wiUlin the GRiSP; the importance of con· tinuous dialog with policy_makers; and Ule need to lIvold bureauCl5C)' /lS well as excessn'e evnluation where scienList.!; s pend more time writing reports than doing rese.!ltt:h .
Africa sdence forum The GRiSP-Ahica Science Fof1Jm . which was attended by over tOO intemational and national rice experts, including representatives of nil the key portn!'!ts, revu!wed the p rogress made by GRiSP in Africa in 2011. . 'nle results focused on Ule development of new research products - ranging from gene discovery 10 s m4l.l combine harvesters and policy bl'iefs for decision_Inakers - grouped UIIder six GRiSP Ulemes. "We saw some exciting progress in marker-assisted selection (MAS) work on msis-
Pineapple .MetloD . llhe RI1'f!~ Stille Srmghllf farm csl ille
lance to rice diseases and pests and salinity. This work is very valuable in the context of the changing climate in the continent," said AfricaRice Deputy Director Genentl. & Director of Research for Development Dr. MaraJ Wopereis. "This researc h lIctivily involves many experts, not only [rom AfricaRice and its national and regional partners, but also from the lnternational llice Researc h Institute (lRRI), the French Research Institute for Development (lRD), the Jl'lpan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) and otller advanced research institutes. It is therefore an exceUen t example 0 1 how GRiSP works as it helps lever-age global expertise to solve Africa's rice problems." DL Marco Wopereis also highligbled the major s hift in focus from supply_driven research where the emphesis is mainly on increasing rice production to more demaud or malket-driven research. where the altention is given to the entire rice value chain.
Poultry M!dlon .llhe RII-er.s S i d le Songha/filrm e$I ille
Food poisoning: Farmers advocate modem preservation techniques in Mubi, F emawa, during the week called for the introduction o f ARMERS
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modern preserva tion te ch-
W0I1d hunger report 201.1: High, volatile prices set to continue L:UOD priCE' volatility featm J.--'Ulg high pri''e5 islikeiy to conIlllueand pc!S'SiJ lIy increase, making pool lanners. consumers and countries 1001 e -.'Ulnerable to poveltya.lld food in~ecurity, the Uruted Nnlions' three Rome-based agencies said i 1 the global hUIIg!!r repol1 pub1io;hed during the week. S mall, irnport dependent coun· tries. particula rly Ul Aftica, ate especially at ml(, Many 01 tilenl stii1 IOC'C severe problems foUo\\,· ina Ule world bod nnd econom· ic -crises of 2(1)6-2008, th e UN Food. and Agri,:uIture Organiza· tiOIi (FAD ), Ule International Fund for Agrkultural DeveIcpment ClFAD) df'd the \ \brld Food Programme (\' W I Sdid in ''The State of Food Insecurity in the "''arid 20 II" (~;oA), an annUAl l1 ag~hip report which they jointly produced th's ye.-:u: S uch crises, including ill the Hom o[ Africa, "are challenging OUt elfolto; to ac hieve Ule Millen· nium Developl'tenl Goai {J'vIDG) of reducing the proportion of people who suffer hom hunger
by half in 2015," the heads of Ule Uuee agencies - JClcques Diouf of FAD, KanllYO F. Nwanze of IFAD and Josette Sheeran of WFP . warned in a pleface to Ule report. Nen~.. iK'CepIabJe: " But (!Yen if Ule MDG were achieved b1' 2015 some 600 million people Ul de,,'eloping countries would still be undernourished . Hl'lvi ng 600 million people s\IUering from hunger on a daily basis is never acceptable," Uley said. 'Th~ entire intemlltiollol community must act today and net forcefully to bdnish food insecurity 110m Ule planet" the three heads <HIded. "Governments must ensure Ulat e transparent and predictable regulatory environmenl is ill place, one that promotes private investment and inc/eases farm productivity. ~ must reduce food waste in developed countries Ihrough education and policies, and reduce food losses in developing cou ntries by boosting investment in the e nti re val u e chain. especially post-harvest
processing. More sustainable ID1lIIogement of OlU nlltum! reforests and fisheries are critical for the food security of rrumy of the poorest rncnJboo..n; of society." the three beads said. SOIUC'e5,
High and vola tile food prices likely to contim,e This year's report focuses on high and voll!tile food prices, identified as I1llIjor contributing f"ctors in food in.secu.rity at 910baI. level. and a source of grave concern to the international community. "Dema.nd [rom consumers in rapidly growing economies will increase, llie population amlinues 10 gtuw, and fwthet gtu\'Ith in biofuels will place additional demands on Ule food syste m." the rt!pOrt Sdid. Moreove~ food price vul"tility may increase over the next decade due to stronger linkages between agricultural and energy markets and more trequen t ~ weather events.
Smallhmden and poor cons'..!.! ners: Price volatility makes both smallholder farmers and poorcons'.ltnetsincreasinglyvulner1!!ble to poverty while short· term piice chenges can have long-tenn impacts on develop-Im!nl. the report found. Changes in income due to price swings that lead to d e~se-.i food consumption can reduce children's inla!l:e of key nutrients d uring the first 1000 days o[ lile from conception, leading to a permanent reduction of their future earning cap«i\y aod an i1lcr~ed likelihood of future poverty, wi th neg~e impacts on entire econo=~.
But price swings I!Hected countries, populations and households vey dillenmUy, the report found. lbe most exposed were llie poor and the weak, particularly in Africa, where Ule Durnher of undernourisbed increased by B pmceot between 2fXn and 2008whileit WllS essenti4l.ly con-
st>mt in Asia.
niques to stem Ule spate of food poisoning in Ule country. A cross section of the famlers made- the coil in separllle interviews in Mubi in response to an enlighlenment pro gramme on the proper appli. cabon of chemicals on fann pro· duce lind U,e use of safer fond preservetion techniques . O n e of them, Abdulkarim Oapchi, said thc lack of educl'ltion and absence of safer preservation tcchniques among farmers In Ule alea were responsible for the high CiJSes of food poisonmg. '''The AdamllwlI Stlite Agricultural Developme nt Progranune shouJd introduce modern ways of storing be..'1ns anti oUler product!," he said, suggesting th e introduction of polyUlcne sack [or slorAge as being practised in oUler stale:!i. AnoUler fanner, DanjullIl'I Mbarn, noted that by educal· ing farmers, th ey wou ld be bet· te r informed lind encou raged on U,e proper application of chemicals on form plOduce to check food contarnination and wastage. H e urged the stille governmenl to adopt Pr.:lctical measures 10ward enhancing acce'!s to fertiliser and oUler agricultural U1PUts to bo<r>t agricultural ilctivitie:!i in the stale. Fanners in Ule alea are. how· ever, optimistic of A humper harvest this year due to lh e appreciable rainfall reco/ded.