Va nguard~ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST I S, 2 0 12 -
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RANCE . .. he U .S. and G20 F presidellt Mexico are to hold a conference c:ill a t the e nd of this month. They d re to discuss whether an emergenq- international meeting is required ttl tackle soaring grain prices caused by the worst U.S. drought in hall a century. A French agriculture m inistry official said the call would decide rhether to convene the first meet.ng of the G20's Rapid Response rorum. The bod)' w.).!; created last year to promote early discussion a mong decision-rnakE'rs about abnormal market cOlldi ti :ms with the aim of avoiding unilateral aclion . " If the sit uation tE."C{uir:!S it, a meeting of the Rapid Respome Forum could be called as StlC n as the sta rt o f September," the official s aid . H e added that th~ forum could hold its discussio::ts i n person or by B conference cal l.
ProducUon
es tima te '"TIle aim :.s t ('t~ abouttbe situation and avold rreas ures like export embargoes wh Ich 1vould be damaging for everyone," :11:; said . Benchmark Chicago corn climbed to an all-time high on FridlY afte r the U.S . Department ".f ptgricullure cut its production es:unate by 17 per cent. The con(eren'-:E call will d iscuss a report on agric i1lufal prices requested by France last nJuth and compiled by the Agricultunl r-1arket information System (AlvU~) . I This system, created last year under France's pres idency of the G20. is deslgned,to sb lie information on crop prices with a V!f!!'N 10 averting a repeat of the 2007 ~66 f(lo~ crisis : France cunEn :ly presides both the (arum and the <\....oS system, which is based a t tte U.N. Food and Agriculture C r~labisaUon (FAD) in
ChB.irman of DESOPADEC, !dr. On'ls u wir Kpogb ohl a cha l wilb visiting D ell a Sia l e Commissioner of Poh'ce, Afr. I k echukwu A}'oA duba a t DESOPADEC headqu arl ers; 113rri.
World powers weigh emergency meeting on food prices Rome . The U.S . will take over the reins in October. France and the United States remain a tlentive to any new (act that could justify a meeting oJ tbe Rapid Response Forum ." Fre nch Ag r ic ultural Minister Stephane le Foil said in a statement on Monday. " The forum has no power to impose binding decisions on member states but it is hoped that discussion can
discourage countries from talting unilateral action . Russia banned grain eJ[ports for almost a year after a severe drought two years ago and weather problems this year have fueled market rumours it could resort to export curbs again. However, French officials have said tha t Russ ia has given reassuring indicators in co ntacts through the MUS system . The FAD last week
IFAD PIJ~sident pays official visit to Nigeria, visit s IIIJTA ,
RESlOEN:,r o~
Inl~rna tiona l
P Fund for the Agncultural Developrn en 'IFAD) Dr Kanayo Nwanze, lriLi during his one week wo~ldng visit to Nigeria next week, delIver a lecture aIUTA, the News Agen.:ylof Nigeria (NAN) reports. It is his tourth visit to his home count Iy since assuming headship ot th ! IJN agency as ils fifth president o . April I, 2009 . A prog ramme 0 'us activities , made avaUable to i"AN, by the IFAD CoWltry office; showed that Nwanze would meet witb President Goodluck Jonathan al the Presidential Villa on Aug . 24, aite! which he would be involved in a ~ledi8forum . He would also hold scpa.'--atemeetings with the t.ilinisters of AoricuHure and Rural Development !Ir.d Foreign Alfain on Aug. 23. H owf'v ~r, the focus of their discussiolll' Wo'lS not disclo,::ed . The prograrrun.~alsoshowed that the president of ' he Rome路 based UN agency woulrl also hold sepa ra te meetings 'Nilh Dr Ngoz,i Oko njo-
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Iweala, the Minister of Finance and Coord i nating Minister of the Economy. and CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on Aug. 24 . According to the programme, Nwanze and Okonjo路Iweala would sign the loan agreement for the new IFAD路assis ted C ha in Development Val ue Programme in Nigeria a nd address a news conference after the event. Meanwhile, a statement issued by Mr Godwin Atser, the IITA Communication Officer for West a nd Central Africa. made available to NAN in Abuja on Monday. s tated that the lFAD President would pay a working visit to the institute from Aug. 20 to Aug. 21. The statement said that he would address sdentists and s takeholders in the agricultu.ral value chain, including hnandal secto r ope rators who bave a bias for agricultural financing . It said that he would also deliver a lecture on MInvesting for and with the Youth: A Private-Public Partnership to Ad vance Participation of Youth in Ag r ibusi ness ." Accordjng to th e
statement, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural DeVelopment, who is charged with the responsibility of implementing reforms aimed a t transforming the nalion's agricultural landscape, would participate in the lecture . The re forms a re eJ[pec ted to c ut the country's fo'XI import bills, improve food security. generate wealth, and create jobs for youths. The s tatement quoted IITA DirectorGeneral Nteranya Sanginga as saying that Nwanze's visit to IITA is signi.ficant for Africa's agricultUral development. Established in 1967, rITA is a nonprofit agricultural research organisation o:ommitted to fighting hunger and poverty in tropi cal nations, throug h improvement in the prod uctivity of c rops . The institute became the first link o( international agricultural research from Africa to the g lobal network of ag ricult ural research, also known as t he Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) .
said its food index jumped six per cent in July, higher than in 2006. It warned against the kind of uporl bans, tariffs and buying binges that worsened the price surge four year. ago . Christopher Matthews, i spokesman (or the FAO, on Monda} said it would participate in the confe rence call in its capacity as secretary of M ilS . "The call will disc uss wbal can and what cao't be done," he said . It will be a first discussion, with a view to probably calling a meeting at a laler date, though that has not yet been decided ."
AGRIC COMMODITIES
aJiRENCYBlIY1NG CENJiA1. SEll1'1G 154.'3 OOUA' STEMUNG 243.03&1 11 1.2305 WOO FRANC 151.11" 1.1114 0 ,111l C.A WAUA lJl..1811 REJ'II M I N8 H . ll RIYAL 41. 'IU 1(1/01'101 n .&ll"
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C UN Exchauge: rate: as a113108I2012