FAO trains Nigerian farmers, others on drip irrigation

As part of efforts to boost food production, towards addressing the increasing demand to feed the ever-growing population in Nigeria, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has trained farmers, extension workers, researchers, and irrigation technicians in drip irrigation. A statement by FAO Communication Specialist, David Tsokar, recently, the training was held in Kano under the aegis of the FAO initiative to promote drip irrigation scheme in selected sites in the country, with the theme “Innovations in Irrigation Development and Practices for increased Water and Land Productivity for Beneficiary Farmer Leaders, Agriculture Extension Officers, Irrigation Technicians and Irrigation Engineers.” Declaring the training open, the Director of the Irrigation and Drainage department at the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Engineer Esther Oluniyi said the initiative is part of government’s efforts to promote food security and sustainable water management for irrigated agriculture with the expectation to produce more crops per drop of water on the land. He noted that the briefing and coaching sessions would broaden the understanding of participants on efficient “farm management practices to produce even more crops on the same land using less amount of water, implementation and management procedures of drip irrigation kits for sustainability.”. FAO Representative, Fred Kafeero noted that though designed as a lesson learnt from operation, maintenance, and the rehabilitation of challenged irrigation schemes in Nigeria by the department, the initiative was developed as a pilot initiative in collaboration with the Water Resources Ministry. He stated that it is viewed to compare “low energy drip based irrigated system side by side gravity canal, flood based irrigated system, with the view to come up with a study on some irrigation parameters such as volume of water use, the number of crops produced, cost of power, labour cost among others”. The training was attended by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, leaders of farmer groups, Hadejia-Jamare River Basin Development Authority, the Agriculture Development Programme from Kano state, and academia from the Bayero University Kano (BUK) among many others. The objective of the training is to enhance understanding of the technical processes of the different stages of drip irrigation practices with a view to cascade the training to the individual/ farmer groups in the irrigation scheme. This is against the background that drip irrigation reduces the impact of drought and climate change on food production; contamination of groundwater and rivers caused by fertilizer leaching is averted; it is advantageous to rural communities in poverty reduction due to increase in outputs and reduces rural urban drift.

Global commodities’ prices up 1.3% in July – FAO

Global food commodity prices rose in July, influenced by the termination of the Black Sea grain initiative and new trade restrictions on rice, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has stated. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 123.9 points in July, up 1.3 percent from the previous month while 11.8 percent below its July 2022 level. The increase was driven by a sharp jump in the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index, which rose 12.1 percent from June after seven months of consecutive declines. International sunflower oil prices rebounded by more than 15 percent in the month, due mostly to renewed uncertainties surrounding the exportable supplies after the Russian Federation’s decision to end the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. World prices for palm, soy, and rapeseed oils increased on concerns over output prospects in leading producing countries. The FAO Cereal Price Index declined by 0.5 percent from June, driven by a 4.8 percent drop in international coarse grain quotations due to increased seasonal supplies of maize from ongoing harvests in Argentina and Brazil and potentially higher-than-anticipated production in the United States of America. However, international wheat prices rose by 1.6 percent, their first monthly increase in nine months, due to uncertainty over exports from Ukraine as well as continued dry conditions in North America. The FAO All Rice Price Index increased by 2.8 percent on the month and 19.7 percent on the year to reach its highest nominal level since September 2011, as India’s 20 July prohibition of non-parboiled Indica exports fostered expectations of greater sales in other origins, amplifying upward pressure already exerted on prices by seasonally tighter supplies and Asian purchases. This upward pressure of rice prices “raises substantial food security concerns for a large swathe of the world population, especially those that are most poor and who dedicate a larger share of their incomes to purchase food,” FAO warned, adding that export restrictions can bear adverse consequences on production, consumption and prices that last beyond the duration of their implementation and risk exacerbating high food domestic inflation in many countries. The FAO Sugar Price Index declined by 3.9 percent as good progress in Brazil’s sugarcane harvest and improved rains across most growing areas in India weighed on world quotations, as did subdued demand from Indonesia and China, the world’s largest sugar importers. Persistent concerns over the potential impact of the El Niño phenomenon on sugarcane crops, along with higher international crude oil prices, mitigated the decline. The FAO Dairy Price Index declined by 0.4 percent in July to stand 20.6 percent below its July 2022 value. World cheese prices recovered slightly after steep recent declines as hot weather affected seasonally declining milk supplies in Europe. The FAO Meat Price Index declined 0.3 percent from June. Quotations for bovine, ovine and poultry meat declined on solid supply availability and in some cases lower demand from leading importers. Pig meat prices, by contrast, rose, reflecting high seasonal demand coupled with ongoing tight supplies from Western Europe and the United States of America.

Anthrax Outbreak: FAO strengthens partnership with Nigeria

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) have expressed their readiness to partner to check and control the spread of Anthrax disease in the country. Their partnership followed the anxiety created over the emergence of an anthrax outbreak in Nigeria, following the report of two recently confirmed cases in Lagos State. The Communications Officer FAO Nigeria, David Tsokar, made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja. According to the statement, on July 13, a suspected case of Anthrax was reported in a mixed farm at Sabon Wuse, Niger State, and a rapid response team was deployed by the Federal Government to collect samples and send them to the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) in Vom, Plateau. The presence of the disease was confirmed by the team and consequently, FMARD announced Government’s plan to intervene and control its possible spread. Tsokar said the Director, the Department of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, (FDVPCS) in FMARD, Dr. Columba Vakuru, said the strategy of interventions include quarantining the affected farm. Other measures include the vaccination of susceptible animals around the infected farm, educating farm workers using the One-health approach, and planning statewide vaccination of susceptible animals. The FAO Nigeria, through the Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) was requested to provide the technical and financial support to the intervention strategy. This has to be on logistics to the start-off of the risk-based nation-wide vaccination against Anthrax, which commenced last Friday, July 22 in Suleja (Niger State), the local government where the first case was reported. Subsequently, a nation-wide meeting with all Directors of Veterinary Services (DVS) from the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory would be convened to fashion a comprehensive response to prevent, detect and respond to further spread of Anthrax to other parts of the country. The FAO ECTAD Country Team Lead, Dr Otto Vianney Muhinda, said that “the partnership is to be enhanced within the context of the One Health approach, and efforts would be sustained using a strong team of frontline experts, to prevent the spread of the disease to other parts of the country. “With the support of USAID, we are pursuing our efforts to mobilise human and financial resources, including the Directors of Veterinary Services from the 36 States and FCT Abuja, to discuss the ongoing Anthrax outbreak and evaluate the preparedness of the States vis-à-vis the implementation of strategies to prevent the spread of the disease into the country as well as put in place control measures.” The consultative meeting with DVSs from the states would discuss risk assessment and survey, the conduct of mass nationwide vaccination of animals (cattle, sheep, and goats) against Anthrax, refresher training for epidemiology officers, and training of livestock professionals, farmers, butchers and traders on biosecurity measures. The joint field mission to Sabon Wuse was conducted by the ECTAD, FDVPCS, and the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), where a quick risk assessment was conducted, one week after the first animal died of the disease. Vaccinations had, however, been carried out and other risk communication initiatives were deployed to avoid the spread to other farms and/or neighboring communities within 15 kilometers radius. The same team would be deployed to Lagos State to carry out the same exercise.