Dryland expert advocates EvenGreen Agriculture for smallholder farmers

  

     From: Morkporkpor Anku, GNA Special Correspondent, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, June 22,- Dr Dennis Garrity, Dryland Ambassador of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has advocated an EverGreen Agriculture for smallholder farmers to safeguard land degradation, food security and climate change.
    EverGreen Agriculture is a form of more intensive farming that integrates trees with annual crops to sustain a green cover on the land throughout the year.
    Dr Garrity told the Ghana News Agency in Rio de Janeiro at the weekend that: “it will also increase family food production and cash income.
   EverGreen Agriculture is an emerging affordable and accessible science-based solution to regenerate the land on small scale farms.
    He said some of the benefits of the principle included enhanced carbon storage both above-ground and belowground, greater quantities of organic matter in soil surface residues and greater direct production of food, fodder, fuel, fiber.
    “EvenGreen Agriculture allows us to glimpse a future of more environmentally sound farming where much of our annual food crop production occurs under a full canopy of trees,” he said.
    Dr Garrity noted that the principle have already been widely applied in Africa, where complexity was a common feature of the agricultural system.
    “Millions of women and men farmers in Zambia, Malawi, Niger and Burkina Faso are already practicing the technology,” he added.
        He explained that Africa was critically threatened by food security, land degradation and climate change and smallholder farmers needed science-based solutions to increase the efficiency of their crop production.
    The Dryland Ambassador said the technology broadens the principle of crop rotation to encompass the role of fertilizer tress and other cash crop tress to provide the needed biological and income diversity in farming system.
    He announced that an EvenGreen Agriculture network was evolving to support farmers with information, capacity building and knowledge they needed to make effective implementation.

 

UN Secretary-General launches “Zero Hunger Challenge” campaign

     From: Morkporkpor Anku, GNA Special Correspondent, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

    Rio de Janeiro, June 22, – The United Nations has launched “Zero Hunger Challenge” campaign to eradicate hunger globally.

    The campaign has five objectives to achieve including 100% access to adequate food for all year round, zero stunted children less than two years, all food systems are sustainable everywhere, 100%  increase in smallholder farmers productivity and income and zero loss or waste of food.

    The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, who launched the campaign at the on-going UN Conference on Sustainable Development dubbed “RIO+20 Conference” in Rio de Janeiro, said almost one billion people still did not have enough to eat.

    He said: “I want to see an end to hunger everywhere, within my lifetime.”

    Mr Ban noted that he was not proposing a new goal, but only sharing his vision for the future.

    “A future where food systems are resilient, where everyone enjoys their right to food,” the UN Secretary added.

    He explained that when this was achieved it would boost economic growth, reduce poverty and safeguard the environment, while fostering peace and stability.

    Mr Ban called on governments, the business community, farmers, scientists, civil society and consumers to support the fight to end hunger.

    Ms Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of World Food Programme (WFP), said there was no sustainable development when billions of people lived in hunger and poverty.

    She said women were at the heart of global food and nutrition, since they grow, process, sell and cook the bulk of food in many developing countries.

    Ms Cousin called for the scaling up of social safety nets to protect and empower the most vulnerable in the community.

    She noted that: “Rio+20 must reaffirm the eradication of hunger and under nutrition as a crucial global development goal in the post 2015 agenda.

    Ms Cousin called for stronger partnership to address the challenges of hunger and ensure inclusive development.

UN Conference on Sustainable development opens in Brazil

      

      Morkporkpor Anku, GNA Special Correspondent to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. 

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), June 20,– The United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable development dubbed: “RIO+20 Conference” has opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Wednesday.

      The three-day event is held in pursuance to the UN General Assembly resolutions 64/236 of 24 December 2009 and 66/197 of 22 December 2011 to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development and to assess the progress to date.

      The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, in his opening address to delegations and participants, said it was time for all to think globally and long-term to achieve sustainable development.

      The event follows on from the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, during which countries adopted Agenda 21, a blueprint to re-think economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection.

      The year’s conference is on two themes including a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and the institutional framework for sustainable development.

      It seeks to shape new policies to promote global prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.

      He said 20 years ago the Earth Summit gave the world a blueprint for sustainable development but since then, progress has been too slow.

      “We have not gone nearly far enough down the road mapped out in 1992 and Rio+20 is not an end, but a beginning,” he added.

      The conference will examine the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development and address new and emerging challenges.

      It is also expected to focus on improving gender equity; recognizing the importance of voluntary commitments on sustainable development; and stressing the need to engage civil society and incorporate science into policy; among others.

      Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the UN General Assembly called on governments to strive for solutions that do not jeopardize the future of generations to come.

      He said countries must adopt activities to improve on the future where equity, equality and prosperity were the norm, not the exception.

      He noted that although much progress has been made, large parts of the developing world still face poverty, disease and abject living conditions.

      Mr Al-Nasser said development cooperation must support poor countries to put in place policies and institutions that could spur sustainable development.

      He said sustainable development has become truly a collective endeavor and that collectivity increasingly encompasses many other actors, besides Governments.

      He urged Member States to realise their important commitments made in the Agenda and these conventions to improve on sustainable development policies.

      More than 100 Heads of State and government, civil society organisations, UN officials and agencies are participating in this year’s event.

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1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty globally

Morkporkpor Anku, GNA Special Correspondent to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

  

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), June 21, GNA - There are 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty and close to 900 million chronically undernourished globally.

    Another one billion suffer from “hidden hunger”, a lack of vitamins and minerals.

    A statement issued jointly by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme and Bioversity International in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday has said.

    The statement was issued in connection with the United Nations conference on Sustainable development dubbed “RIO + 20 conference” underway in Rio de Janeiro, brazil.

    It said undernourishment in children prevented them from ever reaching their full physical and cognitive potential, costing lives, livelihoods and economic growth.

    “We must all understand that the Rio vision of sustainable development cannot be achieved as long as hunger and extreme poverty persist,” it noted.

    It will require not just universal acceptance of the right of every person to be free from hunger, but also profound changes in the way we produce and consume food and manage the earth's resources.

    It said Rio+20 gives us a golden opportunity to bring together the agendas of food security and sustainable development to build the future we want.

    According to the statement Rio+20 must demonstrate the political will to improve governance, reform policy and, above all, take action to fight hunger.

    “All our efforts toward "sustainable development" will be in vain if we cannot feed humanity and also safeguard the resources upon which life depends,” it added.

    It said it was shared challenge that involved actions that must be undertaken by government, the private sector and civil society, and producers and consumers of food themselves.  

    The statement said the world now faced the challenge of raising global food production by 60 per cent by 2050 while managing the natural resource base so that we are not robbing future generations.

    It said the principles of inclusiveness, equity, gender equality and a rights-based approach must be upheld both in the consultative process and the actions undertaken.

    It called for the scaling up of safety nets and building resilient livelihoods and landscapes, to ensure access to adequate and nutritious food at all times for the poorest and most vulnerable people in both rural and urban areas.

    “Disaster risk management and resilience-building need to be adopted by food-insecure countries and communities exposed to increasing land degradation and resource scarcity,” the statement said.