The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Suffyan Koroma

  • Nigeria to face pressure in livestock production – FAO

    The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said Nigeria would face unprecedented pressure in its livestock production in the next 30 to 40 years.

    The FAO Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Suffyan Koroma, stated this at the onset of the dialogue on in Abuja “Lunch of Africa Sustainable Livestock’’ (ASL 2050) project held in Abuja.

    He said the prediction was built on the evidence that the demand for livestock-based foods would grow rapidly due to increased human population and resultant rise in consumer purchasing power and urbanisation.

    “Data from FAO shows that by 2050, beef, dairy and poultry consumption are anticipated to grow by 117 per cent, 557 per cent and 253 per cent respectively from the 2010 levels,’’ he said.

    Koroma said as a result of this data, policy and institutional reforms should be developed, while long-term projections were made.

    NAN

     

  • FAO expresses satisfaction with food security in North East

    FAO expresses satisfaction with food security in North East

    The Food and Agricultural Organisation ( FAO ), on Tuesday, said the threat to food insecurity in North Eastern Nigeria, had reduced due to improved security and increased agricultural activities in returnee communities.

    Mr Suffyan Koroma, the FAO Country Representative in Nigeria, made this disclosure on in Katarko, Yobe, at the official distribution of agricultural inputs to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    According to him, the gesture is to support no fewer than 26,000 households engaged in irrigation farming.

    Suffyan, who was represented by the FAO Deputy Country Representative, Mr Nourou Makital, said “there is positive news about food security in the North east”.

    He said the number of people estimated to be facing food insecurity had reduced from 5.2 million in July to 2.6 million in December”.

    FAO in collaboration with Maigoje Foundation, began the distribution of assorted seeds, fertilizer, water pumps, small ruminants and bulls to vulnerable persons for irrigation farming.

    Read also: Food and water poisoning: How to tame the widespread killers

    The country representative said the irrigation farming and livestock support programme was to provide the beneficiaries with durable means of livelihood.

    Gov. Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe, said the irrigation support programme was in line with his government’s policy on irrigation farming.

    Gaidam who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Mustapha Gajerima, said his administration had developed four irrigation sites to promote dry season farming.

    “The significance of dry season farming was in tandem with our administration’s drive to harness the irrigation potential at Mugura, Boloram, Nguru and Jumbam.

    “Our overall target is to develop about 1,000 hectares of land for irrigation farming before the end of 2018,’’ Gaidam said.

    Dr Usman Abba, the Executive Director, Maigoje Foundation, FAO implementation partners in Yobe, said a thorough assessment was conducted to ensure that only eligible persons benefited from the programme.

    He said the foundation had fashioned out effective monitoring strategy for the materials to be used for the intended purpose of providing sustainable means of livelihood to the beneficiaries.

    NAN

  • FG calls for protection of forest resources

    FG calls for protection of forest resources

    The Minister of Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman, has called on stakeholders to collaborate with government in efforts to restore the integrity of the country’s forestry sector and protect wildlife resources.

    The minister made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at a workshop on National Forest Investment Programme ( NFIP ) for the implementation of West Africa Forest Convergence Plan.

    Usman, who was represented by Mr Asuquo Enile, Director of General Services, Ministry of Environment, attributed the current state of forests across the country to indiscriminate deforestation, degradation, poaching and trafficking of wild flora.

    He said that these untoward human activities had reduced the ability of the forests to supply products and play their role of protecting water bodies, biodiversity conservation, wildlife habitats and carbon sinks.

    He noted that most of the forest reserves and trees on production landscape were managed without basic management principles.

    The minister said that allocations of timber resources were no longer based on technical considerations but on political patronage.

    Usman said that government, after considering all the loopholes, would provide the enabling environment and funds to encourage meaningful participation of relevant stakeholders in efforts to attain sustainable utilisation of forest resources.

    “The meeting must consider the fact that deforestation and forest degradation negatively affect the ecosystem.

    Read also: Nasarawa youths engaged to check deforestation

    “The meeting must come up with investment opportunities and financial actions to achieve sustainable forest management for income generation and poverty reduction,’’ he said.

    The FAO Representative in Nigeria, Mr Suffyan Koroma, said that for the successful implementation of the NFIP, FAO had provided the necessary support for ECOWAS states in the development of the roadmap.

    He said that the main objective of the workshop was for participants to review and improve the draft NFIP document, prior to its adoption as advocacy and resource mobilisation tools at all levels.

    Koroma, who was represented by Hajiya Sadiya Ibrahim, an official of FAO, said that the workshop would also conduct substantive discussions of the forest investment programme for 2018-2022 and revise the investment requirements.

    He said that the expected results of the workshop included how the prioritisation and estimation of the cost of the priority national actions were analysed and improved.

    He said that the roadmap for the effective implementation of the NFIP would also be established.

    To achieve this, Koroma said that FAO had also strategically engaged key stakeholders in the environment sector to implement interventions that would reduce deforestation and degradation without having adverse consequences on the environment.

    He, therefore, urged participants to review and improve the draft NFIP document so as to put in place a good roadmap for the effective implementation of the plan.

    Dr Johnson Boanuh, the Director of Environment Directorate, ECOWAS, said that the workshop was aimed at reviewing and improving the draft investment plan for validation by the national actors.

    He said that the workshop would also serve as tools for advocacy and resource mobilisation for sustainable forest management at the country level.

    “In the last two years, 14 national forest programmes have been prepared, leading to the successful validation of 11 of the programmes.

    “The 12th in the series is to examine and enrich the draft document by the stakeholders for its use as an advocacy and resource mobilisation tool for sustainable forest management at the country level,’’ he said.

    The participants of the two-day workshop were drawn from ministries of environment across the country as well as other relevant agencies.

    NAN

  • FAO tasks Fed Govt to increase effort on food security, nutrition

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Mr. Suffyan Koroma has advised the Federal Government to increase its efforts on sufficient food production and addressing food nutrition challenges in the country.

    Koroma made the call at the stakeholders meeting on presentation of results of Cadre Harmonise (CH) Analysis on Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Nigeria.

    The new report was unveiled before Commissioners for Health and Agriculture from 17 States across the country, including the Federal Capital territory (FCT), yesterday in Abuja.

    The states are Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, Benue, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe and Plateau.

    Other stakeholders such as local and international Non-Governmental Organisations were as well present at the discussion which preceded official unveiling of the document.

    Koroma, who was represented by David Patrick, said efforts were ongoing to assist the vulnerable states with supports from other development partners such as Action Against Hunger, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Food Programme (WFP) among others.

    The CH report, earlier this year stated that 7 million people in the 16 northern states were severely vulnerable to hunger if quick actions were not taken.

    “The essence of this meeting is to gather all stakeholders to discuss on the cadre harmonise report and information at their disposal on food and nutrition. Outcome of the CH will later be communicated to headquarters of various agencies to needed programmes and intervention.

    “There is need for the government to increase efforts on addressing food security and nutrition. There is also need to build capacity of all stakeholders and strengthen food security and nutrition in the country,” he said.

    Koroma further described the CH as a food security tool adopted by the federal government to analysis food and nutrition insecurity findings in the country.

    Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Bukar Hassan, said the analysis became imperative in order to determine reliability of data in the 16 States before final presentation to the public.

    According to him, the result will assist government in planning effectively, especially in the area of policy formulations targeted to assist poor rural households in the country.

    “It is a tool to analyse food security and poverty in the country,” he added.

    Hassan, who was represented by Director of Planning, Policy and Coordination, Alhaji Auwal Maidabinu reassured support of the federal government to jointly realizing food security in Nigeria.

    The Country Director, World Food Programme, Martha Karlard, described the exercise as impressive stressing that it immensely helped in the study of about 22, 000 households in the north east.

    She lauded the federal government and States for timely delivery of food items to the victims of insecurity in the region.

  • FAO to address livestock development challenges in Nigeria

    FAO to address livestock development challenges in Nigeria

    Mr Suffyan Koroma, Food and Agriculture Organisation Country Representative to Nigeria, has said that the organisation will organise a livestock development conference in August to address challenges in the sector.

    Koroma made the disclosure when he presented his letter of commission to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He said the conference was part of the organisation’s support to improve the utilisation of grazing reserves in the country.

    “Our support to improve the utilisation of grazing reserves and stock routes to mitigate conflicts and promote commercialised stock production has led to calls for a national conference on livestock development.

    “The conference is expected to come up with comprehensive recommendations to address all issues associated with grazing reserves and livestock production; this will happen sometime this month.

    “We are also looking at developing a national dialogue for the livestock policy development,” he said.

    Koroma further said that the activities of the FAO to respond to the crisis in the northeast was “fully aligned” with the intervention initiative of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

    He added that FAO supported Nigeria’s economic growth plan and agricultural promotion policy aimed at reducing food and agricultural imports and boosting exports.

    “The strong confidence my UN colleagues have in my technical and leadership ability led to revised implementation modalities of the UN sustainable development framework for Nigeria.

    “It also put FAO as the lead agency for the diversified economic growth outcome area which is a key aspiration for Nigeria within the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.”

    In his response, the foreign affairs minister commended the FAO’s response to the crisis in the northeast.

    He said that the resumption of the new country representative would contribute to “more holistic approach to putting agriculture front and centre of our development goals”.

    Onyeama also commended the organisation’s initiative to organise a livestock development conference adding that the transhumance crisis needed to be addressed sub-regionally.

    “This has led to conflict and security issues and it is one of the items we also want to place on the sub-regional agenda of ECOWAS because it is not just a national issue.

    “The transhumance aspect of it is significant and we have to adopt a sub-regional approach to addressing that issue; the national conference to address that will be important,” he said.