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A sour taste creeps into Kenyan tea

admin — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 07:00:01 +0000

A sour taste creeps into Kenyan tea

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admin Mon, 06/12/2023 - 07:00

Thursday, May 25, 2023

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The Citizen

Original Article

A sour taste creeps into Kenyan tea

Summary

East Africa seems to be in the early beginnings of militant contestation over natural resources.

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This week, Dutch multinational Ekaterra Tea Company suspended its operations in Kericho, Kenya’s South Rift region, after militant residents invaded two of its estates and burnt mechanical tea pickers, harvesters and a tractor.

The company said its 16,000 employees would only report to work once the security situation is stabilised.

The Daily Nation reported that large tea producers in Kericho, Bomet, Nyamira and Nandi counties would also scale down their operations until adequate security measures were in place.

It quoted Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) chairman Silas Njibwakale as saying darkly that there had been a notable escalation in insecurity in the tea estates with the breakdown of law and order severely disrupting business operations, thus hampering the growth of the tea sector.

“What started in October 2022 with daylight raids and theft of tea leaves and machinery has now escalated to organised attacks on business premises and deliberate destruction of critical assets,” said Mr Njibwakale.

Police officers have been seriously injured in recent months as they dispersed residents who invaded the estates of Ekaterra and another multinational, James Finlay’s, to steal green leaves. Kericho Governor Erick Mutai’s motorcade was pelted with stones when he intervened.

Politicians have been accused of inciting Kericho residents against the massive tea plantations during last year’s election campaigns with promises that they would help them to reclaim some of the lands. However, the crisis was fully on show 15 years ago, during the post-election violence (PEV) that followed the disputed December 2007 elections in which 1,400 people were killed and 350,000 displaced.

At that time, the more dry-eyed analysts, storytellers and documentary makers who studied the wreckage of the violence, which was mostly concentrated in the Rift Valley, partly blamed it on the tea plantations. They said the plantations had so much land, acquired in the colonial and immediate post-independence periods, leaving the local people “packed like sardines in ghettos” in dry patches of land.

Local militancy

With the increasing population, combined with the deterioration in the environment, they warned of local militancy that would seek to seize tea plantations for the people’s livelihood and bring with it levels of pillage way beyond what was witnessed by the tea firms during the PEV.

The government, and the national economy, are now caught between a rock and a hard place. Expropriating the plantations might be good for short-term electoral politics but disastrous economically. Indeed, Njibwakale said, “We appeal to the President (Dr Ruto) to intervene and restore order, protect local and foreign investments and avoid a situation where Kenya loses its international tea market niche.”

Times have changed. In the aftermath of Covid-19 and the squeeze brought by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, economies squeezed by high dollar interest rates, and mounting debt, many developing countries are desperate and offering foreign investors incredible sweetheart deals.

Njibwakale spoke in the company of Slyvia Ten Den, the Ekaterra managing director for Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. She would have been aware that Rwanda, and President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s Tanzania, would gladly snap up Ekaterra at the first chance, not to mention Uganda.

Yet, in some of these countries, they too will be aware that the politics of land has become more fraught. President Hassan’s government just concluded negotiations with an energy consortium for a $40 billion liquefied natural gas export project.

The project had been delayed by the John Magufuli government and was pulled back on its feet after he died in 2021. However, even in famed “peace-loving” Tanzania, the government will deploy the army to guard the LNG project. Uganda has deployed thousands of troops to guard its 1,443-kilometre crude oil pipeline being built to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.

East Africa seems to be in the early beginnings of militant contestation over natural resources (minerals, land, fish) that, in Nigeria, saw extensive sabotage of the crude oil pipelines by saboteurs, rebel groups and locals stealing the oil to process in bush refineries and sell to the local markets.

The process is more advanced in Kenya, where a version of it has been witnessed in the farm invasions in Laikipia (mostly owned by white folks). Zimbabwe, during President Robert Mugabe’s rule, had a violent seizure of white-owned farms.

In Zimbabwe, it was not the fairytale ending that nationalists had hoped for. The farms collapsed in the people’s hands and its agriculture cratered. The backlash on world financial markets was brutal. A cash-strapped Zimbabwe has been borrowing and scrapping together billions of dollars to compensate the white farmers.

It’s hard to see how this ends in a win-win for everyone. Maybe technology could come to the rescue. It is possible to produce higher-yield tea, on smaller land parcels, with chunks freed for redistribution to the people. But that might be one of those things that are easier said than done.

Africa

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Sue over blacklist, says economist

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 17:40:01 +0000

Sue over blacklist, says economist

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admin Mon, 06/20/2022 - 17:40

Thursday, April 28, 2022

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Business - The BVI Beacon

Original Article

Sue over blacklist, says economist

Caribbean countries that live in fear of being blacklisted by the European Union should band together and take legal action, according to Barbados-based economist and Caribbean policy expert Marla Dukharan.

“I felt like there should be some legal recourse that should be pursued collectively,” Ms. Dukharan said on Feb. 23 on the regional livestreamed show “Territories Talk,” hosted by Shaina Smith-Archer, chairwoman of the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association.

The EU blacklist often comes under fire in the VI for being a moving target.

Ms. Dukharan said it is also unfair. EU member states such as the Netherlands and Ireland are “well known for their extensive money laundering and tax evading activities,” but have never been included on any EU blacklist, she said.

To her, this suggests Eurocentrism or even racism, and perhaps an effort to undermine countries that are “eating part of their pie,” she said of the EU.

Grey-listed

In February, the territory was added to the EU’s “grey list,” along with nine other jurisdictions in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

Besides the VI, the EU added the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Israel, Montserrat, Russia, Tunisia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vietnam, bringing the total on the list up to 25 jurisdictions.

Although the February inclusion does not mean that any penalties or sanctions will be levied against the territory, the move represents a significant setback after the VI rushed through economic substance legislation at the end of 2019 in order to meet EU requirements on tax reform.

The standards for inclusion on the EU lists have frequently changed, and Ms. Dukharan pointed out that the European Parliament itself has noted problems with the selection process.

In 2021, the legislative body proposed that the tax regimes of EU member states be scrutinised along with the rest of the world and subject to blacklisting if they don’t measure up.

“That tells you that you have a legal leg to stand on, because they, the policymakers, have acknowledged that we are not applying our own standards to our own member states, and that’s not fair,” she said. “Why is it that our countries have not come together, found a law firm that will represent us collectively, and taken them to court over this action?”

Fighting back

She added that even a statement from the Caribbean Community condemning the actions of the EU is simply “not strong enough.”

“I think if all of the countries came together from the Pacific and the Caribbean and agitated and protested, I think that there is a chance,” she said. “For example, if you appeal to the United Nations, you appeal to the World Trade Organisation, somebody is going to hear you. But when each individual little tiny micro state appeals individually, it is just white noise.”

She also recommended that countries that object to the blacklist expel EU ambassadors.

“The second thing I think we need to do is take diplomatic action,” she said.

With changing criteria, she noted, even countries that have satisfied the Financial Action Task Force and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development standards still run the risk of being blacklisted.

“But we don’t have the courage to do these things because we are small and we are insecure maybe,” she said.

Current list

In a Feb. 24 press release, the EU Council said that the grey list reflects “ongoing EU cooperation with its international partners and the commitments of these countries to reform their legislation to adhere to agreed tax good governance standards.”

The countries on the grey list are working toward meeting the EU’s tax standards, the release stated.

According to the EU, criteriafor the list cover tax transparency, fair taxation and preventing tax base erosion and profit shifting. The next revision is scheduled for October.

Anguilla, Botswana, Costa Rica, Dominica, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, North Macedonia, Qatar, the Seychelles, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay were previously added and remain on the grey list.

The blacklist for “non-cooperative” tax jurisdictions, which remained unchanged after the February announcement, currently includes American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States VI, and Vanuatu.

The post Sue over blacklist, says economist first appeared on The BVI Beacon.

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Business

A Highly Innovative Growth-boosting Challenge is Launch in Liberia Today

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 15:40:01 +0000

A Highly Innovative Growth-boosting Challenge is Launch in Liberia Today

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admin Mon, 06/20/2022 - 15:40

Thursday, June 2, 2022

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Business – FrontPageAfrica

Original Article

A Highly Innovative Growth-boosting Challenge is Launch in Liberia Today

MONROVIA — Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) comprise the lifeblood of economies the world over, but especially in developing ones such as Liberia.

By Luther D. Jeke and Robert O. Davis

“The largely informal Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) constitute the backbone of Liberia’s economic landscape. Women [and youth] entrepreneurs have the high[est] concentration in this sector,” reads the July 2021 recalibrated Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), Liberia’s current five-year national development plan. MSMEs account for most businesses and are important contributors to economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction in Liberia.

But a key constraining factor to MSME growth is limited access to finance, which exacerbates poverty and inequality. In Liberia, more than 50% of the population lives in poverty, particularly in the rural areas (71.8%) as compared to urban settings (31.5%), according to data from the Liberia Institute for Statistics & Geo-information Services.

The Growth Accelerator Liberia programme is an innovative and practical initiative aimed at supporting impactful ventures and cooperatives to scale up through access to technical assistance, mentorship, and co-financing grants of up to US$40,000. Running until 2024, the programme contributes to the reduction of poverty and inequality by targeting youth, women, and persons with disabilities in supporting the creation of resilient livelihood and income-generating opportunities for poor and vulnerable populations.

This growth-boosting challenge principally targets seven (7) counties, namely Montserrado, Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, Lofa and Nimba. However, applications are open to all 15 counties of Liberia. Applications can be found at the various community radio stations and County Service Centers as well as online at www.growlib.org.

Entrepreneurs and agricultural cooperatives, especially those in the targeted counties, are highly encouraged to apply. The application period opens on the 2nd of June 2022 and closes on the 16th of June 2022.

Last year, the inaugural launch of the growth challenge witnessed five (5) winners from a pack of 167 businesses across nine (9) counties. Eighty percent of the successful ventures “were established and are being run by young people aged between 26 and 35 years. Each of these secured business development grants ranging between US$ 36,500 and US$ 40,000, amounting to 81% of the US$194,750 grant funding awarded in December 2021” (Want to read more on the inaugural winners? See here)

Building on the success and lessons learned from the implementation of Cohort-1, this year the programme adds a special cohort for Agricultural Cooperatives. A total of 10 Agricultural Cooperatives will be selected from across Liberia to go through a series of activities aimed at strengthening their capacity. The contracted local and international business development services providers, Agro Tech Liberia and East Africa Market Development Associated Ltd will work with iCampus to advise, provide expertise, and bring to the programme the knowledge required to enable the cooperatives to ensure sustainability over time.

During the Programme, ten (10) cooperatives will be equipped with professional skills, business development capacity, and opportunities to interact with potential business partners, investors, and financial backers. Cooperative development in many countries has shown that farmers who are effectively organized can benefit from aggregated links to markets and services, from accessing centralized services that can help them achieve higher yields and higher incomes, and from speaking with a collective voice to advocate for their needs. At a global level, studies have proven that countries with the highest share of cooperatives in marketed outputs (e.g., Taiwan, Korea, the Netherlands, France, etc.) also have high average yields for staple crops like rice and wheat, as well as substantial cash crop exports. Some of the problems faced by agricultural cooperatives in Liberia have been, among others, poor management, lack of capital resources, inadequate training, extension and education programmes, lack of communication and participation among members, unclear and inadequate government policies on the development of agricultural cooperatives, high fragmentation of land holdings, and weak linkages among the activities of the cooperatives.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and with funding from UNDP Liberia, the Growth Accelerator Liberia Cohort II Programme is run by iCampus Liberia in partnership with Accountability Lab Liberia, Growth Africa, Business Startup Center-Monrovia, East Africa Market Development Associates Ltd., and Argo Tech Liberia.

Africa

Business

Liberians in Holland Elect New Leadership for 2 Years

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 16:10:01 +0000

Liberians in Holland Elect New Leadership for 2 Years

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admin Sun, 06/19/2022 - 16:10

Monday, May 9, 2022

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Diaspora – FrontPageAfrica

Original Article

Liberians in Holland Elect New Leadership for 2 Years

The Netherlands – Members of the Liberian Community residing in the Netherlands under the banner the Liberian Association in the Netherlands(LAN) have elected a new corps of officers for a two year term. Those elected were; Madam Mildred Scholte, President, Madam Mamie Free, Vice President, Madam Lovetee Fayiah De Wert, General Secretary and Mr. Anthony R. Morwon, Treasurer.

The Chairperson of the Election Commission, Madam Patience Barway, said the aims and objectives of the commission was to ensure a free, fair and transparent election so as to unite Liberians living in the Netherlands.

Madam Barway expressed joy over the level of cordiality and unity that existed among Liberians before, during and after the election. She encouraged every Liberian living in the Netherlands to lend support to the new leadership so as to spew development in the community and back home in Liberia.

The two Liberian organizations in the Netherlands, the Liberian Association in the Netherlands(LAN) and the Liberian Association in Holland(LAH) which was organized in 1994 joined together as one organization to run the election. The two groups have joined resources and have agreed to work together in unity and promotes development.

The association aims to unite Liberians from diverse backgrounds, social, cultural and political, if any thus enhancing and promoting their social-economic well-being of its members and promote their Liberian cultural heritage. The organization aims to achieve a singular goal of uniting all Liberians under one umbrella across the Netherlands.

The President-elect of the Liberian Association in the Netherlands(LAN) Madam Mildred Scholte extolled her colleagues who worked tirelessly to ensure the conduct of a free, credible and transparent election that brought togrther hundreds of Liberia from across the country.

She called on members of the Liberian community to work together in the implementation of programs and activities that will develop their community, respect the laws of their host country and extend development programs to their dear Mama Liberia.

There are close to about 4,000( Four Thousand) Liberians residing in the Netherlands.

Diaspora

Heather Nova Announces Tour Dates In Europe

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 15:20:01 +0000

Heather Nova Announces Tour Dates In Europe

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admin Sun, 06/19/2022 - 15:20

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

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Bernews » Entertainment

Original Article

Heather Nova Announces Tour Dates In Europe

Heather Nova has announced the upcoming dates for her acoustic tour, with the Bermudian singer-songwriter set to perform in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, Poland and the United Kingdom. Ms Nova will tour across multiple countries and has 40 concerts, running from October 4 to November 20. “So excited to finally be […]

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Caribbean

Caribbean preps for monkeypox

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 04:20:02 +0000

Caribbean preps for monkeypox

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admin Sun, 06/19/2022 - 04:20

Friday, June 3, 2022

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Local News - The BVI Beacon

Original Article

Caribbean preps for monkeypox

Monkeypox hasn’t yet been reported in the Caribbean, but with cases spreading to countries where it is typically not found, including the United States, regional health officials are taking precautions.

Health and Social Development Minister Marlon Penn said last Thursday in the House of Assembly that his ministry has been monitoring the spread of the virus abroad.

“Monkeypox is not a new virus, with the first case having been identified in 1970,” Mr. Penn noted. “It has been found regularly in several central and west African countries. This particular outbreak has gained international attention because cases have been confirmed in several different countries at the same time and in persons with no reported travel history to countries where the virus is usually found.”

The World Health Organization reported 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases in 12 member states where the virus is not endemic as of May 21. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency announced the first case in the outbreak in the UK on May 7, and Mr. Penn said the initial patient is thought to have contracted it during recent travel to Nigeria.

He added that the WHO recognises “that further spread is likely, and countries should take precautions.”

Though no cases have been confirmed in the Caribbean, they have been reported in England, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the US, Mr. Penn said.

Caribbean response

“There is risk of spread to the Caribbean region due to travel,” he said. “Therefore, awareness is being raised among health care workers and port health authorities across the region to ensure that adequate prevention and control measures are in place.”

Symptoms can last two to four weeks and include exhaustion, fever, headaches, backache, muscle ache, chills and swollen lymph glands. Within the first three days of fever, rashes can develop on the face, hands, feet and other parts of the body.

“Testing for monkeypox is currently not available in the Caribbean, and the Caribbean Public Health Agency is reportedly in discussion with the [Pan American Health Organisation] and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to assess its capacity to develop this testing capability,” Mr. Penn said.

He added that the Ministry of Health and Social Development will coordinate with health care workers and agencies working on port health and animal quarantine moving forward.

“Many of the specific recommended actions from CARPHA are in place in the BVI, and strengthened in response to Covid-19,” he said. “Although the likelihood of monkeypox spread in our community is currently low, the chief medical officer and other officials will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that the territory is prepared to detect and respond to any cases as needed, and will keep the community informed of any change in the situation.”

How it spreads

Mr. Penn said initial information about the outbreak has identified the virus within sexual networks, but he noted it is not considered to be a sexually transmitted disease.

The WHO says on its website that the virus is transmitted through close contact with an infected person or animal, typically through lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated material such as bedding.

Vaccines against smallpox have provided some protection against monkeypox, and a newer vaccine has been specifically approved for prevention, according to WHO.

Though severe cases can occur, especially among children, WHO stated that the case fatality ratio has been about three to six percent.

The post Caribbean preps for monkeypox first appeared on The BVI Beacon.

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Caribbean

Belmont Estate welcomes De Gallant cargo schooner to Grenada

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 00:20:02 +0000

Belmont Estate welcomes De Gallant cargo schooner to Grenada

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admin Sun, 06/19/2022 - 00:20

Friday, June 10, 2022

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Business | NOW Grenada

Original Article

Belmont Estate welcomes De Gallant cargo schooner to Grenada

Today marks another hallmark occasion in the promotion of sustainability in the cocoa value chain as Belmont Estate welcomes De Gallant cargo schooner to Grenada’s shores to collect a 4-ton shipment of organic cocoa beans destined for Europe.

This Fair Transport, wind-powered ship, was built in the Netherlands, and launched in 1916. Originally a herring logger fishing boat, it has now become a symbol of climate change mitigation and sustainable development. Chartered by the Blue Schooner Company, led by Guillaume Roche and Jeff Lebleu, De Gallant “offers a sailing transportation service while giving to people wishing to live an authentic, human adventure a chance to embark on board,” according to the Blue Schooner Company website. It seeks to spread the message of sustainability in transport and encourages the use of wind in sea transport as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a climate-smart initiative.

Over the last 2 years, Belmont Estate embarked on a valuable collaboration with Saveurs et Nature, a chocolate manufacturing company based in France for the development of their chocolate product line infusing locally grown, organic cocoa beans sourced only in Grenada. This relationship was fostered through a collaboration with Crafting Markets of The Netherlands, a speciality cocoa distributor committed to distributing quality, ethical and sustainable cocoa, that connects cocoa farmers with chocolate companies. Belmont Estate, Crafting Markets and Saveurs et Nature, share similar values of fair trade, sustainability, ethical farming and environmental stewardship.

“This exciting venture, piloted in 2021, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic provided alternative business for us during a time when our business here had severely declined,” shared Shadel Nyack Compton, Managing Director of Belmont Estate. “In addition, we forged a valuable and strong relationship with Albert Smith of Crafting Markets and Saveurs et Nature, based on our shared values. Now, Belmont Estate’s cocoa is used by Saveurs et Nature to make a premium bar, using Belmont Estate’s cocoa and marketing Grenada’s fine quality beans. This year, we are excited and grateful to include some farmers from the Grenada Organic Cocoa Farmers’ Co-operative Society Ltd. for this shipment. This has been a unique and fruitful partnership, for which we are thankful.”

This environmental initiative and commitment to climate-smart production practices is not new to Belmont Estate. The Estate has been partnering with the St Patrick’s Environmental and Community Tourism Organisation (SPECTO) for more than a decade and was a featured contributor to the successful “Glimpse of a Climate-smart future” a zero-carbon, zero-waste SPECTO exhibition in 2018. Belmont’s commitment to Ridge-to-Reef environmental sustainability is aptly demonstrated by this shipment of a terrestrial product across the seas with minimal Greenhouse gas emissions impact.

The De Gallant was welcomed at Grenada’s port this morning in cooperation with the Grenada Cocoa Association (GCA) and St Louis Shipping Agency. Accountant for the Grenada Cocoa Association, Samuel Brathwaite expressed the GCA’s commitment to working with farmers and producers on speciality cocoa, like organic, and urged Grenadians to plant more cocoa as the possibilities in the cocoa and chocolate industry are exponential. He also toured the boat and met with crew who will remain on the island until 13 June 2022 before setting sail back to Europe.

Grenada is pleased to host the De Gallant on our shores as the island remains committed to climate-smart initiatives and environmental conservation efforts and to exporting more beans for making premium single-origin chocolate globally.

Belmont Estate

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Business

South African universities are training their gaze on the United States. Why it matters

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 22:40:01 +0000

South African universities are training their gaze on the United States. Why it matters

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admin Sat, 06/18/2022 - 22:40

Thursday, March 17, 2022

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African diaspora – The Conversation

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South African universities are training their gaze on the United States. Why it…

Three academic institutions in Africa have established units dedicated to the study of the United States. They are University of the Witwatersrand’s African Centre for the Study of the United States, the American Language Centre in Morocco , and most recently, the University of Pretoria’s African Centre for the Study of the United States. University of Pretoria Principal Tawana Kupe and Christopher Isike, the new Centre’s Director, explain why Africans need a better understanding of America.

The rationale

Top universities around the world have research centres and think tanks dedicated to the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary study of other countries or regions. The broad purpose is to understand the historical, social, political, economic, and cultural development of the countries and their people.

It is not only a worthwhile venture for knowledge’s sake. It’s also helpful in formulating domestic and foreign policies to further the interests of their nations. This way, the universities justify their mandates – as both citadels of learning and as influencers of global politics and international relations.

Many universities in Europe, North America and Asia have dedicated centres that study Africa. The continent has recently started returning the favour. In South Africa for example, Stellenbosch University has the Centre for Chinese Studies, and there is the University of Johannesburg Centre for China-Africa Studies.

The University of Pretoria’s humanities department has also approved the establishment of a centre for Asian Studies, which is awaiting senate approval. Relatedly, several universities in South Africa have centres that study European and Asian languages as part of the broader purpose of understanding other societies.

The establishment of an African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria should be seen against this background. It aims to contribute to overcoming Africa’s knowledge deficit in its relations with the US.

The new unit seeks to create knowledge and train experts that African countries need in their embassies, foreign ministries, corporates and academia to influence the formulation of domestic and foreign policies that further the interests of African states. The same applies to Africa’s media and civil society.

Importance of Africa studying the US

The US has been studying Africa for 74 years. It has over 150 degree programmes on African Studies, and about 40 centres for African studies. Africa has only three looking the other way.

This mismatch in knowledge production means the continent relates to the US from a position of disadvantage. For example, African states and the continent as a bloc do not have a defined policy towards the US. On the other hand, US policy towards Africa is shaped by knowledge from its several research think tanks on Africa.

Without a clear African policy towards the US that is based on evidence, the continent is unable to leverage opportunities from bilateral and multilateral relations with the superpower. The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act is a good example.

So, what other factors account for why it is important for Africans to study the US nation and society?

Africa needs to understand the US to inform its thinking, actions and interactions with the global superpower. This includes political relations to economic and trade relations, cultural intersections and exchanges.

Given its superpower status and its economic and military interests in Africa, the US has been an important actor in Africa’s present and future. It also has important cultural connections to the continent through the African diaspora, and its African-American population.

In general, the African diaspora remains largely untapped by the continent in its quest for global influence and agency. That’s because it has not studied its diaspora in the US and elsewhere as much as it should.

The Biden Administration’s policy is to engage African countries as equal partners. This represents a shift in US policy towards Africa, which was mainly driven by Cold War imperatives and competition with China, to mutually a beneficial partnership.

The US ranks second after China in terms of job creation in Africa.

Diaspora

News

Hunger: Red Cross sets up 140 mothers’ clubs in seven states

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 16:10:01 +0000

Hunger: Red Cross sets up 140 mothers’ clubs in seven states

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admin Sat, 06/18/2022 - 16:10

Friday, June 17, 2022

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About the intervention

Speaking on the intervention, the secretary-general of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Abubakar Kende, said acute hunger breeds malnutrition and that it requires immediate action, particularly for pregnant, lactating mothers and vulnerable children.

He said: “A good number of them are now in a situation where they eat what they can get instead of choosing diets that will make them and their children healthy and this is something that concerns us greatly.

“We are grateful to our funding partners; The American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, and Netherlands Red Cross who have gone ahead to provide much-needed resources to allow us to reach the most vulnerable people in these 7 states. However, more support is still required as the funding gap is still huge vis a vie the needs.”

What statistics say

The NRSC secretary-general further noted that “through the Hunger Crisis Appeal, 700 Pregnant and Lactating women (PLWs) have received the second round of supplementary conditional cash grants to boost their nutritional status and that of the babies they carry or infants that they are nursing.”

According to a report by the Federal Ministry of Health and Cadre Harmonise, Nigeria has the second-highest burden of stunted children in the world.

The report quoted an estimation of 2 million, noting a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of these children being under five with seven per cent of women of childbearing age suffering from acute malnutrition.

NRSC added that the campaign aims to empower mothers and caregivers with knowledge of nutrition in local communities in the selected states where it is also estimated that about 19.4 million people will be facing acute hunger between June and August 2022.

More comments

In his remarks, NRSC Coordinator, Health, and Care, Manir Jega, said the activity will, through the formation of mothers’ clubs share nutrition information, identify and refer malnourished children and lactating mothers to the nearest health facility after being measured with the Mid Upper Arm Circumference, MUAC tape.

“We know that if mothers and caregivers have better information, it will lead to healthier children and a better society, we have set up 140 Mothers Club in the 7 states. We are working closely with the Federal Ministry of Health on this.

“One of the leading causes of malnutrition in Nigeria is poor dietary knowledge adding that the network of Red Cross volunteers would help educate lactating mothers and caregivers on how to combine available foods to reduce malnutrition and improve the production of breast milk for infants during the weekly mother’s club meetings.

“This is expected to go a long way in reducing malnutrition, prevent child mortality, and morbidity and promote a healthy diet,” he said.

Also, the coordinator, Disaster Management, Benson Agbro, noted that the spate of farmer herder conflicts and banditry in the country is another leading cause of malnutrition.

“When people cannot access markets to buy food, or they cannot access their fields to grow the required dietary foods, they will eat whatever food they see is available to them to just fill their stomachs and live to fight another day without minding the nutritional value,” he said.

Distribution of cash

As part of the measures to fight hunger, the NRSC recently distributed cash to 30,000 people in 5,000 households who are reportedly facing acute hunger in the same regions where the clubs are set up.

The society also noted in a press statement that it planned to reach 200,000 more people who are in “dire need of humanitarian support and facing food insecurity due to a combination of climate change, conflicts and COVID-19.”

The NRCS stated that it is taking action to fight hunger in the selected northern regions specifically because the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) estimated that about 19.4 million people in the regions will be facing acute hunger between June and August 2022.

Africa

Rum and tobacco exports totaled US$425.39 MM

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 15:20:01 +0000

Rum and tobacco exports totaled US$425.39 MM

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admin Sat, 06/18/2022 - 15:20

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

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Economy – Dominican Today

Original Article

Rum and tobacco exports totaled US$425.39 MM

Santo Domingo, DR.

The export volume of tobacco and rum amounted to US$425.39 million between January and April of this year, both products reflecting critical levels of growth in their sales abroad.

In the case of tobacco, an agricultural item with a variety of derived products, from robust cigars to fruit leaves, its exports in the first four months of the year reached US$384.67 million.

In 2021, according to statistics from the Export and Investment Center of the Dominican Republic (ProDominicana), the tobacco sector and its substitutes registered a growth of 31.9%, with the amount exported on this date being US$1,236.14 million.

Between January and April, Rum exports registered an amount of US$40.72 million; in 2021, it was US$111.9 million, its main destinations being Spain with US$43.11 million and the United States with US$18.37 million.

Russia and the Netherlands were also present with US$6.66 million and US$4.55 million, respectively. Furthermore, every month ProDominicana, within the framework of the Exhibition of the Exportable Offer, recognizes the contribution of some products.

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