Wednesday, 20 July 2016

US Launches Private Sector Partnerships to Strengthen Nigerian Agriculture

In the presence of Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched two new partnerships with local agribusinesses Babban Gona and Hello Tractor, highlighting the U.S. government’s agricultural and private sector strategy and promoting the development of Nigeria’s agriculture sector.  Under this $2 million, two-year partnership, anticipated results include increased access to smart tractors, improved seeds, and profitable markets for over 45,000 smallholder farmers across seven states and the Federal Capital Territory.

During a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy, Deputy Chief of Mission Maria E. Brewer described the partnership as a co-investment in public goods.  “Innovation and entrepreneurship hold the key to unlocking Nigeria’s agriculture potential, and the U.S. government will continue to provide support in this direction,” said Mrs. Brewer.

Under the Feed the Future initiative, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partners with the private sector to support smallholder farmers in Nigeria.  Through these partnerships, USAID addresses development and business challenges by increasing access to improved agricultural inputs and mechanization, better quality technical advisory services, and expanding market opportunities for smallholder farmers.  These partnerships capitalize on the untapped potential of youth in agriculture and help build the capacity of young entrepreneurs to help grow their businesses, create secure jobs, and boost economic growth in Nigeria.

About Babban Gona: The company addresses the challenge of smallholder farmers by forming strong cooperatives called Trust Groups, which enable maize, rice, and soybean farmers to gain access to new markets and sell at premium prices.  Babban Gona provides member farmers with services designed to optimize crop yields, production costs, and prices of agricultural outputs.  This business model helps to increase profitability of smallholder farmers and contributes to household food security and improved livelihoods.  Through the partnership with USAID, Babban Gona will create positive impact for 20,000 smallholder farmers.

About Hello Tractor: Recognizing the need among smallholder farmers for consistent and sustainable mechanization services, Hello Tractor designed a versatile Smart Tractor with eight attachments to serve their needs throughout the farm production cycle.  Each tractor is fitted with technologies, which enable Hello Tractor to pair farmers in need of services with a Smart Tractor owner nearby via text messaging.  The technology allows small landowners access to affordable tractor services to increase their productivity, while Smart Tractor owners are given the opportunity to earn additional income with their machine.  Through the partnership with USAID, 24,500 smallholder farmers will gain access to tractor services. The partnership expects to train 100 youth entrepreneurs on the business of owning and maintaining a fleet of Smart Tractors.  In addition, some 15 young technicians will benefit from trade skills to repair Smart Tractors.

About USAID: USAID partners to end extreme poverty and promotes resilient, democratic societies, while advancing security and prosperity.  In its partnership with Nigeria, the United States through USAID strengthens social stability with improved social services, supports transparent and accountable governance, promotes a more market-oriented economy, and enhances the country’s capacity as a responsible regional and trade partner.

About Feed the Future: Feed the Future was born out of the belief that global hunger is solvable.  As the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future is transforming lives toward a world where people no longer face the agony and injustice of extreme poverty, malnutrition, and hunger.  To achieve this goal, Feed the Future agencies work hand-in-hand with partner countries to develop their agriculture sectors and break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger.

Monday, 11 July 2016

South Africa a terrible, brutish nation— Penny Busetto, Etisalat Lit prize finalist

South Africa a terrible, brutish nation— Penny Busetto, Etisalat Lit prize finalist 
 By Prisca Sam-Duru 

CAPE Town- based Penny Busetto is a writer known for her novel The Story of Anna P, as Told by Herself which won the European Union Literary Award 2013 and got to the finals  of the Etisalat Prize for Literature 2015. Busetto’s struggle to reconcile with South Africa’s past is encapsulated in Anna P, a black woman living in Italy whose unconscious trauma dominates her actions. She tells us more on how her book investigates the nature of memory and the importance of identity, and much more. Excerpt. GIVE us a hint about  your book? My book, The Story of Anna P as Told by Herself is in three parts essentially and its the past present and future of a woman who lived on an island in Italy. 


Penny Busetto

She’s from South Africa but dosent talk about where she comes from, she doesn’t connect with people though she teaches English in a primary school. She is mystic. Is the book based on real life situations? No, its a fiction What are you trying to bring out here? Penny Busetto Its very much a South African story but its about trauma which is a very much South African reality. Its a reality, we’ve heard a lot of stories about trauma among black people in South Africa but there’s never been much investigation into what the whole situation has done to everyone in South Africa. Everyone is traumatised in this country and I think this is what am trying to get across, that people are traumatised in the long run. How it isolates or breaks up relationships in fragmental reality. As a writer would you say there’s a big difference between the Apartheid period and South Africa today? That’s a difficult question but I believe there’s a big difference. There’s been a massive change since 1990. We have a constitution, we have rights but there’s trauma which is why if we don’t deal with trauma we will keep repeating the same thing. People will keep murdering, keep doing terrible things and projecting it to other people. Xenophobia is a direct result of the trauma of South Africa. We will keep doing this until we spend time looking at who we are and what we really are. We are quite a terrible nation. We are quite a very brutal nation. The plot? The plot of the book developed very much from a book that I read about the truth and reconciliation commission about memories and identities. We are who and what we remember and if we don’t remember, unconsciously,  we will again keep repeating whatever we remember. What inspired your writings? There were so many things that came to the fore here. Personal details, I think to some extent writers write autobiographically but I have never killed a man with an ash tray though, it is still a defining truth about my experience. It is not the actual story but in many ways an autobiographical story. Are you satisfied with the outcome of the book? I never knew what the outcome of the book would be until I finished it. Things I never expected to include in the story found their way in and became part of the plot. Its like a pack of cards falling into place and actually making sense at the end. I never knew where it was going to end. How do you feel about the attention the book has earned you? I think talking about attention, the book already has won a couple of awards and it has made me begin to explore myself as a writer. I had to accept that I am a writer. You know it is until you publish your  first book that you are really a writer. I had to start looking at what it means to be a writer, a white writer in South Africa at a time when there is a lot of racial change in South Africa. Your role as a white South African writer, in building South Africa? When I was invited to Nigeria, my heart jumped. This is one of the most important events in my life because I saw that for the first time, while I’ve always had a rather dubious identity as an African I suddenly saw that I would be allowed in. I was beginning to find a little bit of that community I never had which is what I tried expressing in Anna P. Does the book add extra pressure on you? No, its been wonderful. Its such an extraordinary experience. It has helped me to grow so much. At this age, I’ve started doing a Doctorate. I’m trying to know how one could understand the cross diversities, working with white psychiatrists who worked with black patients in the 1930s and bringing in a whole lot of questions and so much critique around African literature.

Yvonne Okoro’s Ghana Must Go wins big at Golden Movie Awards

Yvonne Okoro’s Ghana Must Go wins big at Golden Movie Awards 
 By Prisca Sam-Duru

 It was a day of joy for award-winning Ghanaian/Nigerian actress, Yvonne Okoro as her romantic comedy, ‘Ghana Must Go’, won multiple awards at the Golden Movie Awards which took place at The Kempinski Hotel, Accra, Ghana over the weekend. Yvonne Okoro during the Awards in Ghana The Golden Movie Awards is the biggest annual award ceremony honouring outstanding achievements in African Television and Digital media.

Yvonne Okoro during the Awards in Ghana


The prestigious awards are administered by experts in Cinema and Television in Ghana. ‘Ghana Must Go’ won 4 accolades including Best Actor (Kofi Adjorlolo); Best Actress (Yvonne Okoro); Best Supporting Actress (Doris Sackitey), and Best Comedy of the Year. Delighted Okoro who appreciated all the other cast and crew members who made her dream a reality, dedicated the awards to her teeming fans in Ghana and Nigeria. ‘Ghana Must Go’ tells the interesting story of two young lovers who are of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin. Yvonne Okoro plays the role of Ama, a London-based Ghanaian woman who brings her Nigerian boyfriend, Chuks (Blossom Chukwujekwu), home to meet her parents, much to the displeasure of her wealthy father. Ama’s parents refuse to give their blessing to their union, citing historical happenings between the neighbouring nations as reasons for their refusal. The series of events tests the love of the young couple in the most hilarious and unexpected fashion. The movie was released earlier in 2016 and has already enjoyed Box Office Success in Ghana. It is currently in Nigerian cinemas until August 2016.

From Cuba to Nigeria, Palacios explores models of information industry

From Cuba to Nigeria, Palacios explores models of information industry
 By  PRISCA SAM-DURU
 The Information industry came under heavy scrutiny once again at an exhibition organised by the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) at the Omenka Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos. It is a solo exhibition featuring a Cuban contemporary mixed media artist, David Palacios titled “Save the Data”, which held in collaboration with The Ford Foundation. Palacios with guests at the opening of Save The Date, at Omenka Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos Save the Date which opened on June 12, runs till June 26, 2016. It brings together Palacios’ ideas developed since 2012 as part of his project “Art Report” in which he juxtaposes art codes with statistical information and news. 

•LEFT), Palacios with guests at the opening of Save The Date, at Omenka Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos

The exhibit includes graphics-paintings, digital prints, installations and videos that take a critical look at models of representation of the information industry using visual news and agency mechanisms. David Palacios, a contemporary mixed media artist whose works deal with the deconstruction of works of art, exploring the areas of social and political peculiarities, has over the last few years, used his medium to illustrate information on social, political and economic issues and also as a tool for self-reflection on the limits of representation. He employs institutional connections through various indicators, comparative charts, percentile analysis, statistical diagrams and complexity in relationships. Through his stunning art, the Cuban explores issues on the global and Nigerian agenda such as the global economy, international investment, oil prices, military spend, social issues and poverty levels and presents them with an interdisciplinary approach, in works that at first glance seem innocuous graphics and reports. Originally Cuban, Palacois currently lives and works between cities of London (UK) and Abuja (Nigeria).

Monday, 4 July 2016

US sponsors seed distribution for internally displaced persons in Northeast


US sponsors seed distribution for internally displaced persons in Northeast

 During the month of June, the U.S. government, through its Agency for International Development (USAID), delivered over 160 metric tons of seeds (maize, sorghum, millet, groundnut, and cowpea) to over 6,000 households in Adamawa and Borno states.  More than 60,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) in the local government authorities of Madagali, Michika, Gombe, and Fufore of Adamawa, and Kaga of Borno benefitted from this effort.  USAID collaborated with the Adamawa State Ministry of Agriculture, the American University of Nigeria’s Adamawa Peace Initiative, and the Borno state government to ensure the distribution occurred ahead of this year’s planting season.

These distribution efforts are literally sowing the seeds for recovery and resilience of IDPs,” said Michael T. Harvey, USAID/Nigeria Mission Director.  “Working with the Nigerian government and other partners, USAID plays an active role in helping the Northeast realize its full potential,” he added.

USAID supports several humanitarian, transitional, and longer-term development activities in northeastern Nigeria, totaling $133 million in collaboration with the Nigerian government at the federal, state, and local levels.  Current and forthcoming activities will improve governmental capacity and performance, strengthen food security, and provide services for IDPs.
 

Nigeria has no better friend than US – US Ambassador

Nigeria has no better friend than US – US Ambassador 
 By Prisca Sam-Duru 

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle has restated US’ strong bond with Nigeria, speaking robustly that Nigeria has no better friend than the United States. He said: “As I told President Jonathan when I arrived in Nigeria in November 2013, and as Secretary Kerry told President Buhari when they met immediately after the presidential inauguration, and as President Obama told President Buhari directly when he received him in the Oval Office at the White House last July, the people of Nigeria have no better friend than the United States.’ Ambassador Entwistle disclosed this at the event marking the 240th Independence anniversary of the US held at the U.S. Consul General’s residence,  Lagos, today June 30, 2016. According to Entwistle who will end his diplomatic assignment in Nigeria and retire from the US Foreign service three weeks from today, it was necessary to celebrate the heroism of the 56 men who risked everything including their lives to sign the declaration of the United States independence.

James-Entwistle
 He said, “Stepping forward, signing their names to a public document, was a very brave thing to do. They launched an experiment in self-governance that many—if not most—thought would likely fail. They risked everything—their lives, property, and reputations. As one of the most famous signers of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, said, “We must all hang together or, assuredly, we will all hang separately.” Speaking further, he stated that in his country, their commitment to democracy is right there in their declaration of Independence. “Here in Nigeria, you demonstrated to the world your commitment to democracy in historic elections last year. In both of our great countries, commitment to democracy is deeply woven into our status as free and independent peoples; indeed, I often describe our relationship as two great democracies working together to make the world a better place. The United States has maintained a robust engagement in Nigeria for many years, and our partnership with your great nation runs deep. We’ve worked with the Government of Nigeria on a host of issues—on elections, security, fighting infectious disease, and spurring broad-based, inclusive economic growth, just to name a few. It seems like at least once a week I stumble on some U.S.-Nigerian area of cooperation between academic institutions or civil society groups or businesses that has been going on for decades. It’s truly remarkable. Continuing, he added “The future of Nigeria belongs to the people of Nigeria. More specifically, it belongs to Nigeria’s heroes—to those men and women who are brave enough to believe that they can change the world. And the United States stands with every Nigerian who believes that this country can be healthier, safer, and more prosperous. “I can’t wait to see what Nigerians will do—and we can do together—for the freedom of all. Not just the political freedom you exercised last year, but freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom from sickness, and freedom from corruption. “As you fight Boko Haram and secure and rebuild the Northeast, and as you strive for harmony in the Niger Delta and across the land, we will continue to help in every appropriate way. As you fight corruption, we offer technical assistance, training for investigators and prosecutors, and a commitment to ensure that no stolen funds are laundered through our banking system.” As you improve the business climate, we encourage expanded trade and investment. “As you continue privatization of your power grid, through President Obama’s Power Africa initiative we stand ready to, among other things, help companies invest in building more electricity infrastructure, especially environmentally-friendly power generation and as you increase your commitment to healthcare and education, we support those efforts, too. Every step of the way, we will fulfill the commitment our Declaration of Independence made 240 years ago, to treat all of humanity, in peace, as friends. I am here—every American and Nigerian who works at the U.S. Mission in Nigeria is here—because we are committed to that endeavor.” Ambassador Entwistle also took a moment to honor the memory of a talented young Nigerian, John Paul Usual, who accidentally lost his life  in an accident in the  US. He was a Mandela Washington Fellow under the auspices of US signature program with Africa—the Young African Leadership Initiative.(YALI)  In his remark, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Jeffery Onyenma, who was humble represented by Mrs. Ngozi Okeke said that Nigeria and the US have cordial bilateral relationship. He said that ‘ “Today the people of Nigeria celebrate not just an ally but a friend and strategic partner, whose immense contribution to our country has transcended into several aspects of our lives. The government of Nigeria acknowledges the significant role of the US government in the strengthening of democracy, promotion of our people ‘s fundamental rights, justice and Peace ”