Tag Archives: security
US, EU Rejects Kenya’s Request To End ICC Cases
The US and European nations have rejected Kenya’s plea to the United Nations Security Council to end ICC cases and insist only the Hague based court can deal… Continue reading
Africa: U.S., Sweden, Bank Launch Fund to Spur African Agriculture
BY KATHRYN MCCONNELL, 9 MAY 2013 Washington — The United States, Sweden and the African Development Bank have launched a fund to encourage accelerated private investment in sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural infrastructure to connect small farmers with international markets. Announced May 9 in Cape Town, South Africa, at the Grow Africa Investment Forum, the fund — called Agriculture Fast Track — will be funded by $15 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $10 million from the government of Sweden. It was developed with support from USAID and will be managed by the African Development Bank. The fund will focus on countries that are part of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, an initiative launched in 2012 at the G8 Camp David Summit near Washington. Through the New Alliance, the G8 major industrialized nations, African countries and the private sector aim to help lift 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty by 2022 by supporting agricultural development. The New Alliance matches market-oriented reforms in the African member countries of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia with $3.7 billion of planned private investments in the agriculture sector. (Mali is under review.) “Since the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was founded last year, we’ve seen member countries make serious reforms that have led to real progress,” said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. “The launch of the Agriculture Fast Track allows African farmers to take advantage of these reforms through fast-tracked infrastructure projects that will better deliver their products to markets.” Global food demand is expected to grow by as much as 60 percent by 2050, USAID says. With 60 percent of the world’s untilled arable land, predominantly farm-based economies, plentiful natural resources, significant gains in technology and private investment, Africa has the potential to feed not just its own people but others as well. Improved roads, ports and rail lines are critically needed to achieve that, USAID says. Grow Africa is a partnership that seeks to accelerate investments and change in African agriculture based on national agricultural priorities. It says that for Africa to reduce poverty and food insecurity, partners need to renew and increase their commitments to work together and to integrate what they’ve learned to ensure that their investments are inclusive, sustainable and transformative. USAID and Grow Africa support the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development established by the African Union in 2003. Continue reading
Enzyme Research Could Lead to Less Expensive Biofuels
New research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has discovered two approaches in which enzymes could break down cell walls more quickly and lead to less expensive biofuels for the transportation industry. Apr 30, 2013 Five NREL scientists and one scientist from the Weizmann Institute of Israel conducted research that could lead to enzymes helping create less expensive biofuel . Their paper, “Fungal Cellulases and Complexed Cellulosomal Enzymes Exhibit Synergistic Mechanisms in Cellulose Deconstruction”, has been published in Energy and Environmental Science. In order to reach the goal of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which involves the U.S. producing 36 billion gallons of biofuel each year by 2022, the high cost of enzyme treatment needs to be properly addressed. Enzyme treatment is a critical step in transforming biomass, such as trees and switchgrass, into liquid fuel. Microorganisms secrete the enzymes that naturally degrade plant cell walls and harvesting their sugars. NREL scientists discovered that two enzyme paradigms, free and complex enzymes, can be used together to degrade biomass at the nanometer scale and enhances catalytic performance. By combining the two enzyme systems, the breakdown of cell walls becomes a faster and more efficient process, which could then make biofuel production a less expensive and time-consuming process, as well. http://eponline.com/ Continue reading
