Plants use hydrogen peroxide as sun screen.

Hydrogen peroxide protects plants against sun damage. A new research shows that plants use hydrogen peroxide to control how their cells react to varying levels of light. The hydrogen peroxide is a by-product of photosynthesis in parts of plant cells called chloroplasts. The study by the University of Exeter and the University of Essex is the first to discover where and how the process happens. Its very important for plants to be able to detect how much light there is, so they can use it for photosynthesis. The plants also have to adjust to protect themselves, as high levels of light can damage leaves same as how humans get sunburn on our skin. more

Crawling out of Darkness.

Crawling out of Darkness, this is an unusual post but a timely one for women,young girls and adolescents . Women all over the world are facing similar issues,many battling with stuff drawing them into darkness that tends to eat at their core and redefining who they are. The issue of workplace harassment,rape,child marriages, abusive relationships and general gender insensitivity in economic affairs is restricting women,the girl-child and teens limiting their expressions and contributions to the society at large. Women are strong,making their mark in various fields and helping other women out giving support. Everybody has a story, every woman has a struggle but the good thing is that we dont allow it to define us,rather we push pass the experience making it a platform to reach out to the more people going through similar events. A month ago, i was robbed on way back from the office escaping with a dent in my car and without my wedding rings but thankful to be alive. Ive been replaying the events over and over and asking why! why!!why!!! setting myself up for the dark alley,but today i crawled out of that pit when i read the story of Terry Gobanga,who was ganged raped on her wedding day and went through hell,but crawled out of darkness and giving hope to others. #womenhelpingwomen #girlpower #women When Terry Gobanga - then Terry Apudo - didn't show up to her wedding, nobody could have guessed that she had been abducted, raped and left for dead by the roadside. It was the first of two tragedies to hit the young Nairobi pastor in quick succession. But she is a survivor. It was going to be a very big wedding. I was a pastor, so all our church members were coming, as well as all our relatives. My fiance, Harry, and I were very excited - we were getting married in All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi and I had rented a beautiful dress. But the night before the wedding I realized that I had some of Harry's clothes, including his cravat. He couldn't show up without a tie, so a friend who had stayed the night offered to take it to him first thing in the morning. We got up at dawn and I walked her to the bus station. As I was making my way back home, I walked past a guy sitting on the bonnet of a car - suddenly he grabbed me from behind and dumped me in the back seat. There were two more men inside, and they drove off. It all happened in a fraction of a second. A piece of cloth was stuffed in my mouth. I was kicking and hitting out and trying to scream. When I managed to push the gag out, I screamed: "It's my wedding day!" more

How Six Families Joined Hands to Grow Their Own Organic Food in Noida.

How Six Families Joined Hands to Grow Their Own Organic Food in Noida. A healthy diet begins with lots of fruits and vegetables, but some of the shiny, ‘perfect looking’ veggies available in the market may not good for your health after all. A study by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Union agriculture ministry threw up some unpalatable facts – vegetables and fruits on sale in the market may contain startling amounts of harmful chemicals. This is a result of the fact that, over the years, conventional farmers have been increasingly spraying synthetic pesticides on crops to kill insects and waxing the harvested produce to increase their shelf life. It’s time to take a closer look at what’s on our plates and where it comes from and what we are feeding our families. This is exactly what six families in Noida are doing, worried that the food their children were eating was laden with pesticides, chemicals and fertilizers, they decided to take up organic farming to source farm fresh vegetables for themselves.more

Female farmers in Kenya are collapsing gender and economic barriers.

Activities of 63-year-old Easther Tuiya and other members of the Elenarai Cooperative Women Society have turned the tide for Kenyan women farmers, in terms of economic opportunities and income generation in agriculture. This means good news for women empowerment, gender equality, and an overall balance of Kenya’s economic climate. The practice of conservation agriculture has become more prominent amongst female farmers in the country, and the Muchore Mutethia have made their way around middlemen to secure their income by being sole producers of food crop for a renowned brewery. All of these feats see Kenyan women farmers come a long way from agricultural restrictions that left them selling charcoal and firewood for a living, and arriving at a place where they make immense contributions to the country’s economy and environment. The frequent droughts and growing food insecurity in Kenya moved women farmers to discover other options to what was once a common trade for them. This was especially since the climatic conditions further prevent the business from thriving, and the journey to gather wood has become a risky venture for the women. To solve their problems, Easther Tuiya and her group of former charcoal and firewood traders started out with the vision to repair their landscape through the planting of trees and harvesting rain water. more

Federal Government to partner groups assisting start-up entrepreneurs.

FG to partner groups assisting start-up entrepreneurs. The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo expressed the readiness of the Federal Government to work with groups assisting Nigerian start-up entrepreneurs. Osinbajo said this in Abuja when he visited the “Civic Innovation Lab”, a non-profit organization with offices and facilities set up to support Nigerians in implementing business ideas that they have innovated. The visit of the Acting President came on a day the Federal Executive Council approved a new “National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap”, designed to kick-start the engine of innovation and start-up in Nigeria. The acting president maintained that the Buhari administration was a government elected to serve and would do so by giving “support wherever possible to groups or organizations that are assisting fellow citizens to realize their dreams of owning their own businesses“. more

Nigeria: Customs, rice farmers sign MoU to curb smuggling.

In a bid to stop smuggling of rice and importation of substandard rice to Nigeria, rice farmers and customs sign an MoU. The Nigeria Customs Service and the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to stop rice smuggling through land border into the country. Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, President Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) who confirmed the development said even though the importation of rice through the land borders was banned since April 2016 with an extension to the restriction of rice into the Nigerian market from the Export Processing Zones (EPZ), smugglers still engaged in the unwholesome act. He warned Nigerians against the consumption of foreign rice, saying that most of the imported rice was stale and only meant for animal and fish feeds. He said result of test by NAFDAC through some samples of some of the rice seizures had ascertained that smuggled rice through the land borders was unfit for human consumption. more

Nigeria to launch yams export to Europe, US and China.

Nigeria to launch yams export to Europe, US, China, accounts for 61% of global production. Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, has confirmed that the Federal Government will on Thursday (today) launch the exportation of yams to Europe, United States of America and China. The minister said according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Nigeria accounts for 61% of the total output of yams in the world the rest is shared between some countries in the West Africa and the West Indies. He assured that yam exportation will not increase hunger in the land, rather yam exportation is an economic opportunity The minister stated that not all the yams produced here are consumed as most of it is lost to wastage's because of poor technologies in preservation,thus there are plans to install to solar coolers in yam markets and yam producing areas to keep the temperature at 14 degrees Celsius, not frozen but to keep it at that temperature so that it can be good all year round and can last up to two to three years in the containers. more