WHO estimates malaria deaths could double because of interruptions caused by COVID-19.

WHO estimates malaria deaths could double because of interruptions caused by COVID-19.Interruptions to access to antimalarial medicines and disruptions to insecticide-treated net campaigns, or ITNs, because of COVID-19 could potentially double the number of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 when compared with 2018, according to a WHO modeling analysis. “This new modeling analysis reinforces WHO’s call for maintaining essential, life-saving services to prevent, detect and treat malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries have a critical window of opportunity now to ensure malaria services are maintained even as the virus spreads,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, said in a press release.

How the poultry industry can use COVID-19 to its advantage.

How the poultry industry can use COVID-19 to its advantage.The novel coronavirus pandemic offers a number of lessons that could be to the long-term benefit of chicken and egg producers. When we emerge from the novel coronavirus crisis, the world, including the poultry industry, won’t go back to business as usual - that ought to be clear for all of us. What is the COVID-19 pandemic teaching us and how can be prepare for the post-virus world? We all make a number of assumptions about how the world is, or how it should be, but the current crisis requires us to question these assumptions if we are to flourish in a post-virus world. Nothing may ever be the same again, and it is worth thinking about how businesses might be run differently. There are a number of key areas that are worth consideration: Train and retrain In the COVID-19 world, those that have been home schooled start with an inherent advantage. Home working has also brought into focus the need to be fully computer literate. Are your employees fully computer skilled? We have been catapulted into a world where traditional education models are in trouble, and this could make continuous learning – online – essential, making educated staff the winners in the employment and salary stakes. The virus lockdown offers the ideal opportunity for the poultry and other industries to embrace courses, new languages and skills, and gain certification. Universities and institutes may be the obvious ports of call, but platforms such as Linkedin, YouTube and Wechat also offer free training and unbeatable opportunities. Every company’s maxim needs to be – don’t return to work post-corona without an increased skill set. Change is good What are the changes that your business could adopt to make it more effective and more resilient? Might robots in processing plants be the answer, or employing augmented- or virtual-reality to train specialized employees? Could machine vision and artificial intelligence be used to make better decisions in real time about our chickens, products or market positions? What will be the big investments in the post-COVID-19 world? What are you planning to change? #foodsecurity #foodpreservation “

What poultry producers are saying about the COVID-19 pandemic.

What poultry producers are saying about the COVID-19 pandemic.Disruptions caused the novel coronavirus have hit broiler and egg produces in a variety of ways.Poultry producers around the world are being affected by the impact of COVID-19, but the impacts vary markedly from market to market. Different countries are at different stages in the disease’s progression, with some already relaxing restrictions while others are yet to feel virus’ the full effects. Additionally, some governments have been reasonably successful in halting the disease’s spread, allowing economies to continue with a degree of normality while, in others, governments have failed to act at all or have inadvertently made production more difficult. A recent survey conducted by WATT Global Media attempted to directly find out how broiler and egg producer are being affected, and sought the sector’s views from around the world. Unsurprisingly, the results reflected the varying impact of the pandemic. How is the pandemic impacting costs, logistics and inputs? Again, there was a huge variety of response to our survey from market to market. Some producers bemoaned a lack of worker productivity, or of having to pay hourly bonuses to keep staff working while, for others, shortages of cleaning products for use at slaughter and in processing have been an issue. Yet illustrative of how different markets are experiencing the disease in different ways, one respondent noted that the disease was still not being taken seriously and preventative measures were not being followed. Fluctuating prices for additives, a build-up of inventory and, in one case, a complete inability to function, were also highlighted.

The impact of Covid-19 on farmers and entrepreneurs.

The impact of Covid-19 on farmers and entrepreneurs.The COVID-19 crisis has impacted farmers and entrepreneurs around the globe and has made it much more difficult for organizations to offer in-person support. How can these organizations provide this critical guidance remotely? TechnoServe identified three key principles for providing effective phone-based support when in-person training is not possible. Things have changed with the coronavirus pandemic as entrepreneurs face new challenges. How do they keep their shop stocked when customers are panic-buying food and cleaning supplies, and middlemen are raising prices? How do they maintain sales now that the government has imposed a curfew? How do they make sure that their shops don’t help to spread the disease? At the same time that shopkeepers are tackling these new issues, travel restrictions and policies have made it more difficult for Alphonse and his peers to visit them and provide in-person support. How can organizations provide this critical support remotely?

Innovation : How Farmers in Nigeria are Using Climate-Smart Techniques to Reduce Post-Harvest Losses.

Farmers in Nigeria Use Climate-Smart Techniques to Reduce Post-Harvest Losses. Approximately one third of all food produced in the world for human consumption is wasted. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, where food security is a huge concern, the majority of food waste occurs at the post-harvest level because of poor harvesting practices, lack of appropriate storage facilities and transportation, poor packaging materials, and product spillage. In Nigeria, tomatoes are an important food source, but nearly half of the tomatoes produced by smallholder farmers are lost each year. 

Post-harvest loss, which is exacerbated by climate change, contributes to food insecurity and reduces the income of smallholder farmers, processors, service logistics providers, and retailers. 

 Traditional efforts to improve food security have focused on increasing agricultural yields and introducing technologies to reduce post-harvest losses. However, the effects of climate change – including increased soil salinity, extreme temperatures, changes in moisture content, and the unavailability of suitable tomato seed varieties – have made it difficult to increase and sustain year-round tomato production. This is particularly concerning because by 2050, an estimated 60 percent increase in food production will be required to feed the global population.

5 Ways Climate Change is Threatening the Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers.

5 Ways Climate Change is Threatening the Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers.For the world’s smallholder farmers, climate change is not a distant threat but a current reality.Although climate change is a global threat, its effects will be felt differently around the world. Smallholder farmers are on the front line of this crisis, which impacts every aspect of their daily lives — from the money they earn from their crops to the food they put on the table for their families. Higher temperatures, lower crop yields In low-latitude regions such as most of Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America, even small changes in temperature and precipitation have led to reduced crop yields for many smallholder farmers. Higher average temperatures have also caused an increase in demand for water, a reduction in soil moisture, and water stress in many regions.

Food security and safety .