Tag Archives: weather
FranceTo Take Lead In Wheat Exports To Egypt
A US forecast that the European Union will lift its wheat exports to 23.0m tonnes this season, the third highest on record, is based on ideas that France will take up the baton on supplying Egypt. Romania, on the European Union side of the Black Sea, has proved the major shipper to Egypt, so far in 2013-14, chalking up orders of more than 800,000 tonnes, out of the 2.1m tonnes ordered by the top importing country. That is more than orders from Russia, which has traditionally dominated early-season orders by Egypt’s Gasc grain authority, and Ukraine, also known as a fierce competitor on international markets. And Gasc looks likely to turn largely elsewhere in the EU for supplies once Romania, a relatively minor producer, exhausts its exportable supplies, the US Department of Agriculture said. ‘France expected to take over’ “Romania is aggressive exporting to Egypt, and France is expected to take over the Egyptian business as Romanian supplies dwindle,” the USDA said. This is at a time when Egypt has been “tendering aggressively, intending to replenish the countries’ wheat stocks to provide subsidised bread to about a quarter of its population who live below the poverty level”. While Egypt has run into economic problems, and ran down its stocks in 2012-13 in an effort to save cash, “several Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait – pledged monetary support for Egypt to aid the currency strapped country whose trade deficit is widening”. However, French supplies at the latest Gasc tender closed the gap with offers from the Black Sea exporters. The USDA also flagged that France has been exporting to China, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, helping EU wheat exports, as measured by licences, hit 2.5m tonnes since 2013-14 began at the start of July, the fastest pace in 10 years. Squeeze on quality wheat The comments came as the USDA expanded on the reasons behind an upgrade last week of 1.0m tonnes to 23.0m tonnes in its estimate for EU wheat exports this season, besides lifting by 500,000 tonnes to 9.5m tonnes its forecast for Egyptian purchases. However, they also sharpen ideas of the uneven availability of high quality wheat, which is seen as abundant in the EU, as flagged separately by trade comments on UK wheat dynamics , but tight in many other geographies. High-quality wheat “is expected to be in short supply this year”, the USDA said, echoing comments from the likes of Australia’s Abares crop bureau and Macquarie . ‘Moisture content too high’ Indeed, Russia is viewed as having slender supplies of high quality wheat, after rains at harvest in the central region, and most lately in Siberia, where it had been hoped that a strong spring wheat crop would bolster supplies. “Russia is struggling with wet conditions on the tail end of their wheat harvest, which has raised more concerns about the overall quality of the Russian crop,” Brian Henry at US broker Benson Quinn Commodities said. In Siberia, “fields are still wet, which complicates the access of the farmers,” Agritel said. “Furthermore, the moisture content of the grains seems still too high,” a worry as it encourages sprouting which can render wheat unfit for milling, besides making storage difficult if the grain is not dried. However, “the weather conditions are getting better”, Agritel said. SovEcon, the Moscow-based consultancy, has warned of a “significant decline” in Russian grain exports this autumn, thanks to higher prices encouraged by the shortage of high quality grain. French hopes Hopes for French wheat exports, by contrast, are buoyant, with the official FranceAgriMer bureau last week forecasting an 11% rise to 11.0m tonnes in shipments outside the EU this year, and many traders believing the result could turn out higher still. France in 2012-13 shipped 17.1m tonnes of wheat, 9.9m tonnes to buyers outside the EU. Continue reading
President orders honouring of UAE football team
President orders honouring of UAE football team (Wam) / 24 September 2013 The President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has instructed honouring of the UAE national football team for winning the 10th GCC U-17 Championship, which Qatari capital, Doha, hosted from September 3-12, 2013. The President’s gesture recognises the sports achievements of the UAE innovators who raise the UAE’s flag high at international sports events. The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) paid gratitude to the President for his generous grant to the sportsmen and for his incessant support for the sports sector. Chairman of the UAEFA Yousuf Al Serkal affirmed that his organisation would do what in its power to make more achievements for the betterment of the UAE. The UAE team won the championship for the fourth time. Its previous triumphs were in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Continue reading
Education: Adopting a holistic approach
Education: Adopting a holistic approach Ajita Nayar (Guest Column) / 24 September 2013 Since the United Nations declared 2005 – 2014 as the decade for Education for Sustainable Development, the subject has been a hot topic in schools. Converse to the traditional way of teaching, Education for Sustainable Development means adopting a more holistic approach to education with the aim of ‘creating a better world for this generation and future generations of all living things on planet Earth.’ This allows every child to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future. Humans tend to look at development as a needed and normal process, but when this process becomes increasingly dependent on over-exploitation of our natural resources, the replenishment of these reserves and supplies is affected; and managing this imbalance demands assuming a slightly different school of thought. One way to cultivate this mindset in our youngsters is by encouraging sustainable lifestyles through Education for Sustainable Development. Living sustainably is about changing our attitudes in a way that helps transform our lives into something that doesn’t impact too heavily on our current routines, while using the planet’s resources in moderation. Education for Sustainable Development incorporates key environmental challenges like climate change into core subjects like math, science and art, and involves modifying the teaching-learning process to a more all-encompassing approach. Students are thus able to relate what they learn in the classroom to their real life actions, and will increasingly be in a better position to take the lead in changing behaviours and adopting sustainable lifestyles, the more this type of education is adopted. As schools no longer function in isolation, their integration with the world outside has exposed students to different people and cultures, giving them the opportunity to appreciate what the planet offers, while respecting the need to use resources efficiently and responsibly. The decade of Education for Sustainable Development is already proving popular with thousands of students across the UAE taking part in environmental education programmes; among them are Be’ati Watani and Eco-Schools UAE, both implemented by EWS-WWF. These two programmes are serving as vital tools for schools to produce environmentally-responsible citizens. One evident example of how environmental education is helping shape a sustainable future is from an Eco-School in the UAE recently awarded the Green Flag, a symbol of excellence in environmental performance. These students identified the need for more wall space to spread environmental awareness messages in their school, so they created a huge mobile wall of used cartons piled one above the other! Besides reducing the amount of waste produced in their school and saving school funds, these students put forward the important message within their school community and beyond, of innovative thinking to make maximum use of available and reusable resources. Education for Sustainable Development is not only about being environmentally-friendly; it also involves developing life-skills including leadership, communication and management, all of which are extremely important for personal development. By equipping young people with these relevant capabilities in addition to their environmental knowledge, they can excel at living lives which not only further humanity, but that care for and respect our planet’s resources too. There are numerous examples that only serve to reiterate the benefits of implementing Education for Sustainable Development in schools in the UAE. Students from an Eco-School in Ras Al Khaimah encouraged their head teacher to install water dispensers in the corridors and fellow students to bring a reusable bottle to school; saving both money and plastic. The reason these youngsters did this was simple: because of their belief in the need to lower water usage and waste in their school. This type of learning goes beyond the school. What a child learns during this process shouldn’t stop there — it must be practiced by the family, too. Wise use of water and energy both at home and in the work place must be part of our natural behaviour as parents and care-givers. Greater efforts must be put in by families and communities to reduce waste, recycle regularly and opt for public transport to demonstrate the importance to our children of living more sustainably. Our homes and communities can be the ideal platform for children to exercise and experience what they learn in the classroom. – news@khaleejtimes.com Ajita Nayar is the Education Manager for Emirates Wildlife Society – in association with WWF (EWS-WWF). She is responsible for managing Be’ati Watani programme, an online environmental education programme aimed at educating children by evoking their interest in local biodiversity and environmental issues. She also leads the implementation of Eco-Schools UAE, an international initiative designed to encourage whole-school action for the environment. Continue reading
