Reacting to Nelson’s death, the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) told NaijaAgroNet that Mandela was a source of hope for them for a free society.
“Be free Madiba, the last of the last, but the first to defend his people. A just man, a visionary, a good man, simple, one of us” these are words of exaltation from the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) reports NaijaAgroNet.
According to WFO, this is the way to say goodbye to Nelson Mandela, who they said was a symbol of the struggle against apartheid and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, expressed by the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO-OMA).
Marco Marzano, Executive Director of WFO told NaijaAgroNet that Mandela was always ready to fight for equal rights, “so world’s farmers recognize in him an example of humility, justice and hope for everyone.”
Also, Marzano noted that Mandela was a symbol not only for African farmers, but for those of every country, who are committed to produce the food that feeds the world’s population, mostly to ensure a future for the planet and for future generations through a conscientious use of natural resources.
As said by WFO, despite many challenges such as the marginalization in the agricultural sector, lack of access to credit, the limited recognition of the role in the mitigation of climate change, exclusion from decision-making, farmers continue to struggle daily to assert their rights.
WFO pointed out to NaijaAgroNet that the legacy left by Madiba, an icon of determination and peace, is an example to be followed by farmers around the world.
For the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Nelson Mandela is a champion of right to food, according to the Director-General, FAO, Mr. José Graziano da Silva on learning of the death of Nelson Mandela, former South Africa president declared that “We have lost one of the world’s passionate defenders of the right to food.
“As a true champion of human rights, Nelson Mandela understood that the hunger of millions of people was unjust and unsustainable,” he said, stressing that at FAO, they have been inspired over the years by Mandela’s repeated calls to address hunger and the many social and economic ills that either led to hunger or resulted from a lack of access to food in a world of relative plenty.
Mandela, FAO said, understood that a hungry man, woman or child could not be truly free. Just as he understood that eliminating hunger was not so much a question of producing more food as it was a matter of making the political commitment to ensure that people had access to the resources and services they needed to buy or produce enough safe and nutritious food.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that since 2009, the United Nations has recognized July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day. Even as Graziano da Silva told NaijaAgroNet that it was fitting that the South African government had chosen to highlight food security and nutrition issues in celebrating Mandela’s 95th birthday this year, even though the former president and anti-apartheid activist had been too ill to participate.
“Mandela has been an inspiration to me in 30 years of work to improve food security in the world, and he will continue to inspire our work at FAO,” Graziano da Silva said.
FAO, he said, owe him a debt of thanks for speaking out on hunger. More importantly, “we owe it to the 842 million people in the world who suffer from chronic hunger to redouble our efforts to eliminate hunger in our lifetimes.”
NaijaAgroNet recalls that Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mveso, Transkei, South Africa. He became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement in his 20s, leading to his joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942. And for 20 years, he directed a campaign of peaceful, non-violent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies.
In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to dismantle the country’s apartheid system. And a year later, Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.
In 2009, Mandela’s birthday on July 18 was declared Mandela’s Day to promote global peace and celebrate the South African leader’s legacy. Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg on December 5, 2013, at age 95.
Born as Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, on the banks of the Mbashe River in Transkei, South Africa; ‘Rolihlahla’ in the Xhosa language literally means “pulling the branch of a tree,” but more commonly translates as ‘troublemaker,’ Nelson Mandela’s father, was destined to be a chief, and served as a counselor to tribal chiefs for several years, but lost both his title and fortune over a dispute with the local colonial magistrate.
Mandela was only an infant at the time, and his father’s loss of status forced his mother to move the family to Qunu, an even smaller village north of Mvezo.
The village was nestled in a narrow grassy valley; there were no roads, only foot paths that linked the pastures where livestock grazed. The family lived in huts and ate a local harvest of maize, sorghum, pumpkin and beans, which was all they could afford. Water came from springs and streams and cooking was done outdoors. Mandela played the games of young boys, acting out male rights-of-passage scenarios with toys he made from the natural materials available, including tree branches and clay.
At the suggestion of one of his father’s friends, Mandela was baptized in the Methodist Church. He went on to become the first in his family to attend school. As was custom at the time, and probably due to the bias of the British educational system in South Africa, Mandela’s teacher told him that his new first name would be Nelson.
When Mandela was 9 years old, his father died of lung disease, causing his life to change dramatically. He was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu people; a gesture done as a favor to Mandela’s father, who, years earlier, had recommended Jongintaba be made chief. Mandela subsequently left the carefree life he knew in Qunu, fearing that he would never see his village again. He traveled by motorcar to Mqhekezweni, the provincial capital of Thembuland, to the chief’s royal residence. Though he had not forgotten his beloved village of Qunu, he quickly adapted to the new, more sophisticated surroundings of Mqhekezweni.
*Additional reports by: biography.com
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
No comments:
Post a Comment