FAO raises alarm over looming food shortage in Nigeria

The Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO) has raised an alarm and serious warning over impending danger of food shortage in the country.

The organisation, in a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja attributed the likely famine to army worm pest invasion on maize and other crops.

According to the FAO National Communications Officer, David Karl, the pest crop destruction has extended to other crops such as millet, sorghum, cowpea, vegetables, thus could pose threat to the Federal Government food sufficiency drive.

However, he noted that FAO in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) organised 3-day training for over 100 farmers in the country in order to curtail and manage the noxious pest and its effect on crops.

He said the training was carried out in Kaduna state with participants drawn from other parts of the region while similar training was held for farmers in the North central (Abuja) and southwest (Akure) regions among others.

It reads in part: “As the rainy season dawn in all parts of the country, planting of maize has begun in earnest, especially in the Northern part of the country where majority of the produce is cultivated. However, the presence of the invasive trans-boundary pest the Fall Army-worm (FAW) noticed for the first time in Nigeria in 2016 continues to be a great threat to the nation’s food security.

“The looming danger of the possibility of the pest extending its host range to other important crops such as millet, sorghum, cowpea, vegetables is very high and therefore calls for urgent attention.”

According to the statement, the training of trainers programme was put together such that the trained farmers are expected to further take down the training to farmers in their respective communities.

“As part of the immediate intervention to prevent farmers from sustaining drastic yield losses during this 2018 cropping season, and to restore productive capacity, FAO has provided to farmers, early maturing maize seed variety, herbicides, fertilizer, PPE materials, knapsack sprayer and Goldmax Total Crop Solution

“Furthermore, as part of FAO’s effort, 120 extension workers and 50 researchers from the project target states (Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Abia, Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa and FCT) were trained on FAW biology, identification, damage symptoms, integrated pest management techniques, which includes, cultural practices, biological and chemical control, other topics covered include pesticide and pesticide risk reduction. Good Agricultural Practice (GAP).”

The FAO Country Representative Suffyan Koroma described the inputs given to the farmers as short term measures to enable them meet up with the 2018 planting season.

“FAO has also initiated the process of establishing a National Task Force to advice Government of Nigeria on FAW infestation. Engage partners, communicate with relevant stakeholders on the menace of the pest and promote cooperation, coordination, consistency and synergies across the country on its infestation and intervention. Membership of the Task Force will include amongst others, Research Institutions, private sector, relevant MDAs, NGOs, and Development Partners etc.”

Koroma restated FAO’s commitment not to relent in the fight against army worm to achieve the aim of achieving zero hunger and improving the livelihood of local farmers. - The Nation

“This crime should not exist” – UN condemns human trafficking

The United Nations (UN) has strongly condemned human trafficking, describing it as a vile crime that feeds on inequalities, instability and conflict.

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in a statement made available to DAILY POST, lamented that traffickers profit from peoples’ hopes and despair.

Noting that the culprits prey on people’s vulnerable and rob them of their fundamental rights, Guterres expressed sadness that young people, migrants, refugees are especially susceptible, while women and girls are targeted again and again.

“We see brutal sexual exploitation, including involuntary prostitution, forced marriage and sexual slavery. We see the appalling trade in human organs”, the statement noted.

“Human trafficking takes many forms and knows no borders. Human traffickers too often operate with impunity, with their crimes receiving not nearly enough attention. This must change.

“The United Nations is committed to advancing action to bring traffickers to justice while protecting and supporting their victims. The rights of victims must come first – be they the victims of traffickers, smugglers, or of modern forms of slavery or exploitation.

“In their proposed Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to be adopted in December, Member States have also demonstrated resolve to prevent, combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration.

“On this World Day against Trafficking in Persons, let us come together around the key issues of prevention, protection and prosecution to build a future where this crime cannot exist.”

Early in July, the Lagos State Police Command rescued three young women and arrested two suspected human traffickers who allegedly lured them from the South-East region with job promises.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has announced plans to introduce Trafficking in Persons, TIP, into the curricula of basic and secondary schools across the country. - Daily Post

PL news : Willian fails to show for Chelsea training amid transfer talk

Real Madrid and Manchester United target Willian has reportedly failed to show up for training after returning from his post-World Cup holiday.

The Times reports that the Willian has been struggling with passport issues, but his absence has raised some eyebrows back at Stamford Bridge.
Those behind the scenes at the club are said to be concerned that Willian’s situation could mirror that of Diego Costa last summer.
The report does specify that the player has contacted the club to make them aware of his situation.

The striker failed to return to training as he pushed for a move back to Atletico Madrid after falling out of favour under Antonio Conte.

Real Madrid have been heavily linked with a move for the winger throughout the summer.

Chelsea officials now fear that the winger could be looking to push for a move away from the club.

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Manchester United are also known admirers of the player and should Jose Mourinho look to raid his former side, Chelsea could move for Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic. - Read Sport

Woman called 999 to complain about mushrooms on pizza

A woman dialled 999 to tell police she had been “mugged off” by a takeaway company that delivered her a mushroom pizza instead of a meat feast.

A recording of the exchange was released by Essex Police as part of a campaign against hoax and inappropriate calls.

The call handler asks the woman if everything is OK, and she replies: “Yeah, no, I’ve been mugged off by a f****** takeaway would you believe it.

“I rung up for an 18, a number 18 meat feast and she’s trying to tell me nah, nah you ordered a number eight.

“I’m allergic to mushrooms so I know for a fact I didn’t order a number eight right, and I’ve got a pizza sat here with f****** mushrooms on it that I can’t eat, £11.99 later she doesn’t want to help me out or nothing.”

When advised to call the takeaway to ask for a refund, the woman said: “Well I tried to do that but she reckons she’s the manager.”

The force said it receives around 400 hoax or inappropriate 999 calls each month, including one lady who complained that her Nando’s chicken was undercooked, and that the figure increases in summer.

In further released recordings, a man asks why the police helicopter is “hovering over my house and disturbing the peace” and a separate caller inquires about a “bull in the field” sign.

The man says he wants to know “who I can contact to find out if there really is a bull in the field or it’s just a farmer messing around”.

Superintendent Kevin Baldwin, who heads the force’s control room, said: “There’s nothing that frustrates my team more than picking up the phone on a 999 call only for it to be a call which plainly isn’t an emergency and is sometimes a deliberate hoax.

“This is a very busy time of the year where we are working flat out, so answering a 999 call made by someone who should have a bit more common sense isn’t just infuriating, it could risk the life of someone who really needs us but can't get through. -PA 

MPs accuse aid groups of 'abject failure' in tackling sexual abuse

Charities have shown “complacency verging on complicity” in responding to sexual abuse that is endemic across the sector, according to a damning report by MPs.

In the report, the international development committee (IDC) said the aid sector had a record of “abject failure” in dealing with longstanding concerns about exploitation by its own personnel and appeared more concerned for their reputations than for victims. The response to abuse claims has been reactionary and superficial, it added.

MPs called for the establishment of an independent aid ombudsman to support survivors and for a global register of aid workers to prevent abusers moving through the system.

Stephen Twigg, the committee chairman, said the sector’s failure to deal with the issue had left victims at the mercy of those who sought to use power to abuse others.

The report, published on Tuesday, also criticised the UN, which it said had failed to display sustained leadership in tackling abuse, and said the historical response of the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) was disappointing.

The committee launched its inquiry into sexual exploitation and abuse after revelations that Oxfam covered up claims that its staff had used sex workers while working in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The sector has faced intense scrutiny, with further allegations of sexual misconduct emerging at Save the Children.

Twigg said the aid sector was first made aware of concerns in 2002, when a report by the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children documented cases of abuse. Despite this, and a series of other warnings, little action was taken. “There are so many reports that go back over this period of 16 years and the system has failed to respond anything close to adequately over the period,” the Labour MP said. “This is 16 years of failure by the entire international system of governments, the UN and the aid sector.”

He added: “I find it hard to escape the conclusion that organisations have put their reputations first.”

The report said experts believed the documented cases were the tip of the iceberg. The globalised and often chaotic nature of aid work made it “an attractive sector for people wishing to exploit others”, it said.

The inquiry examined the sexual exploitation and abuse of the intended beneficiaries of aid, as well as sexual harassment and abuse of aid workers. A failure to robustly investigate and respond to allegations was apparent in charities’ UK offices, and across the UN, the report said.

MPs concluded that self-regulation within the sector had failed and there had not been enough money to implement safeguarding policies and procedures.

The report called for a culture change, with greater representation of women at senior levels in charities, and victims and survivors put at the centre of the sector’s response to abuse claims. It warned of “a strong tendency for victims and whistleblowers, rather than perpetrators, to end up feeling penalised”.

MPs said charities must proactively seek reports of sexual exploitation and abuse, and respond robustly with feedback to survivors. They called on DfID and other donors to provide funding to improve reporting systems, and to support broader programmes to increase beneficiaries’ rights.

Pauline Latham, a Conservative member of the committee, said the abuse had affected some of the most vulnerable girls and women in the world when they were at their lowest.

She said the committee heard evidence of “rape, sex for food, calling people prostitutes when they’re actually desperate women who need to feed their families, or young girls who are trafficked and been abused by these men. It’s absolutely shocking because they [perpetrators] don’t treat them as human beings.”

In response to the Oxfam scandal, DfID has established a safeguarding unit, and will host an international conference in October where organisations are expected to make commitments on tackling abuse. It has also enhanced due diligence standards for its partners and met with the National Crime Agency to discuss prevention and prosecution.

Twigg said DfID’s forthcoming conference was a step forward, but cannot be a stopgap. The committee will continue to monitor the sector’s efforts to tackle abuse.

“We call on DfID to report annually on the safeguarding performance of the sector, including the number and distribution of cases, the resources committee and the department’s own actions and contributions to improvement. Transparency will not be penalised but DfID must send a clear signal that improper handling of cases will be. Crucially, the voices of victims and survivors must be heard,” he said.

The government must also ensure the Charity Commission is sufficiently funded to deal with abuse and harassment reports, the committee said. The number of serious incidents reported to the commission has tripled since the Oxfam scandal.

The international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, said she welcomed the report, adding: “Until the sector is fully prepared to address the power imbalance, cultures and behaviours that allow sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment to happen, we will never stamp it out.

“Ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and taken seriously is paramount. As we look ahead to October’s international summit on this issue, we expect to see the sector demonstrate the progress they have made to put victims, survivors and the people we are there to help first.”

Judith Brodie, the interim chief executive of Bond, the UK’s network of international development NGOs, said the sector was taking action to tackle abuse.

“We need to see increased resourcing in safeguarding, particularly for smaller NGOs, more collaboration across organisations, donors and governments, better transparency, unwavering leadership and measures to ensure whistleblowers and survivors are at the heart of any solutions,” she said. “This sadly cannot undo previous shortcomings but it will result in a safer and more secure environment for both beneficiaries and staff.” - The Guardian

Ghetto !!! Nigerian businesses ‘spend N5trn’ annually on generators

Sanusi Ohiare, executive director of rural electrification fund, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), says an estimated N5trn is expended yearly on importing, fuelling and maintaining generators by businesses in the country.

He said this at the presentation of off-grid and mini-grid goals of the REA at the fourth national council on power (NACOP) in Edo state.

Ohiare said the agency seeks to channel the $14 billion (N5trn) investment on generator into renewable energy.

This, he said, would provide access to cheaper electricity.

He said: “We thought that if we wanted to replace these technologies which is not efficient in terms of cost; if we wanted to go for cleaner and sustainable energy from renewable sources, we have potentially an investment of about $9.2bn annually (about N3.2trn).

“We want to channel that generator investment into renewables. There is a high potential for scaling up mini grids which is creating independent generation and distribution in different places especially in rural areas.”

According to Nigeria mini-grid investment brief on REA’s website, millions of commercially-viable businesses in the country are powered with expensive and unreliable power supply, hence getting off-grid solutions to scale and commercial viability in Nigeria will unlock an enormous market opportunity. - TheCable

EFCC probes Ortom over ‘N22bn fraud’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, over the alleged diversion of N22 billion.

According to PUNCH, the allegation is contained in the report of an investigation which began in May 2016.
Ortom was said to have ordered the withdrawal of N21.3bn from four Benue government’s accounts in three banks between June 30, 2015, and March 2018.
The EFCC said N19bn out of the money was purportedly meant for the payment of six security agencies deployed to Benue over the farmers-herdsmen clashes.

According to the anti-graft agency, less than N3bn of the money was paid to the security agencies.
“We investigated four bank accounts belonging to two Benue State government’s agencies. The first agency is the Benue state government house which has an account in UBA with number 1017348051 and another account in GTB with number 0027952907. These accounts received N1, 916, 635, 206 from the state’s allocation between June 30, 2015 and March 2018,” the report read.

“The second government agency is the Bureau of Internal Affairs and Special Services. The agency has an account with UBA with number 1007540119 and a First Bank account with number 2023788057. Between the same period, the accounts were credited with N19, 468, 951, 590 from the Benue state allocation.

“Investigations revealed that N19 billion was withdrawn by one Oliver Ntom, a cashier. Sometimes, in a day, he would withdraw as high as N500 million by cashing several cheques worth N10 million each. The permanent secretary upon interrogation said anytime security agencies requested funds, he would approach Governor Ortom who would ask him to write a memo to that effect. The permanent secretary would write and the governor would approve the money.

“The permanent secretary said the funds are usually given to six security agencies. He said the highest that any security agency gets is N10m a month while the least any of the agencies gets is N5 million a month.
“He said after the money has been released, the governor usually orders that the memo be torn to pieces. It is important to note that if a total of N60 million is given to all the security agencies collectively every month as claimed by the permanent secretary, it cannot amount to half of N19 billion in three years.”

The EFCC said it has also invited one John Bako, a member of one of the security outfits in Benue who withdrew N28 million, and one Andooi Festus, a cashier from the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs who withdrew N1.3 billion.
The anti-graft agency also said 21 lawmakers of the Benue house of assembly are under probe.
“About 21 of the lawmakers are under probe. However, 25 of the lawmakers have returned all the money they received which adds up to N245m. Four others have failed to return the remaining sum of N31m,” the EFCC report read.

The EFCC investigation is coming in the wake of the Benue governor’s defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On Monday, eight lawmakers of the state house of assembly served an impeachment notice on the governor. - TheCable

Hopeless country !! NAPTIP : FG rescued 10,500 Nigerians from Libya

The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli, said on Monday that at least 10,500 Nigerians have been rescued from Libya.

This number includes the 3,500 rescued by the Federal Government and over 7,000 repatriated from the North African country by the International Organization for Migration (IMO).

She said the agency has so far recorded 359 convictions against traffickers since inception and 43 this year alone.

The NAPTIP chief added that 10 potential Russia- bound human trafficking victims were rescued at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on their way out of the country.

Address journalists in Abuja at a press conference to mark the agencies 15th anniversary and the 2018 World day against human trafficking, Okah-Donli said NAPTIP has written to the Ministry of Sports, inviting people who returned from the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia to report at its office.

She said: “With regards to Libya, so far we gave been able to rescue 3,500, IOM has rescued over 7,000 and it is a work in progress. So giving figures might not be doing justice because almost every week we have returnees to Nigeria. So it is not easy to just pin a figure at it because we may get a plane tomorrow or next.

“For the reintegration of the victims, we have 10 shelters. We give them psychosocial support, those who want to go to school were given the opportunity and those who want to acquire some skills, they do that. We reintegrate them back into the society at the end of the day.” - The Nation

Impeachment notice:Now I know why Nigeria is a shithole country - Gov Ortom

Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, says he now knows why President Donald Trump said there are “shithole countries” in Africa.

Washington Post had attributed the controversial comment to Trump but the US leader denied using those words.
While reacting to the impeachment notice which eight lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) served on him, Ortom said such a thing would only happen in a “shithole country”.

The governor said he was being targetted for moving to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He accused the inspector-general of police and director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS) of perpetuating evil, appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to call them to order.
Ortom also alleged that George Akume, a serving senator in the state, was behind the political crisis in Benue.

“Today, I’ve realised why Donald Trump called Nigeria or Africa a shithole. I want to believe that Mr President is not aware of what is taking place in Benue state because as president who swore to uphold the rule of law and due process, and who is referred to as a man of integrity, a man of honour and who respects the constitution of our land, I’m sure he is not aware of the impunity and ignominy that is being perpetrated by the inspector general of police and the DG of DSS,” he said.

“For me, I will continue to do my duty at all times. The action of the agents actively supported by the police and DSS, the actions of the eight members of the house of assembly against 22 who are legitimately doing their jobs has demonstrated the highest level of hooliganism and ignominy.
“The police detachment from Abuja acting on the directives of Senator George Akume and the IGP and DSS, forcibly occupying the assembly in flagrant disobedience of court order to vacate the premises.

“The police barred and stopped the 22 members of the Benue state house of assembly from entering the assembly premises to conduct their legitimate duties and manhandled citizens who were going top watch the proceedings. They teargassed many and took them away.
“The same police provided heavy security escorts to the eight members who came to perpetrate the impunity, and led them away to their destination. Eight members seem to have suspended 22 members. It is only in a shithole counmtry that you can do this kind of thing.”

He said Terkimbi ikyange, impeached speaker, paraded himself in flagrant disobedience to the court order that he should not do so until the matter is heard.
“The same members claim to have illegally moved a motion to serve an impeachment notice on me. Eight members cannot be two/third of 30 members of the assembly. An impeachment notice that I’ve not seen anyway , but that is what I heard,” he said.

“I want to believe in the rule of law and will deploy legal process to tackle this form of challenge. We are not going into any kind of illegality and that is what democracy is all about. We will continue to protect the democracy that we have in this country.
“I call on patriotic Nigerians to rise and resist this impunity. What is my offence? Have I not got the right to decide to associate with any political association of my choice? Is it the first time we are doing that? Even in America, defection is not a crime, so I want to call on Mr President to protect this democracy that made him president.

“This form of impunity will only derail the democratic process that we have. Mr President should not allow this. The IGP should not be allowed to be used by Senator Akume to perpetrate evil.
“So, if Akume is recruited to destabilise to bring people to destabilise this government, he should be called to order.

“Now I know why Trump called Nigeria a shithole country. It’s only in a shithole country that eight house of assembly members can suspend 22 lawmakers.” - TheCable 

60-year-old man slashes village chief’s stomach with saw

A motor saw operator Samson Tueei, who allegedly slashed the stomach of a Baale (village head) with a motor saw, was on Monday arraigned at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

Tueei, 60, of Sore Community in Takwa Bay, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of assault and infliction of bodily harm.

Prosecuting police officer, Sgt. Godspower Ehizoba, alleged that the defendant committed the offences at 7:45 p.m. on July 19, at Sore Community in Takwa Bay.

He said the incident occurred following a dispute between Tueei and the complainant, Mr. Gani Thomas, over who should be the community’s head.

The stool was, however, given to Thomas.

“The defendant assaulted the Baale, Gani Thomas, by stabbing his stomach with a motor saw,” the prosecutor said.

According to him the offence contravened sections 170(2) and 173 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 and punishable under same.

Tueei pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Magistrate T.A. Idowu granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case till October 11. - The Nation

Ekiti council chief commits suicide

Tragedy struck on Monday as a senior local government official, Michael Kayode Bamisaye, allegedly committed suicide at his residence in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Bamisaye, who was the Director of Finance in Ise/Orun Local Government Council, Ise-Ekiti, jumped into the well in his compound behind
Tinuola Maximum School, off Afao Road, Ado-Ekiti.

The deceased had earlier drunk water mixed with cement in an earlier attempt to kill himself before jumping into the well.

Top management staff of local governments in Ekiti State have being paying condolence visit to Bamisaye’s home.

Sympathisers have been trooping to his residence to commiserate with the widow and other members of the family.

Activities were said to have been grounded at Ise/Orun Local Government secretariat when the report of Bamisaye’s death filtered in
from Ado-Ekiti.

The cause of the suicide could not be immediately ascertained.

Bamisaye was said to be the third senior management staff that would die in Ise/Orun Local Government Council this year as two other directors had died before him in mysterious circumstances.

A source said: “The deceased woke up at about 4.00 am to assist his wife to do some house chores and even called some council workers he
used to convey to Ise everyday to be ready to join him to their station.

“All of a sudden, he disappeared and went outside with the wife looking for her. Later she discovered that the well was opened and they saw the body floating.

“The wife and other people who joined her searching later saw the cement he had mixed with water which he might have taken before taking
the plunge into the well.

“The men of the State Fire Service had come to remove the corpse which has since been deposited at the mortuary.”

Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was not available for comment as his phone was switched off. - The Nation

Femi Kuti’s band member ‘absconds’ 20 minutes before show in US

Femi Kuti, Afrobeat legend, says his bassist “disappeared” 20 minutes before a concert in the US on Sunday.

The Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and his Positive Force band performed at the SummerStage concert in New York.

According to Kuti, the missing band member is a bassist whose name is Aghedo Andrew.

The musician said Andrew “nearly ruined” his concert.

“He disappeared 20mins before show time. I want to thank the rest of the band for standing strong and giving one of the best shows of the tour,” Kuti wrote on Instagram.

Yeni Kuti, his sister, also posted about the development on Instagram, describing Andrew as “the face of betrayal”.

She wrote: “The face of betrayal! Deserted Positive Force 20 mins before (the) show in New York but he is not up to who can bring us down.”

In another post, Yeni said she hopes the US authorities catch Andrew.

“The face of betrayal. I hope @realdonaldtrump catches you and deports you!!! Deserted band 20mins before concert because he wants to stay in America,” she wrote.

Femi Kuti is currently on a tour of the US, promoting his ‘One People, One World’ album.-Thecablestyle

Brexit : London is loosing business to Frankfurt

Deutsche Bank has moved almost half its euro clearing activities from London to Frankfurt, in the latest sign of European cities winning financial business from the UK ahead of Brexit.

The move has provided a significant boost to Deutsche Börse’s ambition to steal business from LCH after Britain leaves the EU next March — six months ago, Deutsche Bank’s euro clearing operation was almost entirely done in London.

The clearing of euro-denominated interest rate derivatives has become a key Brexit battleground for regulators, banks and exchanges. In the past, London’s LCH was the undisputed leader for clearing euro-denominated interest rate swaps, processing up to €1tn of notional deals per day. 

Germany’s largest lender does not disclose its clearing volumes but it is one of the five largest clearers of interest derivatives.

“To minimise risk for financial stability, it is indispensable that [the clearing of euro-derivatives] is subject to strong regulation and supervision in full conformity with EU standards,” Olaf Scholz, Germany’s finance minister, said last month, suggesting Frankfurt would be the natural place. 

“It’s a highly politically charged topic,” said a senior banker at a rival bank.

Deutsche Bank has been one of the early adopters of Frankfurt-based clearing. “We are now clearing the majority of our euro-denominated forward rates agreements in Frankfurt rather than in London,” Jürgen Feil, head of rates for Germany at Deutsche Bank, said.

Hubertus Väth, CEO of marketing group Frankfurt Main Finance, said that moving euro clearing from London to Frankfurt was “on top of our priority list from the very first day after the Brexit referendum”.

While only a few hundred jobs are directly linked to derivatives clearing, Mr Väth said the indirect effects would be substantial, adding that Frankfurt had lost most of its trading rooms to London over the past three decades: “This was the best chance to bring them back.”

London Stock Exchange Group, which owns LCH, has warned that as many as 100,000 jobs could leave the City if London loses its status as the euro clearing hub. 

But at Deutsche Bank, the shift to Frankfurt-based clearing has not led to relocating jobs. “It’s the same London-based person who clears a transaction. We’re just using a different clearing house,” said Stefan Hoops, the bank’s global co-head of institutional and treasury coverage.

European policymakers are calling for direct regulatory oversight after the UK’s departure from the EU, as so-called central counterparty clearing houses directly affect financial stability.

In October 2017, Deutsche Börse subsidiary Eurex launched an incentive scheme that encouraged banks to switch from London to Frankfurt. So far, 29 banks have signed up, with Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Commerzbank, BNP Paribas and Stuttgart-based public lender LBBW being the heaviest users. The four other lenders declined to comment. 

At €3.8tn, the notional clearing volume in the second quarter of 2018 was 10 times higher than a year earlier, lifting Eurex’s market share in the euro-denominated interest rate derivatives to around 8 per cent.

Theo Weimer, Deutsche Börse chief executive, is aiming to control at least a quarter of the market for clearing euro interest rate swaps from London by 2019. 

“We are pleased with the first six months as volumes are growing,” said Erik Müller, CEO of Eurex Clearing. Yet while Eurex’s revenue from OTC derivatives clearing has almost tripled, it accounted for just 2.6 per cent of overall revenue.

So far, Frankfurt has attracted mainly short-dated derivatives that are heavy in volume but low on risk, a senior derivatives trader at a European bank pointed out. “Long-dated interest swaps with a maturity of five to 20 years is still primarily cleared in London,” said the banker, adding that he expected this to change over time in favour of Frankfurt. 

Forward rate agreements are short-dated contracts that allow parties to protect themselves against changes in interest rates and often involve large notional sums of billions of euros. 

For clients dealing with derivatives in different currencies, LCH can still be the better choice, said Mr Feil. However, for those dealing with euro-denominated products such as interest rate swaps and euro-bund futures, Eurex is often the better choice.  - Financial Times 

British farmers worry: Who will pick the fruit after Brexit?

After a dozen futile calls to big farms, agricultural lobbyists and labor contractors, we finally found him.

The rarest of the rare, the British berry picker.
Meet Max Hughes, a 20-year-old university student and history major, who is spending his summer harvesting blackcurrants at the Snell family farm in Herefordshire. He rides in the back of a harvester all day, standing beside a Czech migrant and a couple of sun-bronzed Romanian guys, who know very little English.

“No matter, you can’t hear a thing they say over the noise,” Hughes said, gesturing toward the wheeled harvester beside him. Its vibrating metal fingers shake the currant bushes and bring the tart berries via conveyor belt to the sorting table, where Hughes and his teammates discard the leaves, twigs, slugs and occasional mouse — whatever you don’t want to see in a frozen fruit pack.

Britain today is completely dependent on foreign workers to pick its fruit and vegetables. According to the National Farmers Union, an industry lobbying group, of the 60,000 seasonal workers in the fields last year, barely one percent was British. The vast majority come from Eastern Europe, particularly Bulgaria and Romania.

As long as Britain has remained part of the European Union, by treaty its doors have been wide-open to the “free movement” of fellow members, including those seasonal farmworkers who come for four or five months, get paid in British pounds and return home for the winter.
But as Britain prepares to leave the E.U., bringing the era of free movement to a close, farmers have begun to panic: Who will pick the crops next spring?

Already, labor shortages driven by economic shifts have left produce rotting in the strawberry fields and the high-tech, hydroponic poly-tunnels where top-tier soft fruit is produced. Jacqui Green, chief executive of the Berry Gardens growers cooperative, reports a 30 to 40 percent shortfall in labor this year.
“It's pretty grim,” Green said. “And it’s probably going to get worse before it potentially gets better, post-Brexit.”

During the 2016 Brexit campaign, anxiety over mass migration was top of mind, fueled in part by claims that, for example, millions of Muslims would arrive as soon as Turkey joined the E.U. (Turkey is not in the union and has no prospect of joining in the foreseeable future.)
With Britain’s exit from the bloc, Prime Minister Theresa May vows that the country will regain “control of our borders” and dramatically curtail immigration.

Yet critics of Brexit argue that Britain desperately needs foreign workers — not only “the best and brightest” in finance, tech and medicine, who May promises will still be welcome, but those who clean hotel rooms in Brighton, man kitchens in London and harvest tomatoes in Norfolk.

If far fewer workers come from Europe, those jobs will have to be filled by Brits — who don’t seem very keen, truth be told — or contracted from Belarus or Nepal or the Philippines.

Britain had such a foreign farmworker scheme in the past, but it was scrapped — and now there are growing calls to restart it.

Stephanie Maurel, the chief executive of Concordia, a recruitment company that supplies workers to about 200 British farms, said they’ve had virtually zero Brits apply.

“We’ve had two applications out of 10,000,” she said. “It’s statistically quite damning.”

Asked why Brits aren’t high on the work, she recited the list: early hours, long days, physical toll, seasonality, lack of affordable transport, “and, quite simply, the farms aren’t in places with high levels of unemployment.”

And, unless you’re a local, you live in a trailer. Often a nice trailer, with WiFi, but still.

Maurel said some Brits work in less taxing farm jobs — as logistics managers or office staff — but even those higher-paying, indoor jobs are mostly taken by Eastern Europeans these days.

She said the rare British workers who give the fruit and vegetable harvest a try, “literally don’t last a week.”

Hughes and three other university students are the only Brits harvesting berries at the Snell family farm this summer, out of a workforce of 300.

“That’s quite something, isn’t it?” said Christine Snell who owns the award-winning, environmentally sensitive farm with her husband, Anthony. “We want to get the message across: If we could recruit British workers, we would, but we cannot.”

Snell drove a Washington Post reporter out to see these exotic British berry workers. They looked hot and dusty but otherwise like healthy contestants on a reality TV show.

For Hughes, the long workday begins at 5 a.m. and ends in the late afternoon. He said with overtime and bonuses for quick sorting, he could make almost $4,000 for six weeks of six-day work. The worst part, he said, is the dull, repetitive nature of the job. He zones out by listening to music through his ear buds. “It’s not a bad summer job,” he said.

But he and his mates think they understand why so few Brits want farm jobs.

“A lot of kids would never do this kind of work,” said Lewis Hiscox, 24, a recent graduate from Harper Adams University, who was working on the blackcurrant harvester, too. “They’d rather give London a try for more money, more fun. Also, there’s the snob thing. Farm work is associated with Eastern Europeans,” meaning “work for poor people.”

Many observers have suggested that Brits today are “too lazy” to do the farm work of their yeoman ancestors. Hiscox said that physically, “the British worker could definitely do this job.” He said the work provides an “outdoor life” and decent pay for a young person.

Elliot Packham, 22, who just graduated from Cardiff University, wondered, “If the pay were better, more might try?” He noted that then strawberries would cost more.

“So there’s the economics of it,” he said.

Some British commentators have suggested that maybe recently released felons could be employed on the farms — the way German prisoners of war were used during World War II.

Others have wondered if hale and hearty Britons living on social welfare benefits could be prodded to bend their backs to bring in a crop of strawberries. (Though those who receive such benefits may question if the work would be worth the risk of not requalifying for benefits after the season ends.)

Gabriela Yuganaru, a 50-year-old Romanian crew leader on the Snell farm, has been picking for 10 years. “If it was so hard, why would I come back? Your back is sore, okay? A fast picker can make 100 pounds in a day.”

She said, “Maybe the government gives people too much money not to work. I don’t know.” She said back home the governments are not so generous. “Better to work,” she said.

Helen Whately, a Conservative party politician who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for fruit and vegetable farmers, said growers would be facing a shortage of labor without Brexit, but the vote to leave the E.U. has “arguably made the problem a bit more acute.” Already, it has contributed to a weakening of the pound, thus decreasing the financial incentives for foreign workers, at the same time that economies are improving in source countries, such as Romania.

Whately is campaigning for a seasonal agricultural workers scheme that could include countries outside of the E.U. and would allow pickers to come and work for a defined and limited period of time.

Other than that? Robots? But berries are notoriously difficult to pick mechanically, Snell said.

Adrian Cirstea, the packing house and logistics manager at the Snell farm, who is originally from Romania, imagines that after Brexit, British growers will have look far and wide for labor.

“They’ll have to go further east and further south,” he said, to Africa and Asia, to find workers. Meaning that Britain may see the same number of foreign farmworkers, but fewer Bulgarians and more from Eritrea and Moldova. Maybe even Turkey. - The Washington Post