New Agriculturist

Food crisis - short and long terms solutions

The rising cost of food is exacerbating poverty and stretching the resources of relief organisations like the World Food Programme (WFP). But what measures are needed in the short, medium and long term to address the food crisis, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa? Sheila Sisulu, deputy executive director of the WFP, and Adewale Adekunle of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa offer their views on the challenges ahead, and where governments should be focussing their attention, in order to feed the hungry and build food security in the future.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=177
Article: Fighting hunger in a time of crisis

Climate change - can potato stand the heat?

Potato is one of the most important food crops in the world and is grown in many parts of Africa. But climate change means farmers will have to change the way they produce this much-loved staple. The effects of climate change on potato production are already being felt in Africa and beyond. So what exactly is happening and what can be done to protect the potato? Potato experts from Kenya and Mauritius discuss the pressures facing the crop and an agricultural meteorologist gives his perspective on what needs to be done.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=179
Article: Climate change - can potato stand the heat?

Protecting forests - local voices

Mabira forest in Uganda receives rainfall that supplies five major rivers, and helps maintain water levels in Lake Victoria and the Nile basin. Recently, the Ugandan government has been hoping to use up to a third of the forest area for sugar cane production, threatening both the environmental services the forest provides as well as the resources it provides to local people. However, the National Forestry Authority, which has been encouraging forest protection and replanting by local communities, has opposed the plan. A parish chief and a farmer give their views on the importance of forest protection.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=129
Article: Struggling to conserve the Mabira Forest

Nutrient recycling includes 'human manure'

In much of Africa, farmland soil degradation is threatening agricultural livelihoods. Meanwhile in Africa's cities, sewage treatment is unable to cope with the volumes of waste being produced. Is there a way that urban human wastes could be recycled back to the rural fields, in a safe and acceptable way, thereby killing two birds with one stone? Maimbo Malesu, of the World Agroforestry Centre's water management unit offers his opinion on this controversial, but increasingly important priority.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=180
Article: Human fertiliser - closing the nutrient loop

The Arborloo - speeding up nutrient recycling

The Arborloo is a simple, fast way for villagers to turn human toilet waste into highly fertile soil, suitable for tree planting, vegetables or whatever they choose to grow. Using full pit latrines for planting trees is common in parts of Africa. The Arborloo, which can be easily built using local materials and at very low cost, refines the concept. Arborloo pits are shallower and easier to dig. Adding soil or ash after using the toilet dramatically speeds up the transformation from toilet waste into fertile compost. Within 3-6 months a family may start a new pit, and the old one will soon be ready for planting. In The Arborloo: speeding up nutrient recycling Alex Oduor and Peter Morgan, passionate advocates of the Arborloo, explain all.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=199
Article: Human fertiliser - closing the nutrient loop

Top marks for school feeding

The global community has set itself the target of halving the number of people suffering from hunger by 2015. But how can this be done? One way, according to Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), is through school feeding. Evidence shows that providing one free meal a day to school aged children greatly increases school attendance and performance. In particular, it improves attendance rates among girl children, reducing the frequency of early marriage and contributing to better maternal and child health. The WFP has recently innovated to improve its work, sourcing food from local farmers and beginning to provide meals during school holidays. See Top marks for school feeding.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=197
Article: Sheila Sisulu, World Food Programme

Safe fertiliser from toilet waste

Human faeces and urine contain nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, the same ingredients as chemical fertilisers and animal manure. And while human defecation is a taboo subject in many areas, farmers in parts of Burkina Faso are learning that human manure is actually a rich resource. Under a pilot project in Ouagadougou, households have been given specially designed toilets which separate the solid and liquid elements of human waste. These are collected by a private sector organisation and converted into a safe, affordable fertiliser which is now proving popular with farmers. The pilot scheme may be extended across the country, and could also be introduced in Benin and Mali.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=181
Article: Human fertiliser - closing the nutrient loop

Jatropha success in India?

It is amazing to think of the amount of energy many people consume in our daily lives. The future of our economic growth depends on it: industry needs fuel. India is one country under pressure to keep up with industrial activity and productivity, but at the same time, to reduce emissions of harmful gasses during energy production. Is it possible? To find out, Neil Palmer went to ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India. He spoke to some leading scientists there, to ask them what kind of success farmers growing jatropha have had. In Jatropha success in India, we hear about the crop's success - and importantly, what they might mean for Africa.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=50
Article: Oil, toil and trouble bubbling - India's jatropha tussle

Sorghum boom in Sierra Leone

Although more than half the working population are farmers, Sierra Leone currently has to import around 80 per cent of its food from neighbouring Guinea and from Europe. Making money from farming is a dream for most: after years of civil war and conflict, the country is only gradually re-building the peace and prosperity that it deserves. However, Sierra Leone Brewery, a subsidiary of the Heineken and Guinness breweries, are paying around 1,500 farming families to supply locally-grown sorghum to make beer. At a recent conference on agribusiness, John Mbonu, General Manager of the Sierra Leone Brewery, describes the programme.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=125
Article: Sorghum beer: a sustaining brew

New Agriculturist podcast 2008-5

In the New Agriculturist podcast we hear from World Water Week in Stockholm, where wastewater use in urban agriculture was a hot topic. Catch up on the latest thinking about this valuable, but potentially dangerous resource. As something of a hot potato, wastewater might well be of interest to Berga Lemaga of the International Potato Center. Chips, or French fries are fast becoming one of East Africa's favourite foods; Lemaga believes that developing a pre-cut potato chip industry would allow African farmers to cash in even further. A less mouth-watering prospect for Africa's mango growers, however, is the damage caused by insect pests, such as fruit flies and mealy bugs. Bakary Kante of the UN Environment Programme ends the podcast by explaining why sharing common resources could ease their plight.
Audio link: http://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/files/audio/new-ag08-5.mp3
Article: Cashing in on chips , Bakary Kante of UNEP, Coming clean on wastewater irrigation, Editorial