New Agriculturist

New Agriculturist podcast 2007-4

A good idea can make a world of difference: agricultural progress very often depends on someone's clever thought. But what does it take to nurture good ideas - whether from farmers or researchers? The idea - so to speak - of this edition's podcast is to get to grips with where good ideas come from and what it takes to apply them for the benefit of others. Susie Emmett and Susanna Thorp both report from South Africa: from the Eastern Cape, where four former workers of a failed flower farm had the bright idea of running it themselves, and from Johannesburg, where researchers and farmers from across southern Africa recently gathered to share ideas on how to have more of them.
Audio link: http://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/files/audio/07-4_podcast.mp3
Article: Editorial

Wetland management: a shared responsibility

Who is responsible for managing natural resources, such as forests, land and rivers? Should local communities be in charge of decision-making or government offices? Or is the best approach to split the responsibility, putting some decisions in the hands of professionals, and others at the discretion of the people whose lives are affected? In the wetlands of northern Nigeria, building of dams has had negative impacts on livelihoods in downstream communities. Recently, however, improved communication between those communities and the authorities who manage the dams is offering a much more hopeful future. Wetland management: a shared responsibility highlights how the change has come about.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=109
Article: Nigeria's wetlands - talking their way out of trouble

New Agriculturist podcast 2007-3

From bleating lambs to clucking poultry, this edition's podcast gets you listening to livestock. And it's not just the animals that have their say. Cattle farmers in Kenya describe the impact of Rift Valley fever on their business, and how they try to keep their animals healthy in the absence of veterinary services. We also hear about Newcastle disease, which can wipe out entire poultry flocks in a matter of days. Help could be on the horizon in the shape of GALVmed, a not-for-profit initiative with a ten-year programme to get the private and public animal health sectors working together. Key aims in Africa include the development and provision of effective and affordable vaccines. So join Susie Emmett on her farm in the east of England, and let her take you on a 10 minute migration through the pastoralist world, where you will learn more about the people, and the issues, that feature in this edition of New Agriculturist.
Audio link: http://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/files/audio/07-3%20podcast.mp3
Article: Editorial

A sweet tooth for organic cocoa

Organic cocoa farmers can get a price premium of between 10 and 40 per cent. However, cocoa faces some serious pest problems. Dr Anthony Cudjoe of Ghana's Cocoa Organic Farmers' Association(COFA) and cocoa farmer Francis Acquah talk about the rising demand for organic cocoa, and how organic farmers are protecting their crop.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=97
Article: A sweet tooth for organic cocoa

Breaking China

If fertilisers are used too excessively, some is absorbed by the crops, but the rest is washed down through the soil, polluting groundwater that flows into rivers or is used for domestic purposes. Professor Tong Yanan talks to Susie Emmett about the extent of fertiliser over-use in China, and how he and others are trying to change farmers' fertiliser habit in Shaanxi province.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=98
Article: Halting China's fertiliser frenzy

Injecting immunity to East Coast fever

East Coast fever, caused by a parasite which is spread in the bite of ticks, is a major disease of cattle in Africa. Annual losses can run to thousands of animals and millions of dollars. Controlling the disease is possible but producing enough vaccine, and having the delivery systems in place is an enormous challenge. Dr Hameed Nuru of the AU-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources describes the impacts of the disease and how public and private sector organisations are collaborating with the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicine (GALVmed).
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=102
Article: Galvanising action against livestock disease

Better vaccines for Rift Valley fever

To develop an improved vaccine for Rift Valley Fever and to mass produce it at an affordable price for poor livestock keepers, a government research institute and a private pharmaceutical company in South Africa have formed a partnership with the Global Alliance for Livestock Medicinees (GALVmed). Anthony Musoke and Baptiste Dungu describe the Kenyan situation during the recent Rift Valley Fever outbreak, and how they are working together to develop an improved vaccine.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=96
Article: Galvanising action against livestock disease

Africa's rice revolution

Founder of the Songhai Centre, Father Godfrey Nzamujo is one of the most respected figures in African agriculture. The centre, which focused on training young people, has now expanded to six sites in Benin and one in Nigeria, and has attracted international recognition and praise. In Africa's rice revolution Father Nzamujo explains why he believes the NERICA rice varieties offer hope, not only to African farmers but to millions of others in the African rice industry.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=95
Article: Father Godfrey Nzamujo, founder of the Songhai Centre, Porto Novo, Benin

New Rices for Africa - ideal for women?

The New Rices for Africa, known as the NERICAs, were first released in Cote d’Ivoire in 1999/2000. Since then, 18 upland NERICAs have been developed, which are now being tested and grown in over 30 sub-Saharan African countries. In Africa, most upland (non-irrigated) rice farmers are women. For them, the qualities of the NERICAs are especially valuable, as Dr Rita Agboh-Noameshie, of the Africa Rice Center, explains.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=91
Article: New rice for African women

Know your market - the case of khat

Khat, a mild narcotic, has only semi-legal status in Kenya. As a result, agricultural advisory services have ignored it. Despite this, however, farmers have transferred advice they have received for other crops to their khat cultivation, with good results. Geoffrey Kamau of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute discusses the implications, both for khat production and for other crops.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=90
Article: Growing demand for Kenya's khat