Yearly Archives: 2016

Can superfoods boost the planet’s health, too?

By in News on

feature_super_foods_main-760x378

It can seem like new health food fads pop up every week — fads that often fade as quickly as they appear. Two gaining steam lately, though, may be worth a longer look: baobab and moringa. Traditional fare in parts of Africa (and for moringa, Asia as well), these foods offer the potential not only to strengthen local economies, but to encourage conservation and carbon sequestration, too.

Time and again, when the world “discovers” a food previously consumed by a small pocket of the planet, global demand grows and production shifts from small and sustainable toward large-scale monoculture operations. In some cases, that ends up wreaking havoc on local ecosystems and spelling economic trouble for local producers and indigenous food supplies.

With baobab and moringa, though, some researchers say that growing global demand is gaining farmers a reliable market for crops they were often unable to sell before — and also helping the environment. These trees have a long history in the diets of many cultures, but they have grown in the wild and not been viewed as a crop for trade, giving farmers little incentive to grow them. Now, farmers are planting the trees.

Click here for the full story

East African farmers rewarded for letting grass grow under their feet

By in News on

1799

Stephen Tumhaire rakes through the knee-high grass in his field to get rid of fallen tree branches that might stop the grass from growing. Sweat shines on his face, and he repeatedly mops it with his palm. In 1972, Tumhaire’s grandfather moved from the west of Uganda to the central Nakasongola district, a once sparsely populated area now made up of small farms created when farmers started dividing land among their children.

With increasing rural-urban migration in the area, demand for charcoal grew in nearby towns and villages, and this accelerated a vicious cycle of deforestation that began with the clearing of land for cultivation. “This place was good before charcoal burning took centre stage. There were very many trees, there was much grass and cows, hence abundant milk,” he says.

Tumhaire lives in Chamkama village in Uganda’s cattle corridor, 140km north of the capital Kampala. He says that in the mid-90s charcoal burning became so lucrative some young men dropped out of school to focus on making the fuel. Now, efforts are under way to use farmers, like Tumhaire, to help revive the trees through a scheme known as farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR). Farmers encourage regrowth by pruning and protecting existing trees, as well as encouraging new growth from felled tree stumps, sprouting root systems or seeds.

The regrown trees and shrubs improve the soil, prevent erosion and water loss, and increase biodiversity. This can translate into increased crop yields, more timber for firewood and better incomes for farmers.

Click here for the full story

A climate change resistant ecosystem

By in News on

11

Amlankusam, a 45 year old agro-ecologist, has developed a concept that will ensure a sustainable agro-ecosystem capable of resisting climate change. He notes, “For the past five years, I’ve lived with my family in the heart of a plus-energy, vertical eco-neighborhood called ‘Hyperions’ producing more energy than it consumes. In collaboration with architects, agricultural engineers, agronomists and farmers, I eco-conceived a garden tower project rooted in Jaypee greens sports city, with the double objective of energy decentralization and food de-industrialization. My approach is holistic, combining the best of low-tech and high-tech instead of systematically opposing them.’ 

12

Developed under vincent callebaut architectures, the concept aims at combining archaeology and sustainable food systems, that grow up around wooden and timber towers in New Delhi, India. ‘Hyperions’ is made of six garden towers, each 36-story high containing residential and office spaces. the name comes from the tallest tree in the world ‘the Hyperion’ – a Sequoia Semperviren found in northern California – whose size can reach 115.55 meters (close to 380 feet). The aim behind the project IS to create a cultural hub that combines urban re-naturation, small scale farming, environmental protection and biodiversity.

Click here to learn more about the initiative

 

 

Africa wood grow in Kenya

By in News on

Life in Syntropy

By in News on

9

“Humans could reconcile themselves with the planet, finding a way to be useful and welcomed in the system. But we don’t realize that, we can’t see… because we have disconnected ourselves from the life on the planet, thinking that we are the intelligent ones. We cant see that we are just part of an intelligent system,” states, Ernst Gotsch, a farmer and researcher. Watch this video to learn some of the remarkable experiences in Syntropic Agriculture and how it has transformed lives and landscapes

In Burundi, seeing the writing in the hillsides means working with farmers

By in News on

7Farmers are important partners in generating research on soil types, crop varieties, and production strategies in a landscape and research institutions explore different approaches to tapping into this knowledge base and linking their work with observational data from farmers. Farmers in Burundi have a high stake in the viability of seasonal harvests, as they depend on the harvest to provide for and to feed their families. They work the land from year to year, carefully monitoring the results. These farmers hold a mental history of agricultural production in their communities – they know what has been tried before, where, and how well it worked or if it didn’t work.

They also know their environment – what the soil is like, what types of plants grow well within the local context, and what their main challenges are. Additionally, they know where their farm fits into a broader landscape. When theoretical approaches for erosion-control are shared with them, they can add that to their own observations of how their hillsides are faring, and decide how to combine the knowledge to best place a trench, or a row of trees. So how does Burudi achieve this?