Nourishing the Planet TV: Banking on the Harvest

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In this week’s episode, Nourishing the Planet research intern, Abigail Massey, explains how women in Nigeria are using an innovative kind of bank to help their communities get through the hungry season between harvests. Instead of money, these banks give out credit in the form of cereal. And because they are managed entirely by women, the banks not only improve food security, but also help to improve overall gender equity.

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Sneak Preview: State of the World 2011

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In just a few short weeks State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet will be launched! We’re excited to share with you a sneak preview of Chapter 1 entitled, "Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger," authored by co-project directors Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg.

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Nourishing the Planet TV: Turning an Invasive Species into a Sustainable Livelihood

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In this week’s episode, Nourishing the Planet research intern, Elena Davert, explains how, in Kenya, the potentially devastating invasive plant, the water hyacinth, is being transformed into a boon for local livelihoods. With the help of organizations like Village Volunteers, farmers living on the shore of Lake Victoria are harvesting the water hyacinth to produce biodegradable furniture, fertilizer, and other commercial products to simultaneously clear the water of the dangerous plant and improve local livelihoods.

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Fonio: Africa’s Oldest Cereal Needs More Attention

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

You may not have heard of fonio, but it is Africa’s oldest cereal. For the Dogon people of Mali, fonio is "the seed of the universe" – an appropriate name considering its high nutritional value, and adaptability to the region’s soil and climate. From Lake Chad to the savannah regions of Senegal and Guinea, fonio is an important source of food for some 4 million people across West Africa.

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Nourishing the Planet TV: Handling Pests with Care Instead of Pesticide

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet project.

In this week’s episode, Nourishing the Planet research intern, Matt Styslinger, explains how farmers in Cambodia, with training from organizations supported by the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its Regional Vegetable Integrated Pest Management Program, are combining various strategies and practices to grow healthy crops without the aid of expensive and hazardous chemical inputs. This alternative approach is called Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

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Putting Classroom Theory into Practice

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

"The idea was to bring a lot of expertise from the corporate world to help young social start ups," says Fred Rose when asked about his motivation for founding the Acara Institute two years ago.  As part of the Minnesota University’s Institute on the Environment, Acara has developed a classroom curriculum for universities in the U.S. and in India that challenges students to think creatively about how to use private businesses to solve pressing global issues such as hunger and poverty. But instead of  the semester culminating in an exam or a paper, Acara provides students the necessary tools to turn their best class work into reality.

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Monkey Oranges: Mouthwatering Potential

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

Monkey oranges have all the characteristics of a successful crop–high productivity, high prices, extended shelf life, pest resistance, delicious flavor, and high demand. But , the fruit remains undomesticated and has rarely undergone organized cultivation.

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Innovation of the Week: Taking the Classroom to the Field

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

Over the last fifty years or so, "the world has changed a lot," says Paul Clark, project manager for Knowledge Network®.  "In rural areas there is a growing demand for resources that are... increasingly depleted. Meanwhile, knowing how to use computers and exposure to the internet is increasingly important. So we are combing these skills to improve the local environment and livelihoods."

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Nourishing the Planet TV: Beating the Heat to Reduce Post Harvest Waste

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In this week’s episode, Nourishing the Planet research intern, Abby Massey, introduces a simple but effective way to beat the heat and reduce post harvest loss due to heat. In the Sudan and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the non-profit organization, Practical Action, is using clay, concrete, sand and water to create small "refrigerators" to preserve fruits and vegetables and improve diets and incomes.

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The Green Gold of Africa

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

Often called ‘magic’ marama, the green gold of Africa, this plant is working its secret charm above and below ground in southern Africa.  Above ground it produces seeds similar to the peanut or soybean, but is actually higher in nutritional value than either; below ground it produces a high-protein tuber that is bigger and healthier than potatoes, yams or sugar beets. And to top it off, the planet can also generate a high quality vegetable oil.

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Turning an Invasive Species into a Livelihood

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In Kenya, for the over 5,000 people living in rural communities on or near its shore, Lake Victoria—the largest body of freshwater in Africa—is a life line. It is the main source of water for bathing, drinking, and cooking in the area and its fish populations provide both protein and income to families. "But the shores of Lake Victoria are choking," says Shana Greene, founder and director of Village Volunteers, a Seattle-based organization that partners with rural communities around the world to create environmentally sustainable solutions for hunger and poverty.

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Nourishing the Planet TV: From the Township Garden to the City Table

by NourishingthePlanet

Around 1 million people in South Africa—the majority of whom are recent arrivals from the former apartheid homelands, Transkei and Ciskei— live in the shacks that make up Khayelitsha, Nyanga and the area surrounding the Cape Flats outside Cape Town.  Just under half, or 40 percent, of the population is unemployed, while the rest barely earn enough income to feed their families. In this week’s episode, Nourishing the Planet research fellow, Molly Theobald, introduces an innovation that is helping families in these settlements become farmers to improve their diets, create a source of income, restore the local environment and bring fresh produce to the city.

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Improving the Harvest, From the Soil to the Market

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

Farmers in the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania are fighting a losing battle against increasingly degraded land. Repeated plantings are quickly depleting the nutrients in the soil, leaving it nearly barren and vulnerable to erosion. Meanwhile, downstream, the water is dark with sediment, unfit for drinking and expensive to treat. "Downstream, people are complaining about the quality of water," says Lopa Dosteus, program manager for CARE International’s Equitable Payment for Watershed Management (EPWM) program. "And upstream, the farmers are struggling to grow enough food while their soil washes away."

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Nourishing the Planet TV: Water From Thin Air

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, people are forced to travel long distances and several hours a day collecting the water for cooking and drinking. In this week’s episode of Nourishing the Planet TV, Nourishing the Planet research intern, Dan Kane, explains how one community in South Africa has developed a unique solution for the area’s lack of clean water. By setting up nets across a high mountain pass, the village of Cabazane is harvesting fog to produce water from thin air.

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Lablab: The Bountiful, Beautiful Legume

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

Although it is often sold as an ornamental flower in the U.S., the lablab has numerous benefits. This legume, native to sub-Saharan Africa, is both a versatile food staple and tool for land restoration.

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Nourishing the Planet TV: Staying Tuned for More Innovations

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

Nourishing the Planet research intern, Abisola Adekoya, explains how Farm Radio International is taking advantage of radio’s popularity throughout sub-Saharan Africa to improve livelihoods for smallscale farmers. By broadcasting shows about improved composting methods and organic fertilizer, for example, Farm Radio International is helping farmers to repair degraded soil, increase harvests, and improve their incomes.

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The Taming of the Dika: West Africa’s Most Eligible Wild Tree

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

When forests are cleared in West Africa for firewood or for farmland, the Dika trees are, more often than not, left untouched. Farmers have too much to gain from harvesting the tree’s fruits and seeds to burn or discard a Dika found in the wild.

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Getting the Most from Crops, in the Field and at the Market

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet

In Cameroon, one of the foods that grows best is cassava. But farmers struggle with low yields because of pests and diseases that damage crops, making each harvest much more labor intensive than they are worth. "Farmers are spending more on planting materials and field maintenance to grow cassava and they are unable to make profit from the poor harvests," says Emmanuel Njukwe, Chief of Service for the Crop Improvement and Utilization Unit at The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). "They are fighting an expensive battle against pests and diseases."

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Giving Farmers a Reason to Stay

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

While the coast of The Gambia is a popular—and economically thriving— tourist destination for European vacationers, the inland portion of the country provides little means for young men to make a living. Many leave their villages for the coast or even other countries, in hopes of making more money in urban areas

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Nourishing the Planet TV: Reducing Post-Harvest Waste

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In this week’s episode, research intern, Matt Styslinger discusses how in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 239 million people are hungry, more than a quarter of the food is lost before it can be eaten due to waste. Innovations in improved food storage can be an important tool for reducing world  hunger. From hermetically sealed bags developed by Purdue University to metallic silos in Afghanistan, innovations to improve food storage and reduce food waste are helping to improve food security around the globe.

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