The International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) Short Film Festival will take place on 19 November 2012 at the United Nations Headquarters during the closing ceremony of the Year. The theme is "Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World".
The films should raise awareness about cooperatives – what they are, and what they do – and encourage support and development of cooperative enterprises by individuals and their communities. The films should also highlight at least one of the 10 key messages of the International Year of Cooperatives:
Cooperative enterprises build a better world
Cooperative enterprises are member owned, member serving and member driven
Cooperatives empower people
Cooperatives improve livelihoods and strengthen the economy
Cooperatives enable sustainable development
Cooperatives promote rural development
Cooperatives balance both social and economic demands
Cooperatives promote democratic principles
Cooperatives and gender: a pathway out of poverty
Cooperatives: a sustainable business model for youth
I came to know of this challenge too late :-( but all the same am glad to follow up the ideas submitted and the corresponding results and utter my congratulations message to all participants.In my capacity,no single participant is a failure,whether they won or not.
The challenge was looking for innovative ideas on three major categories:Decoding data,Irrigation efficiency and Farming Now.This was in line with the centennial celebrations of Rockefeller Foundation and hence they were on the look out for innovative ideas that would address change and bring about the expected impact in the targeted persons. Find HERE detailed information regarding the Challenge overview,Eligibility and Criteria used. The 8 challenge winners were drawn from the 15 finalists from Africa,Asia,South America and North America from the list of 2,000 entrants who submitted her ideas.They will be applying for grants of $100,000 to help kick off their ideas.These winning ideas include:
i) Farming Now Category a) Farm quest by Mobido Coulibay (Mali)~A reality radio program series that comprises of between 6-8 people out to create the "Best New Farm". b) Empowering youth with agricultural information through Radio and other ICTs by Joseph Macharia (Kenya)~The program will aim at disseminating knowledge on agriculture as a business and on value chain developments. c) Youth Agro Entrepreneurs by Fatima Oyiza Ademoh (Nigeria) ~An initiative to draw more young people in to agriculture.It operates in schools where young people can come and be taught tid bits of farming.
ii) Irrigation efficiency Category a) Layering Raised Bed And Furrowing Technology by John Duxbury(United States) ~which focusses on using raised beds and furrows in place of flood irrigation hence efficiently improve the use of fertilizers and water,reduce labour shortages and offer opportunities in the agribusiness sector. b) Resonating, Viscoelastic Drip Emitters For Low-Pressure, Low-Cost Drip Irrigation by Amos Winter(United States) ~which is an idea where a drip emitter will reduce by 90% especially for farmers that live off the electrical grid.
iii) Decoding Data Category a) Kolkata Medical Emergency System by Rita Bhattacharjee(India)~ which offers a centralised medical emergency system by Kolkata to provide for emergency healthcare facilities or products. b)WATSAN Portal: a platform for improving water and sanitation in slums by Chelina Odbert (Kenya) ~which is a phone based system offering to work with communities through identification of structures that link to the municipal with an aim of upgrading the projects concerned with water/sanitation. c) Open Legislative Data by Pedro Markun(Brazil) ~which is a data platform where Sao Paulo residents can obtain official information on any topics that interests them.
I came across this venture prize from Savvy Kenya blog post and thought it relevant since checking its previous winners(last year) , i realize Agriculture category scooped the first prize. These 2011 Winners included: 1. Tele-Irrigation-Horticole by Abdou Maman Kane which allows for growers to irrigate their crops using mobile phones regardless of their geographical locations.Check his venture description in the 2011 winners note above.(Note: For English speakers,you will need the services of Google translate) 2. Agasha by Sharon Againe~A project meant to maintain an online business market with the aim of promoting small businesses in Africa,in the global market.
3. Kachile by Ulf Ritcher~whose objective is to promote Kachile African crafts especially in the sales section.
The 2012 edition
It aims at promoting social innovation by rewarding ventures using ICTs for developmental purposes.These projects range from e-health, Mobile banking,Mobile apps for Agriculture or education.
Prizes:
They comprise of a monetary award,and a 6 month mentorship under guidance of the experts.
The 3 winners will be awarded on the basis of their ICTs related projects that have the capability of addressing African needs on the confines of Orange footprints areas.(See the countries list)The monetary award is thus:
1st prize : € 25 000
2nd prize : € 15 000
3rd prize : € 10 000
Rules for Participation:
Participants must be more than 21 years old.
They(students, entrepreneurs or companies) must be operational since June2009.
The project must target one of the Orange footprint areas above.
The project must utilize ICTs to help improve the living conditions of the local populations.
For more information on the same, contact orange.socialventure@starafricateam.com .
I received this Call for Solutions By Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)in my email and i thought it wise to share!
Deadline: 30th June,2012.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working on a publication that aims at providing a set of solutions to overcome core challengesthat rural youth typically face when they (want to) engage in agriculture as a sustainable business, providing them with decent employment. This publication addresses young leaders; young producers; producers’ organizations; youth programme formulators, youth development practitioners and decision-makers influencing youth programme design.
The publication will flag youth-specific solutions which have proved to help overcome a specific challenge. These solutions can take the form of approaches; methods, tools, practices etc. from all over the world and preference will be given to those that have not yet been documented or that have not been shared much.
We very much count on your participation and in order to collect your solutions in an organized manner, we would be very grateful if you could fill out our online format by May 18 (Extended to 30th June) following the instructions below:
Instructions:
The format for collection of solutions consists of an online questionnaire.Please click on the link below and answer the questions :
Please note that you will need a good internet connection to be able to answer the questionnaire online.In case you have difficulties with the online questionnaire, we have attached a questionnaire in Word format that you can fill out and send back to us through email.Our team will be available to help you answering the questionnaire if necessary.
Your responses will be automatically recorded in our database and processed by our team according to pre-defined selection criteria. We are looking for youth-specific solutions that are well documented and that are preferably replicable in other locations.
Furthermore, we would like to include several solutions per challenge from different geographic areas. The best solutions will be included in the publication which will be widely disseminated. Hence this is your opportunity to gain visibility and have your solution featured in an official FAO publication.
Question,Doubts,Problems,Further Information
Should you have any questions,doubts or problems,or if you want to share further information with us,please contact:
Charlotte Goemans
Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division (ESW)
Sometimes our best intentions cause more harm than good~Good Fortune Film
Have you ever stopped to consider the effects (both positive or negative) of aid fed agriculture ? Well in my case, negative effect is what comes in to picture when anyone in social media talks of the G8 Global Agriculture and Food Security Symposium held last month at Washington DC. It seems to be the greatest talk in the agriculture arena since governments and world richest nations abandoned all their commitments in a bid to help end world hunger and Africa in particular by diverting funding to chemically related causes and biotechnology in the context of Africa's farming with Tanzania,Ethiopia and Ghana being first experimental choices.
According to the G8 leaders,for them to feed the bulging world population,investment in African agriculture needs to be scaled up.It might be a superb idea to some but to me the how and why questions come streaming in. Checking the full symposium proceedings and subsequent commentaries HERE, you will realize a few funding elements like these appearing.(I am hoping you know some background information to these organisations and if not just Google or ask)
Monsanto the largest GMO seed producer in the world will be investing $50 million in Africa to support agricultural development with initial working plans in Tanzania to develop a corn that uses less water.
Cargill will invest its amount on two projects in Mozambique with the aim of training and educatingsmall scale farmers on how to increase their grain farm yields.
Syngenta company will invest more than$50 million in africa with the expectations of building its base of 1 billion users in Africa.
Yara a Norwegian Company is investiong $20 million to help construct a fertilizer port in Tanzania to help it expand its fertilizer delivery all over southern Africa.
These are just a few of the notable examples that don't care any bit about sustainable agriculture.Don't be fooled by their sugar coated websites.A majority of these international corporations are out to Scramble for any fertile African land and markets.With time small scale farmers,the bulk of most African economies, will be kicked out of the markets as they won't be able to afford chemicals,GMO seeds and fertilizers to keep their farm production going not forgetting the distorted supply markets.
Who tells Obama,Bill Gates, Monsanto,G8 leaders that solutions to hunger in Africa lies solely in the hands of chemically intensive agriculture and biotechnology? Why should they overlook major issues that affect African agriculture just to mention a few like:
~Lack of access to water leading to over dependent on rain fed agriculture which with climate change onset has become so unreliable.
~Lack of access to arable land amongst many small scale farmers.The available ones ,they are already scrambling for them.
~Massive food wastage and losses due to poor post harvest handling means.
~ Use of fertilizers in farms and expensive inputs that farmers can't afford to pay for.Its notable that most of the farmers in Africa operate on a small scale basis.
Unless issues like these are looked in to, the pledges made at the symposium will deem fit to benefit the spread of these industries and their produce in the whole of Africa and sustainable agriculture will be a forgotten thing.
If the G8 are to give agricultural aid, it would be nice to give aid that will in the end eliminate dependency on more and more aid.Looking at the G8 symposium can you see their end from the beginning?And most important,what are you doing about it?
Lest We Forget!
Sometime back in 2010 i remember reading about the Good Fortune Film in the local dailies.Somehow i lost its track but i have its link back all thanks to my tweep Harry Chamberlain. This is an Emmy winning documentary film that focusses on exploring how international efforts to undermine poverty may be undermining the communities they so want to help.Watch the trailer below and read a sample on the about page of the film too. Check the official WEBSITE too.
A Sample "About" from the Documentary
"JACKSON AND DOMINION FARMS LTD
Jackson is grazing his cattle through the lush grasses of the Yala swamp. The sun is rising and a pale orange light reflects off of the marsh. As he pushes his herd across a quiet river, Jackson makes a startling discovery. The once fertile wetland has been slashed and burned, leaving only charred papyrus stalks and stagnant pools of water.
Dominion Farms LTD, an Oklahoma-based agricultural corporation, is clearing the wetland to construct a reservoir to irrigate its massive rice paddies. Dominion CEO Calvin Burgess first came to the area on a mission trip with his church and says the area’s poverty inspired him to invest millions of dollars in a commercial farm to stimulate the local economy.
But for Jackson’s family, and over 500 families like his, the Dominion project could destroy everything they have. The proposed reservoir will flood over 1100 acres of grazing land, homes, local markets, schools, and clinics. Jackson’s home, where generations of his family were born and buried, will soon be underwater. “Is this development?” Jackson asks, “Or poverty creation?”
Jackson provides for all 25 members of his family using relatively simple, subsistence-farming methods, but he is anything but simple-minded. He is, in fact, a highly educated individual who volunteers as a local schoolteacher because he feels that the key to improving his community is education. Jackson is also a staunch environmentalist who appreciates the vital importance of the Yala swamp to the local ecology. When Dominion threatens to take control of the area’s greatest natural resource, Jackson prepares to fight.
He discovers that Dominion is seizing over five times the land granted in their original contract and using harmful chemicals that are poisoning the community’s water supply. The community seeks the help of international NGOs, stages public demonstrations, and petitions the government to intervene. But even after they convince Kenya’s environmental protection agency to issue a cease and desist order, the floodwaters continue to rise.
“They said it couldn’t be done, but it has been done,” Dominion CEO Calvin Burgess beams into a microphone. The dam is now complete and Dominion is celebrating with great fanfare; they’ve drawn a large crowd, brought in entertainers, fireworks, and rallied local politicians around the $20 million dollar project. One member of Parliament—who happens to be the former director of Dominion—addresses the crowd: “I want to say here and in broad daylight, that anything that will stand in the way of this project shall be met with the resistance and full force that it deserves.”
A few months later, record rainfalls are pounding the Yala swamp. Dominion’s reservoir rises across the road and spills into Jackson’s homestead. The water submerges Jackson’s property, and their homes begin to collapse. All of Jackson’s goats and sheep are killed, and the cattle begin to experience strange illnesses, dying off one by one. Jackson is forced to rent a small room in a nearby town. “They destroyed everything,” he exclaims.
But even after the flood, Jackson is not defeated. He helps organize the community to take legal action against Dominion. Whether Jackson will win his battle to save the swamp or be forced to leave his ancestral home remains to be seen."
Mushrooms are a form of edible fungi which grows on decaying matter called substrate. They begin as spores, the reproductive structures, and grow to form a network of small whitish strands/filaments called mycelium. Its from here that the mushroom you feed on originates.People tend to have perceptions that all mushrooms are poisonous while others think its a preserve for the who is who since they are expensive.This deters small scale farmers in to venturing in to mushroom business.
Advantages of Mushroom Farming
Its a sustainable farming method as it utilizes agricultural wastes in the form of substrates
Possible to have a lot of produce in a small unit area.
Source of high end nutrients and a perfect diet for diabetics and those interested in watching their weight.
After farming, you can use the substrate as a soil conditioner.
There are are about 1.5 million species of mushrooms in the world and only 30 species are domesticated and deemed edible and useful for medicinal purposes.Find out more HERE . Common types in the country include; Oyster variety(Pleurotus spp) and the Button Variety(Agaricus spp). A detailed survey of each one of these will be available in the the next posts.
Nutritional Component of Mushrooms
Mushroom have a high nutrition value which comprises of:
Vitamins: B complex, C,D,niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, and folate.
Protein: of high quality estimated to be between 19 and 35%.They are a good substitute for red meat.
Medicinal properties of boosting the immune system,Lowering the level of lipids and regulating blood pressure making it suitable diet for diabetic patients.
Low on fat and fibre.
Factors to Consider Before Venturing In To Mushroom Farming
i)Availability of market(Very Important). This ranges from the prices in the market of the particular type of mushroom to the value addition process,the current demand and availability of produce during the production period.
ii)Availability of substrate.Different types are used among them being straw, sawdust , wheat bran,coconut fibre,cotton straw..
iii)Availability of spawns and those of exceptional high quality*Spawns are the mushroom seeds*. A guiding factor to how much spawns one needs is the substrate The amount of spawns needed should equal 4-6% of the wet weight of the substrate
Spawns in a bottle:Photo AIRC
iv)The Mushroom House:
Before deciding to build mushroom house, one needs to take in to consideration various factors like the distance to the market and the availability of clean water.
Mud walled mushroom house: Photo AIRC
Most preferred structure for small scale farmers is a mud walled house like the one above as it is able to maintain cool temperatures and high humidity, which are important conditions.The floor is left to stand on arable land.Important to note that all openings that let in free flow of air ,be it windows or doors, should be closed or a wire mesh put in place to filter out insects like mushroom flies which are attracted to the smell of the mushroom mycelium. Create some wooden shelves for holding the bags in place as they fruit.They should be ideally constructed at a height of 1.5m above the ground and a metre apart to allow for easy manourvre inside the house.
Wooden Shelves in the mushroom house.Photo AIRC
Phases in Mushroom Cultivation:
Composting :Time span dependent on the substrate chosen.Roughly its between 6-14 days.Involves the wetting of substrate with water and in advanced cases, addition of supplements like gypsum.The rule of thumb in the wetting process is a squeeze of the substrate should give 2-3 water drops. If the drops are few, add water.If they are more continue with the draining process. Moisture content at this point should be at 70%.
Pasteurization : Depends on the method of pasteurization preffered. Heat sterilization is the most commonly preffered. Involves about4-6 hours of heat treatment of the substrate at 60°C the subsequent cooling before putting it in bags.This is meant to destroy all microbes that might contaminate the process.Conditioning is also done to remove excess NH3.Substrates moisture content should be between 67-70%.
Spawning and growth: Different for each species but roughly takes between 5-15 days. ItInvolves putting spawns in the substrate plastic bags with relative humidity maintained at 65-70%.
Casing: Not applicable to all mushroom species. It involves dressing the colonized substrate with a thin layer of wet top soil combined with murram and lime with the aim of inducing pinning. Substrate will change colour from white to gray indicating the start of fruiting.Takes about 13–20 days with temperatures maintained at 25°C.
Pinning:Takes about 5-10 days with temperatures kept between 23-25°C.Its at this stage that fruiting occurs and pin heads (small mushrooms) begin to occur. Relative humidity should be maintained at 85-95%.
Harvesting: About 30-40 days after spawning.
Yield and Post Harvest Handling Yield is highly dependent on the type of substrate used. For instance using wheat straw at 50-100% one would expect to harvest between 50-100kg of mushrooms. Harvested mushrooms have a short shell life of up to 3 days in very cool conditions after harvest.Where possible, they should be sold fresh or preserved and value added by drying,canning or grinding.
Training Centres: In Kenya these institutions are credited with provision of expert advice on Mushroom Farming:
Jomo Kenyatta University Of Agriculture and Technology,Juja Campus (JKUAT) :Contacts:Tel: +254-067-52711, +254-067-52034, +254-067-52117, +254-067-52028
Ministry of Agriculture~ Agricultural Information Resource Centre email: agriinfocentre@yahoo.com
PS:Don't know how to prepare a nice meal using mushrooms? Sample some mouth watering recipes HERE
