The Philippi Horticulture Area (PHA) Campaign - who host hundreds of UCT and foreign students a year and was presenting at this year's conference - has withdrawn from the Agroecology for the 21st Century Conference in Cape Town this week. The event is taking place at the Centre of the Book, Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town CBD 28, 29, 30 January 2019. The PHA Campaign and … [Read more...]
Climate change and malnutrition biggest global challenges
The two greatest challenges facing the world today are malnutrition and climate change, and it is going to require a concerted approach from science and society to deal with them, according to Dr Lindenwe Majele Sibanda, CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN). Dr Sibanda was a keynote speaker at a special international meeting of … [Read more...]
Drought relief: animal feed urgently needed in Free State
Of major concern is the condition of tens of thousands of animals as they are facing thirst and hunger in the absence of feed. Loss of animals is impacting heavily on the farmers, both subsistence and large scale, with major implications for farm labourers, farmers and the general economy. It has been stated that farmers owe in excess of 125 billion rand to banks at the … [Read more...]
Water relief efforts intensify amid national drought
A wave of volunteers are bringing water to drought-stricken areas of our country. The South African plastics industry has joined in, with the Maitland office of Plastics|SA becoming a collection point for water donations made by members of the public and businesses from Cape Town’s southern and northern suburbs. “Low rainfall in parts of South Africa has caused severe … [Read more...]
Ugandan women mobilising for change
Let us recognise the various injustices inflicted upon women by extractive models of development. The WoMin, an African Gender and Extractives Alliance in collaboration with National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) launch its Participatory Action and Research (PAR) on women miners from Katwe Salt Lake, Western Uganda. The PAR is part of a seven … [Read more...]
One last chance to thwart the great African seed grab
Nineteen African nations met this week in Arusha, Tanzania, to finalise a 'plant protection' protocol that would open up the continent's seeds to corporate interests, taking away farmers' rights to grow, improve, sell and exchange their traditional seeds, while allowing commercial breeders to make free use of the biodiversity they embody, to sell them back to farmers in … [Read more...]
Stop the poison bomb from hitting Transkei greenfields
There is a pervasive attachment to ignorance when it comes to 'weed control' in this country. Now in the Transkei this shortsightedness threatening vast tracts of ecosystems and the people living in or near those areas. Here is an Avaaz petition against an initiative that needs to be stopped. The other day I visited an expensive lodge on the other side of the Mzimbubu … [Read more...]
Doc sheds light on Filipino farmers’ GM corn struggles
“We loan the seeds, and pay upon harvest. We are usually left with empty sacks. So we loan for food and family expenses, and inputs to be able to plant for the next season. Upon harvest, we have leftover debt.” This is but one of the numerous testaments of farmers that farmer-scientist group MASIPAG has documented on film about the impact of GM corn in the lives and … [Read more...]
Celebrate female farmer of the year on Women’s Day
“Closing the gender gap in agricultural inputs alone could lift 100–150 million people out of hunger,” said Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Saturday is National Women’s Day, where we commemorate contributions by women in South Africa to improving the lives of others. Sphiwe Machika, a young female farmer (29), from Rethabiseng in … [Read more...]
Farmers in Chile to teach the region agroecology
An organisation that brings together some 10,000 peasant and indigenous women from Chile is launching an agroecology institute for women campesinos, or small farmers, in South America. For years, the National Association of Rural and Indigenous Women (ANAMURI) has been training thousands of people through La Vía Campesina, the international peasant movement, working on the … [Read more...]
Let’s keep the farmers informed
Investing in agriculture over the past two decades has proven to be a sound strategy for some, but not all regions have flourished as a vicious cycle of extreme poverty and a poor understanding of market finance have stunted economic prospects in many low and middle-income countries. Africa may be on the verge of a major economic transformation but some of the greatest … [Read more...]
9 Million rands invested in water catchment
WWF-SA's Water Balance Programme recently received R9 million from Nedbank to invest in South Africa's critical water catchment areas. The Water Balance Programme aims to challenge and empower corporate South Africa to help create a water secure future by reducing demand, increasing supply and maintaining the health of the country's high water provisioning catchments. Dr … [Read more...]
Stellenbosch Organic Farmers’ Market
'Just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy, a famous rabbi once said. It was one of those days, sky-blue and bounding with life, when I drove out to Stellenbosch to visit the Organic Farmers Market. The first thing I smelled was vanilla pods; the first thing I tasted was freshly juiced carrot and ginger. How much of life lies in the details, in getting off the train track … [Read more...]
