Month: February 2011
Sharing and spreading agricultural knowledge as a way of combating malnutrition
Africa & Middle East: The first of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. According to the World Bank report World Development Indicators 2003, one sixth of the world’s population suffers hunger due to extreme poverty. Part of the hunger problem that is increasingly receiving attention is nutrition insecurity, or malnutrition, which affects one […]
Read MoreFood Security and Technological Developments – Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa
Africa & Middle East: According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), 95% of food producers live in developing countries. Precisely the area that is worst hit by climate change. Droughts are becoming more severe, floods are devastating entire plantations and a lack in infrastructure and knowledge and access to technology means that […]
Read MoreHarvestPlus and the Biofortification of the Seven Key Staple Crops in Africa and Asia
Asia: The diets of the poor in developing countries usually consist of very high amounts of staple foods such as maize, wheat and rice, and few micronutrient-rice foods such as fruits and vegetables. Harvest Plus seeks to reduce micronutrient malnutrition among the poor by breeding and disseminating staple food crops that are high in iron, zinc […]
Read MoreGlobal Alliance for Improved Nutrition Promotes Food Fortification
Asia: Food fortification, which adds essential vitamins and minerals to foods, is an important strategy to fight malnutrition. The cost of food fortification to reduce widespread malnutrition can be as low as a few cents per individual per year for adding iodine to salt, and up to US$ 0.25 for more complex vitamins and minerals. GAIN, […]
Read MoreFilipino Farmers Given Fertilizer Advice Via Text Message
Asia: Rice farmers in the Philippines are being given advice on best fertilizer use through a new text message programme. The scheme, thought to be a worldwide first, has been launched by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) where scientists have spent 18 years refining a computerized system to advise farmers on optimal fertilizer use via […]
Read MoreReaping the Fruit of Training in Thailand
Asia: Thailand is a major fruit exporting country. Yet thousands of the country’s small fruit farmers used to struggle with poor yields. In addition, many lacked knowledge about food safety and meeting global standards for export. Since 2006, the Thai Crop Protection Association (TCPA) has been actively reaching out to smallholders in Chantaburi, a key fruit […]
Read MoreFarmers Fostering Crop Rotation
Global: Encouraging more crop rotation and intercropping is one simple measure that is good for farming and good for diets. Crop rotation means farmers plant a crop such as cereals in their field and then plant a legume and then an oilseed or another crop. In intercropping, at least two different crops are grown simultaneously in […]
Read MoreMaking a Difference with Farmer Training in Vietnam
Asia: In Vietnam, where some 55 percent of the labor force is involved in agriculture, traditional farming methods dominate the way small growers in the country work. Lacking access to technology and knowledge on how to protect their harvests, millions of farmers in Vietnam struggle with low yields. To transfer skills and technology to Vietnam’s farmers, […]
Read MoreAssisting African Food Processors to Deliver Quality, Nutritious Foods
Africa & Middle East: Food processing is an important driver of jobs and incomes in many African countries and can also provide access to greater diversity of affordable, high quality and nutritious foods. By improving the capacity of local food processors across sub-Saharan Africa to produce and market healthy food products, while simultaneously improving smallholder farmers’ access to markets, […]
Read MoreFighting Iodine Deficiencies in China through Fertilizer and Irrigation
Asia: Iodine is an essential micronutrient to sustain human and animal health, yet it is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies in malnutrition. Globally it is estimated that 2.2 billion people in the world are at a risk of iodine deficiency. Iodine deficiencies can cause a wide range of physiological abnormalities (Iodine Deficiency Disorders), mainly related […]
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