Other countries are seeking arable land and are looking to Africa to find it. Africa is known as the "Final Frontier" because it holds some of the last "untouched land." This is a problem happening in Ethiopia. Half of Ethiopia's arable land is being sold to other countries. This is possible because the government that owns the land is selling it to other countries. The people of Ethiopia are starving while it's government is profiting.
Another problem is happening in Zambia. In Zambia they are experiencing a food surplus. Even with the food surplus their people are starving because they do not eat the food they grow and they are struggling to make profit because the middle men control the profit that goes from farmer to market. Organizations such as PROFIT are helping to end this value change. They try and cut back the money spent on middle men so that farmers can profit on their crops.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Chapter 6, 7 & 8
Soil Fertility is a major crisis in Africa. The soil is tired our from constant droughts in the area. The land is so dry and hard that when it does rain water just runs off and the soil is unable to absorb it.
There is a "perfect storm" affecting Africa due to these 4 factors:
Climate Change
Petroleum prices going up
Not enough animal manure to fertilize land
Not enough space to fallow land
This crisis is having a major impact on the people of Africa. Land is continuing to become unfarmable and they cannot simply move out of the area. Some hopeful solutions to this problem include Green Manure and Cover crops.
We need to safeguard our local food. Biodiversity is extremely important to our planet. It is the defense system of the world. With biodiversity no one thing can kill everything.
Globalization is killing our planet's biodiversity. This is an issue that needs to be resolved. Some ways to get our biodiversity back include deglobalizing local farms and putting a larger emphasis on regional products.
There has to be a new approach to climate change. Lately climate change has received a lot more global attention and has received more funding world-wide. This funding has gone toward finding more cost effective ways to produce more crops. We must also invest more in trees to mitigate climate change. Programs such as the African Re-Greening Initiative are out there working to prevent degradation and reverse desertification to help prevent climate change.
There is a "perfect storm" affecting Africa due to these 4 factors:
Climate Change
Petroleum prices going up
Not enough animal manure to fertilize land
Not enough space to fallow land
This crisis is having a major impact on the people of Africa. Land is continuing to become unfarmable and they cannot simply move out of the area. Some hopeful solutions to this problem include Green Manure and Cover crops.
We need to safeguard our local food. Biodiversity is extremely important to our planet. It is the defense system of the world. With biodiversity no one thing can kill everything.
Globalization is killing our planet's biodiversity. This is an issue that needs to be resolved. Some ways to get our biodiversity back include deglobalizing local farms and putting a larger emphasis on regional products.
There has to be a new approach to climate change. Lately climate change has received a lot more global attention and has received more funding world-wide. This funding has gone toward finding more cost effective ways to produce more crops. We must also invest more in trees to mitigate climate change. Programs such as the African Re-Greening Initiative are out there working to prevent degradation and reverse desertification to help prevent climate change.
Chapters 3, 4 & 5
World wide diseases are responsible 2.7 million deaths annually.
These annual deaths can be decreased by the use of better seeds to grow healthy, more nutritious crops.
Better seeds = better quality of life and ultimately less malnutrition.
Areas in Africa go by this policy. Farmers are trained to grow nutrient rich vegetables. Different programs work with these farmers such as AURDC and One Acre Fund. They help farmers find ways to grow the most nutritional crops possible.
Some tools used for rural farming include Treadle Pumps, Super Money Maker and affordable Micro-Irrigation.
In some areas in Africa farmers have take the lead in research and development in the agricultural world. They are encouraged to develop useful technology for farming. They experiment with seed types, herbal medicines, soil fertility, and equipment.
These annual deaths can be decreased by the use of better seeds to grow healthy, more nutritious crops.
Better seeds = better quality of life and ultimately less malnutrition.
Areas in Africa go by this policy. Farmers are trained to grow nutrient rich vegetables. Different programs work with these farmers such as AURDC and One Acre Fund. They help farmers find ways to grow the most nutritional crops possible.
Some tools used for rural farming include Treadle Pumps, Super Money Maker and affordable Micro-Irrigation.
In some areas in Africa farmers have take the lead in research and development in the agricultural world. They are encouraged to develop useful technology for farming. They experiment with seed types, herbal medicines, soil fertility, and equipment.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Sea Turtles and The Law
Last weekend I went on a little trip to Satellite Beach. While I was there I was lucky to witness a spectacular event. A mother Loggerhead Turtle lai her eggs right in front of the hotel I was staying at. I watched her lay her eggs at a respectful distance while staying as quite as possible. Others around were not as respectful. A group of people had circled beach chairs around the spot where the turtle was laying her eggs and continued to talk and shine lights and take pictures. As the turtle finished laying her eggs and started to return to the sea the group of people surrounded her and continued to take pictures and flash their lights. The turtle, scared, stopped where she was and could not return to the sea until the people had left. I was amazed by the complete disrespect these people had for this animal so I decided to post a blog informing others of the proper ways to interact with nesting sea turtles and other marine life.
Loggerhead Sea turtles are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. Florida Statutes restrict the disturbance and harassment of marine turtles, nests and eggs. That group of people was harassing the poor Loggerhead Turtle. That is not only morally wrong but it is against the law. I would like to ask everyone who reads my blog to respect and protect Florida's marine wildlife and when you do come across an amazing opportunity, such as witnessing a Loggerhead Turtle laying her eggs, please observe from a respectful distance and do your best to not interfere or interact. After all it is the law!
Cheers!
Echo is a MUST visit!! See all of the wonderful things they are doing on a global level.
It is an organization dedicated to improving the abilities of international community development workers assisting poor farmers by providing useful, important information and by networking their skills and knowledge with each other. ECHO is located our of North Ft Myers, Florida. There they have a Global Farm and Research Center where people from all over can come and learn how to grow and support their own food gardens and contribute to a sustainable lifestyle.
http://www.echonet.org/
Affluenza...The American Disease
There is a whole lot of shopping going on in America.
We are a country of consumption. Americans are not happy until they have...
More! More! More! .....and everything has to be the newsest and coolest!
It is sad that our country has become so consumed with materialism. We are in a time when a person is based on what they have and not on who they are. We spend because we believe the more we have and the more up to date we are the happier, more interesting we will be.
Well that is just not true. The average person in America is in fact now spending more than ever while enjoying less.
Affluenza is whats to blame for this national problem. It is based on the idea that the more material things you own the higher class you are. To be considered higher class people will work their lives away always working to have the newest and the best material items. And when people can not make enough money to support their buying habits on their own, they realy on credit cards and lots of them. All the time pushing themselves into a deep dark hole of debt. This downward trend in America is known as Affluenza and it's contagious.
You may be wondering what happens to all of this stuff we accumulate. You know we throw it our or recycle it, but do you know where it goes from there?
Well it's not pretty.
Tons of waste pile up in garbage dumps everyday and most of this stuff is not biodegradeable. This means the waste we create now will be here thousands of years longer then the people who are creating it. Which means the more waste we create the less room we are leaving for our future generations to live in.
What happens to our electronics is even worse.
The 60 Minutes special Wasteland captured the truth about what is being done with our old electronics. We illegally ship our old dangerous electronics to places such as China, where they work in dangerous, toxic conditions burning thier hands and ruining thier lungs to salvage whatever they can from these electronics.
This is not right! Things have to change in America, Affluenza must be beat!!
The best cure for affluenza is a simple lifestyle. We as Americans need to learn how to live with less.
If we continue to live the way we do our resources are going to run out and then no one will be able to live on our planet. We need to live sustainably, always giving back what we take out.
We are a country of consumption. Americans are not happy until they have...
More! More! More! .....and everything has to be the newsest and coolest!
It is sad that our country has become so consumed with materialism. We are in a time when a person is based on what they have and not on who they are. We spend because we believe the more we have and the more up to date we are the happier, more interesting we will be.
Well that is just not true. The average person in America is in fact now spending more than ever while enjoying less.
Affluenza is whats to blame for this national problem. It is based on the idea that the more material things you own the higher class you are. To be considered higher class people will work their lives away always working to have the newest and the best material items. And when people can not make enough money to support their buying habits on their own, they realy on credit cards and lots of them. All the time pushing themselves into a deep dark hole of debt. This downward trend in America is known as Affluenza and it's contagious.
You may be wondering what happens to all of this stuff we accumulate. You know we throw it our or recycle it, but do you know where it goes from there?
Well it's not pretty.
Tons of waste pile up in garbage dumps everyday and most of this stuff is not biodegradeable. This means the waste we create now will be here thousands of years longer then the people who are creating it. Which means the more waste we create the less room we are leaving for our future generations to live in.
What happens to our electronics is even worse.
The 60 Minutes special Wasteland captured the truth about what is being done with our old electronics. We illegally ship our old dangerous electronics to places such as China, where they work in dangerous, toxic conditions burning thier hands and ruining thier lungs to salvage whatever they can from these electronics.
This is not right! Things have to change in America, Affluenza must be beat!!
The best cure for affluenza is a simple lifestyle. We as Americans need to learn how to live with less.
If we continue to live the way we do our resources are going to run out and then no one will be able to live on our planet. We need to live sustainably, always giving back what we take out.
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