Luigi’s post on the perils of tobacco farming prompted a couple of thoughts. One is the old stuff about the ancient drugs being socially acceptable only because they have been around and in use by the ruling western hegemony for a long time. If anyone tried to introduce booze and cigarettes today they wouldn’t stand a chance. The other is that for the sake of consistency we really ought to advocate small-scale tobacco farming in Kentucky as vociferously as we advocate poppy growing in Afghanistan.
Undermining colonialism
Australian Aborigines “not nomadic.”
Farmer Field Schools
I think we may have blogged before about a series of educational videos on the management of the rice crop aimed at your actual rice farmer. But there’s no harm in mentioning them again, especially since it gives me the opportunity of linking to the very useful resource centre of the Global Farmer Field School Network, which brings them all together and packages them with additional information. The site is serchable, and a quick look revealed quite a few interesting things on agrobiodiversity. Again, thanks to the indefatigable Danny for the link.
Healthier farmers, better products
That’s the theme and title of the latest issue of LEISA Magazine, which explores “how human health is being improved through good natural resource management and maintenance of ecosystem health.” There are articles on neglected crops, traditional medicinal plants and organic agriculture, among other things — lots of agrobiodiversity related stuff. Thanks again to Danny for the headsup. Great reading.
Rice art
All good things come to an end. But not usually this well.