- “See how beautiful you can make with small water!”
- IRRI redux.
- The problems of vegetable production in Africa, in microcosm.
- “This is a local production, storage and distribution system, a huge exhibit of biodiversity.’’
- PNAS special issue on ecosystem services.
- Bee books.
- Switch to switchgrass.
- More than you probably want to know about earthworms.
- Evil Fruit Lord questions Scotland-China raspberry deal.
- Ancient crop DNA recovered from underwater amphorae. Totally amazing.
- Nutritionist introduces soybeans to Afghanistan.
- Early PNG agricultural site added to UNESCO World Heritage list.
African vegetables gone missing
How frustrating. The excellent Agrobiodiversity Grapevine links to an article about indigenous vegetables in East Africa at Africa Science News Service. The article concerns a report Development and promotion of technologies for sustainable production and utilization of Indigenous Vegetables for nutrition security and wealth creation in Kenya, but ASNS’s link to the source of the report is broken and I cannot find it anywhere. I’d like to see what the full report has to say; the article mentions nutrition, horticulture, incomes and research, aspects of the use of African leafy vegetables that I’m sure many people are interested in.
Entomophagy. Again
The Economist is promoting entomophagy, but I have my doubts. Yes, insects are nutritious. Yes other food is expensive. And maybe eating insects “is common in some 113 countries”. But the fact of the matter is that in other countries, I doubt that it is going to happen any time soon, no matter how good it might be for us, for the planet, for everything. I’ve eaten my share of insects; fried locusts are a favourite. And Luigi likes the odd mopane worm. We’re both entirely happy with decapod crustaceans too. But it is my considered view that outside of those 113 countries, insects are going to continue to be a hard sell.
More African silk
A long profile in the Boston Globe of a woman called Catherine Craig. She did field work at Gombe National Park in Tanzania in the 1970s, then became an expert on spider silk, before returning to Gombe a few years ago. The destruction she saw appalled her. So she did something:
In 2003, Craig founded Conservation through Poverty Alleviation International, which took its seemingly simple idea – plant trees, raise larvae, earn income – to Madagascar, a biologically rich Indian Ocean island nation where deforestation is also a problem and which had a tradition of silk production and weaving on which to build.
Which may be good news for Madagascar, but what’s happening in Gombe?
Nibbles: Chocolate, Africa cubed, Green wall
- “I think that in 20 years chocolate will be like caviar.”
- “Why should Africa be the only region in the world that is begging for food?” Hans Herren stiffs it to Jeffrey Sachs.
- Mapping, and then protecting, places where wildlife and pastoralists can survive climate change together.
- Jessica hearts Moringa. 1
- Green Wall of Trees to halt Sahara. Will any of them also be directly useful?