Keep rolling
This is issue features a colorful collection of all kinds of people from all over the world, eager to share their experiences with you and eager to hear your opinion.
Any word in our newsletters is not the final word. That is why some subjects from earlier newsletters are worked through again here by the dung beetles. Keep Rolling!
Table of contents:
-
1 - 1
-
2 - 2
-
4 - 5written by M Sashi Kumar , Ulka MashruwalaIn the development process is still a gap between the position and roles women have according to Indian law and the roles imposed upon them by social traditions. The Institute of Home Economics started a project to narrow this gap, by means of an income-generating activity which could be carried out around the house: mushroom cultivation
-
6 - 7Smallholders in the Mampong Valley of Akuapem, the Ghana Rural Reconstruction Movement (GhRRM), an affiliate of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), the Institute of Aquatic Biology (IAB) and the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) have teamed up to craft alternatives based on Low-External-Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA).
-
8 - 9In the Sierra region of Chiapas State, in Southern Mexico, there is a number of peasant villages that started making use of a new resource of milk and wool, at practically no cost; Chiapas sheep.
-
10 - 12written by N'Golo Traoré , Henk BremanThe authors draw conclusions about agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions under which indigenous pastoral systems and, thus, knowledge can survive. In this article, they react specifically to several articles in 8/3 on "Livestock Sustaining Livelihoods".
-
13 - 14written by Pornthip Ratanakeree , Christine MartinsWomen are well aware of the role livestock plays in their lives as could be seen when the Thai-German Highland Development Programme (TG-HDP) initiated action research with hilltribe women in northern Thailand.
-
15 - 16written by Patrick SikanaPeasant farmers describe different kinds of soils and their uses according to categories which do not fit into the classification system of soil scientists. Conventional research and extension are therefore doomed to be irrelevant. Patrick Sikana argues that the scientists -rather than the farmers- will have to change their way of looking at soils.
-
17 - 18written by Narayan G HegdeNarayan Hedge shows that keeping crossbreds can bring economic advantages where there are reliable input supplies, support services and markets. A favourable price ratio between milk and feed concentrates is also important.
-
19 - 19written by V. SanthakumarV. Santhakumar shows how indigenous breeds are kept to make optimal use of local resources and to serve the local economy, without creating dependency on external inputs and services.
-
20 - 21Staff of the Songhai training centre for sustainable agriculture describe how biological treatment can produce water which is safe for the environment and at the same time yields useful products. Biological waste-water treatment is based on a process of cleaning the water by means of aquaculture with water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and the water fern Azolla anabaena in symbiosis with the bacterium Anabaena azollae, water fleas (Daphnia magna) and fish. The objective of biological purification of waste water is to transform the nutrients released by the bacteria in the water into biomass which can be put into a biogas tank.
-
22 - 23written by Frédéric PratCreating a specialised library in ecological agriculture with very little money: a dream come true at the peasants\' technical school in Matagalpa where more than 3000 useful books, journals and audiovisuals were collected within 3 years. This report by Frédéric Prat suggests an approach that many others could adapt to their own reality.
-
24 - 25Improved bean cultivars can be a key to increasing production among smallholders in Africa. Besides their higher yield potential, such cultivars are often low-input and can be easily integrated into existing farming systems. However, new varieties can increase food production only if farmers can obtain and keep them. Louise Sperling and her colleagues are experimenting with systems to deliver seed of improved cultivars also to the poorer farmers.
-
26 - 27written by Nicola BradbearPeople have collected wild honey throughout history. For thousands of years, they have also encouraged bees to nest in hives so that collecting honey is easier. Beekeeping is a useful sideline activity for many farm families. The presence of honey bees also ensures optimal pollination and thus increases the quality and yield of nearby crops. Nicola Bradbear advises on appropriate equipment for small-scale beekeeping.
-
28 - 29written by Arthur StolzenbachFarmers\' experimentation is allotted great importance in Participatory Technology Development. But what do we actually mean by experimentation? Farmers in Sanando, a semiarid region of Mali, have their own specific perception and call this shifleli.
-
30 - 35
-
36 - 36
Print this