The burden of malnutrition in all its forms is shifting from rural areas to cities

http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_African_Leafy_Veg_seedlings_211a0a88e4.jpg

 

Food and nutrition are moving to the city

For too long, we have traded off calories for nutrition in our quest to end world hunger. While the numbers of people with caloric deficits is falling, the number with micronutrient deficiencies is stubbornly high – an estimated 2 billion people – and the number suffering from over-nutrition is rising distressingly fast.

The impact of these nutrition challenges on people’s quality of life and their productivity is devastating, and the impact on public sector budgets will continue to increase unless we find a way to achieve food security and improve nutrition. Sustainable Development Goal 2 — End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture — requires no less. That will be challenging enough.

In addition, for too long, most efforts by the agricultural development community to reduce hunger have only focused on rural areas. But already 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas and by 2050, more than two-thirds of those people are going to be in cities. This poses a new set of challenges.

The Global Food Policy Report 2017, published today by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of our CGIAR research partners, makes that clear.

James Garrett, Bioversity International Senior Research Fellow who contributed to the book, explains that one in three stunted children now lives in a city. That proportion is likely to increase. In addition, overweight and obesity are also concentrated in urban areas. As the report notes, the burden of malnutrition in all its forms is shifting from rural areas to cities, and so we need to ensure that our efforts now and in the future respond to this new reality.

Read the full article: Bioversity International

What smallholders in the drylands should know

 

How to grow fresh food in all kinds of recipients that can hold soil

by Prof. Dr. Willem VAN COTTHEM (Ghent University, Belgium)

Grow your vegetables and herbs at home in pots, buckets, bottles, cups, barrels, bags, sacks, whatever can hold soil.  See some of my photos below:

Massive production of vegetables and herbs in a small space. Pots and buckets on pallets to limit infection. Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN P1100559.

Cherry tomatoes all year long, zucchinis and bell peppers in pots and buckets with a drainage hole in the sidewall. Maximal production with a minimum of water and fertilizer (compost or manure). Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100561

Zucchinis in a bucket, as simple as can be. Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100565.

Tomatoes and zucchinis, not in the field (where they would be infected), but in buckets and pots. Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100568.

Bell peppers in abundance, not in degraded soil, but in a bucket with a mix of local soil and animal manure. That can be done everywhere, even in Inner Mongolia, the Australian bushland, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Cabo Verde, Arizona, the pampas and in all the refugee camps on Earth. Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100579

Eggplants, tomatoes, zucchinis, marigolds (to keep the white flies away). See the drainage hole in the sidewall. Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100581 copy.

Chilli peppers in a bucket. Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100602.

Imagine every family in the drylands, every school, every hospital, every maternity would have a container garden like the one below: wouldn’t you believe that we can alleviate malnutrition and hunger ?  Wouldn’t we have a serious chance to ameliorate the standards of living of all the people living in desertified areas.

Problems ?  What problems ?

Teach the people how to set up a small kitchen garden with some containers and do not forget:

https://containergardening.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/drainage-holes-in-the-sidewall-of-a-container/

They do not have containers ?  Offer them the necessary quantity at the lowest cost, or even for free, because that would be sustainable development in the purest sense.

Let them make their own potting soil by mixing local soil with manure.

Offer them some good quality seeds and teach them how to collect seeds afterwards.

Before rejecting this idea, have a last look at the photo of my experimental garden below and consider the potentialities of this method.

Photo WVC 2013-07-28 MY NEW EXPERIMENTAL PALLET GARDEN – P1100656, set up to show that production of fresh food with simple and cheap means is so easy that it can be applied all over the world. With some goodwill, of course.

 

Shall we go for the rehabilitation of 2 billion hectares of degraded land in Africa (and how much on the other continents ?), or shall we go for a feasible support of the poorest and hungry people on Earth?

With my warmest wishes for 2017 to you all !

 

 

 

Food security: A Unique Urban Garden

 

Photo credit: Balcony Garden Web

Vegetables that are productive, for example, beans, tomatoes, peppers, etc. are the most suitable for urban gardeners. Other vegetables like spinach, lettuce, carrots take less space and productive too, this way you can grow more plants and have abundant harvest. To help you, we already published a list of the most productive container vegetables, must take a look!

How To Start A Unique Urban Garden To Grow Lots Of Plants In So Less Space

To start an urban garden, you need the right tools, ideas, and some inspiration. This post is all about that!

Do you want to start a small urban garden? Do you have enough space for planting? What if the landlord doesn’t want to have a garden in the compound? Some things like space and time should not stop you from starting a garden.

Read the full article: Balcony Garden Web

Each time the World gets in problems, Victory Gardens (allotments) get back in the picture

 

Photo credit: Foodtank

Twelve Organizations Promoting Urban Agriculture around the World

https://foodtank.com/news/2016/12/twelve-organizations-promoting-urban-agriculture-around-world/

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)defines urban agriculture as “the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities” to provide fresh food, generate employment, recycle waste, and strengthen cities’ resilience to climate change.

As the rate of urbanization increases rapidly, urban poverty and urban food insecurity are increasing as well. The Resource Center on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) Foundation expects that by 2020, 85 percent of the poor in Latin America, and about 40 to 45 percent of the poor in Africa and Asia will be concentrated in towns and cities. Urban agriculture reduces the poverty and food insecurity resulting from urbanization, while also improving the health of city residents and preserving the environment.

Colin McCrate, the founder of the Seattle Urban Farm Company, emphasized the importance of urban agriculture in a recent interview.  “It is imperative that we begin to focus on sustainable farming practices,” he said. “The reality is that the industrial food system in its current incarnation is not designed to grow food for everyone on the planet, but instead to maximize profits for a few large corporations. I believe that urban food production can be a part of a better functioning food supply system…as a tool for expanding and informing dialogue about our food system.”

Read the full article: Foodtank

 

World Day to Combat Desertification

Photo credit: Google – Imgres.jpg

 

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

World Day to Combat Desertification to be held on 17 June 

“Let us find long‐term solutions, not just quick fixes, to disasters that are
destroying communities,” urged Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD.(See PRESS RELEASE below).

COMMENTS

Willem Van Cotthem: We keep hoping that success stories and best practices will be applied at the global level. Priority should be given to methods and techniques providing daily fresh food to the hungry and malnourished. It cannot be denied that hunger and malnutrition are constantly undermining the performances of people. Application of existing success stories in local food production (kitchen gardens, school gardens, hospital gardens, …) would positively influence the efforts to combat desertification (limiting erosion, stimulating reforestation, etc.). We keep hoping.

Reply: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification “Hi Willem Van Cotthem, would you like to share some success stories you have? We always welcome all to share!”

       Reply: Willem Van Cotthem : Hello Friends at the UNCCD Secretariat: It will be my pleasure to select a series of success stories in the literature. However, I am convinced that the UNCCD secretariat has the necessary documentation to compile even a book on this subject (to the best of my knowledge the documents, e.g. presentations at COPs and meetings of CST and CRIC, have been there during my active period in the CST and in Bonn). Please consider a consultancy to achieve top class work that would serve all member countries, the CST and the CRIC. To be presented at the next World Day June 17th 2016.

PRESS RELEASE

UNCCD’s Monique Barbut Calls for Long‐Term Solutions Not Just Quick Fixes To Drought Bonn, Germany, 22/02/2016 –

“Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People. This is the slogan for this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification to be held on 17 June. I am calling for solidarity from the international community with the people who are battling the ravages of drought and flood. Let us find long‐term solutions, not just quick fixes, to disasters that are destroying communities,” urged Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

The droughts and floods beating down on communities in many parts of the world are linked to the current El Niño, which is expected to affect up 60 million people by July. In some areas, including in North Eastern Brazil, Somali, Ethiopia, Kenya and Namibia, the El Niño effects are coming on the back of years of severe and recurrent droughts. It is impossible for households that rely on the land for food and farm labor to recover, especially when the land is degraded.

What’s more, these conditions do not just devastate families and destabilize communities. When they are not attended to urgently, they can become a push factor for migration, and end with gross human rights abuses and long‐term security threats.

“We have seen this before – in Darfur following four decades of droughts and desertification and, more recently, in Syria, following the long drought of 2007‐2010. It is tragic to see a society breaking down when we can reduce the vulnerability of communities through simple and affordable acts such as restoring the degraded lands they live on, and helping countries to set up better systems for drought early warning and to prepare for and manage drought and floods,” Barbut said.

Ms Barbut made the remarks when announcing the plans for this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification, which will take place on 17 June.

“I hope that World Day to Combat Desertification this year marks a turning point for every country. We need to show, through practical action and cooperation, how every country is tacking or supporting these challenges at the front‐end to preempt or minimize the potential impacts of the disasters, not just at the back‐end after the disasters happen,” she stated.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 17 June as the observance Day to raise public awareness about international efforts to combat desertification and the effects of drought.

Ms Barbut thanked the Government and People of China, for offering to host the global observance event, which will take place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“China has vast experience in nursing degraded lands and man‐made deserts back to health. This knowledge can and should benefit initiatives such as Africa’s Great Green Wall, the re‐ greening in southern Africa and the 20 X 20 Initiative in Latin America. We can create a better, more equal and climate change‐resilient world,” she noted.

“I also call on countries, the private sector, foundations and people of goodwill to support Africa  when the countries meet later in the year to develop concrete plans and policies to pre‐ empt, monitor and manage droughts,” Ms Barbut stated.

The 2016 World Day campaign is also advancing the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in September last year. The Goals include a target to achieve a land degradation‐neutral world by 2030. That is, a world where the land restored back to health equals to, or is more than, the amount degraded every year.

For more information on the Day and previous events, visit: http://www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Event‐and‐campaigns/WDCD/Pages/default.aspx

For background information and materials for the 2016 Observance, visit: For information about the Global Observance event, visit: http://www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Event‐and‐ campaigns/WDCD/wdcd2016/Pages/default.aspx

Contact for World Day to Combat Desertification: Yhori@unccd.int

For Media information: wwischnewski@unccd.int

Food security and nutrition, urban planning and development

Photo credit: FAO

Crops growing on the outskirts of Fayoume in Egypt.

 

Feeding the world’s cities: a critical challenge for sustainable development

Providing healthy diets for the world’s growing urban population requires forging stronger links between rural producers and urban markets and building food systems that are more socially inclusive, environmentally sound and less wasteful, FAO Deputy Director-General for Natural Resources, Maria Helena Semedo, said today.

She spoke at the opening of an FAO-organized meeting at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) taking place during this year’s International Green Week in Berlin, from 15-24 January 2016.

Semedo warned of the difficulties that many cities face in ensuring regular and stable access to adequate food for all. “This will worsen as an increasing proportion of the hungry will be living in urban areas,” she said.

More than 50 percent of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas and this is expected to rise to 70 percent by 2050, particularly in developing countries.

Increasing effects of climate change, including storms, floods and other extreme weather events, pose an added threat to how people in cities, especially the poor, access food.

Re-shaping food systems and making them more sustainable

Read the full article: FAO

Urban sustainable agriculture

Photo credit: Journal of a greenie – https://journalofagreenie.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/adelgroenewald-harvest-of-hope-12.jpg

 

Sustainable agriculture in the townships of Cape Town

DECEMBER 5, 2015 ~ ADEL

It’s mid-morning at Nyanga Junction, the largest train station in this part of the Cape Flats. Even in a seemingly quiet time, the yellow-and-grey Metrorail trains crawl by noisily every few minutes. The streets surrounding the station are a bustle of people, dogs and informal traders. 

Just across the road, behind a high fence, Sibongile Sityebi is patiently working cow manure into his vegetable garden. He is unfazed by the noise beyond the fence or the schoolchildren playing on the grounds where his garden is located.

Strolling through, you wouldn’t think you’re in one of Cape Town’s poorest areas. The cabbages are plump and have big, strong leaves. The sweet-potato stems rise proudly from the soil and neat paths create a colourful grid that stretches to the far end of the school grounds.

Two women are helping in the garden. They started it in the first place, but they have allowed Sibongile to manage the garden. This means a great deal in the community and shows that he can be trusted. They calmly push the wheelbarrows back and forth, filling up on more fertilizer (cattle manure is the best, most natural fertilizer a farm can ask for), watering the plants and clearing garden waste.

This garden is a small oasis in a frantic, dense township. Yet it’s more than a place to find peace in the chaos. It’s a livelihood. The carrots, spinach and squash farmed here not only feed the three families who are involved, but it also allows them enough of an income to afford their basic needs each month. Most of the vegetables grown here are sold to outside parties.

Read the full article: Journal of a greenie

Save water and feed millions

Photo credit: IWMI

Photo: Hamish John Appelby / IWMI

How urban farming can save water and feed millions

By: Carolyn Fry

Agriculture is primarily perceived as a rural occupation that takes place far from the urban centres that consume many of its products. However, with more than half the world’s population now living in cities, farming is increasingly being practised within and around conurbations. The first-ever global assessment of the extent of urban and peri-urban agriculture, conducted jointly by IWMI (under the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems [WLE]), the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University, found that land equivalent in extent to the size of the European Union is now being farmed within 20 kilometres of cities. Some 67 million hectares of this farmland, around 14%, comprises open spaces lying within urban heartlands.

The release this month of the book Cities and agriculture: Developing resilient urban food systems, is therefore timely. Published by Earthscan and edited by Henk de Zeeuw, Senior Advisor at the Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) Foundation, and Pay Drechsel, Principal Researcher at IWMI, the book reviews the state-of-the-art of urban and peri-urban agriculture.

International experts present their findings on everything from the inclusion of agriculture in urban planning, to the role of women in developing urban food strategies, and the safe use of organic wastes and wastewater within food production.

“Many different academic disciplines are working on urban agriculture, from experts in architecture to those concerned with climate change or human health,” explains Drechsel. “The purpose of the book was to summarize the growing body of literature on the subject and to make it available in a one-stop-shop.”

Read the full article: IWMI

A vertical growing system with 10-foot vertical towers to maximize space

Photo credit: Earth 911

 

HOLY URBAN GARDENING: BALTIMORE PREACHES GARDENING UP

by  Chrystal Johnson

As the cost of fuel continues to rise, more and more people are realizing the importance of supporting local businesses – especially local farms. It’s one of the reasons urban gardening is becoming so popular. Not only is it good karma to keep your money in the local community, but it makes good sense for Mother Earth too.

By buying local, less fuel is used in transportation. Did you know the average distance from farm to fork is 1,500 miles? This great distance accounts for more than 50% of total production costs. As a result, the cost of transporting a single $2 head of lettuce is $1. That huge cost is passed onto consumers – a.k.a. you.

The added benefit of supporting local agriculture is that produce can be picked ripe. When produce is picked when fully ripe, it is typically more nutritious. Since it’s estimated that 90% of Americans have at least one nutrient deficiency, it’s so important that we eat the most nutritious foods possible.

Identifying the need to deliver local, nutritious produce even in dense urban areas where traditional farming is more difficult,Urban Pastoral (UP) set on a mission to make urban gardeningpossible in Baltimore. Their goal is to set up the first commercial scale hydroponic farm in Baltimore and service the local community with truly local produce.

Rather than using horizontal growing methods that are common with hydroponics, Urban Pastoral will use a vertical growing system with 10-foot vertical towers to maximize space. They will also use recycled rainwater with Arduino technology to allow them to regulate water and nutrient flows. They’re also exploring the idea of using aquaponics to create a closed-loop system.

The plan is to provide delicious, culinary herbs and greens to Bon Appétit and work with the Baltimore Food Hub to keep produce local. Urban Pastoral has also developed relationships with the Abell Foundation and Humanin. These non-profit organizations have agreed to offer workforce development assistance and real estate with the goal of creating a vocational development program for high school graduates or those incarcerated.

Read the full article: Earth 911

Urban agriculture allowed

Cathryn Sprague and her business partner, Ryan Mason, operate at 15 urban sites, mainly in the Whyte Avenue area.

Vinesh Pratap, Global News

Edmonton city council gives green thumbs up to more urban agriculture

By Karen Bartko

Gardeners rejoice! The City of Edmonton has made changes allowing more urban agriculture and local food production within city limits.

City Council approved changes to establish three new land use classifications within the City’s Zoning Bylaw:  urban outdoor farms, urban indoor farms, and urban gardens.

The new classes will create a place for urban agriculture and distinguish it from related activities like conventional farming, greenhouses, nurseries and garden centres. The changes go into effect in February 2016.

READ MORE: Urban farming a growing trend in Edmonton

The city said removing barriers will help make Edmonton a more environmentally sustainable and resilient city.

“The changes mean residents can expect to see beautification of vacant and underutilized lots, more community gardens, and an increase in local food businesses in commercial areas and temporary spaces,” said Colton Kirsop, senior planner for the City’s Zoning Bylaw Implementation Team.

Read the full article: Global News

Urban gardening in Aberdeen

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun

The Havre de Grace Green Team offers a total of 59 plots, and a few plots are still available this year. The group is exploring the possibility of expansion in 2016. Plots are scattered around the town of Havre de Grace on Market Street, Seneca Avenue and the “Old Reservoir” property near Havre de Grace Community Center. Plots are 10 feet by 10 feet and available for $35 per year.

East Aberdeen to be home to proposed ‘Harvest of Hope’ garden

by Bryna Zumer

Contact  Reporter The Record

 

Residents of Aberdeen’s eastern neighborhoods may not have to travel as far for fresh fruits and vegetables.

An AmeriCorps volunteer is spearheading a community garden project by the Boys & Girls Club on East Bel Air Avenue where local residents can cultivate their own garden plots, among other features.

Anne Otih, who has been with AmeriCorps for six months and is originally from northern Virginia, explained her vision for a “Harvest of Hope” garden to the city council at a recent council work session.

The garden would provide healthy, affordable food, as well as exposure to different foods, in an area considered a “food desert,” meaning it lacks access to fresh produce or other healthy food, she said.

The project would feature 40 garden beds by March of 2015 and, ultimately, up to 100 as the Boys & Girls Club gets grant funding, next to the parking lot behind the Boys & Girls Club.

Water grab in Africa

Photo credit: CGIAR-WLE

Irrigation on an urban farm in GhanaPhoto Credit: Nana Kofi Acquah/ IWMI

The great African water grab?

By James Clarke

Foreign direct investment in African agriculture could bring great benefits, but there are risks too.

“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” Mark Twain’s famous remark may be over a century old, but the allure of a patch of earth to call your own still remains potent.

Nowhere is this more true than in sub-Saharan Africa where, for many, land ownership is still seen as the key to a secure income. Against a bitter history of colonial appropriation in many countries, the lure of land still stirs deep emotions. Many African governments have tried to address historic grievances, but the results have been mixed. African agriculture remains in the doldrums, chronically underproductive by global standards.

So the news that foreign money is now pouring into African agriculture should be welcome. Investors are leasing land all over the continent with the intention of creating modern farms with high crop yields. It could be a win-win: bringing in new technology and infrastructure, creating jobs and boosting food supplies. Instead it is more commonly characterized as a “land grab” – a cynical attempt to further exploit African resources for the benefit of others.

Curiously the debate over foreign direct investment in African agriculture has focused almost exclusively on access to land.  Water has been largely ignored – until now. New research, commissioned by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) and presented this week by International Water Management Institute’s Tim Williams at a session during World Water Week in Stockholm has attempted to tease out what the implications of the trend might be for the continent’s water and those who depend upon it.

Currently only 5% of sub-Saharan agriculture benefits from irrigation. New investments potentially offer opportunities to dramatically increase this. Nonetheless, questions remain about the motives of investors and the actual contributions of foreign direct investment (FDI) in agricultural land to the national development of host countries.

What are their actual impacts on national food security, local livelihoods, on water quantity and quality, and on essential ecosystem services?  Unscrupulous large-scale land acquisitions and inadequate consideration of the actual and potential uses of water for the legitimate pursuit of customary livelihoods and lifestyles have the potential to lead to significant inequity, inefficiency and environmental problems.

Read the full article: WLE-CGIAR