This is a follow-up story on a series of special reports published in 2015 from Vihiga County, Kenya, where Humidtropics researchers are empowering the community to better use available agricultural biodiversity to improve nutrition all the year round. In this report, the author describes a series of events organized by the communities to start the interventions that aim to improve their nutrition. These events included everyone bringing along their diverse local food dishes, including a dish of living termites which are a great source of animal protein. Rural populations in developing … [Read more...]
Not So Amaizing: The Need for Agricultural Land Use Diversification in Northern Thailand
Life as a farmer in the mountainous north of Thailand is not easy. The land can be steep, soil quality is poor and water for irrigation is largely unavailable. Markets are also far away and inputs are hard to get by. Yet, modern life requires cash for nearly everything. Against the backdrop, government extension introduced feed maize as a cash crop in the early 1980s. The crop is ideal for poor farmers as it requires little care, traders come to supply inputs and buy the output, and the government guarantees a minimum selling price. Maize has become an important source of income for many … [Read more...]
Nutrition in Kenya: Putting Nutritious Diversity Back on the Plate
This is Part 1 of three special reports from Vihiga County, Kenya, where a Humidtropics research project is empowering the community to better use available agricultural biodiversity to improve nutrition all the year round. What is the research initiative? In August 2014, Humidtropics researchers from Bioversity International launched a research project entitled A Participatory approach to improve dietary diversity in Vihiga County. The project supports communities to develop, implement and monitor their own action plans for sustainable production of nutritious foods to improve dietary … [Read more...]