youth poverty and hunger eradication 2008

8/14/2019 Youth Poverty and Hunger Eradication 2008

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Richard Seshie

Ahedor

please send your comments to [email protected]

Youth

Poverty and

Hunger

Eradication
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Organic Food can be more profitable to farmers and produceplenty at the same time. More and more westernerconsumers nowadays are vowing for food that can be pesticide-free,fertilizer-free, healthier and so are willing to pay an extra price. Organicfarming can substantially increase young farmers revenues 3 and it is a

mistake to say it produces less as commonly perceived.In India, many farmers have re-embraced Panchakavya4, a natural fertilizerused since ancient times as a solid alternative to chemicals while the LandInstitute is promoting an agricultural system with the ecological stability ofthe prairie (evergreen) and a grain yield comparable to that from annualcrops5. We can use the discipline of Biomimicry6 that studies naturesbest ideas and imitate them to improve human activities (for example ithas been learned how termites build tower-homes kept always cool insidein spite of the varying climate that now serves to re-engineer interiorcooling). New lessons learnt can apply to make emerge new agriculturalmethods that produce plenty of food, healthy and profitable.

The food basket can be made of crops (fruits, vegetables), meat and

others.

Pigs are fed with corn to get fat and then we eat the fat pig and the corns

that fed him.

This looks like an intermediary we can avoid. 40,000 pounds of potatoes

can be grown on an acre with the same surface giving only 250 pounds of

beef7. Just one kilo of beef requires

7-16 kg of grain or soy beans, up to 15,500 liters of water and 323 m2 of

grazing land8; resources that could benefit more people.Many groups are offering vegetarianism support to consumers

which is good but not to cattle-owners looking for a practical

shift: say Moussa realized that growing his pigs demands too much from

nature and want to grow maize, he actually do not know where to start.

We could set up an International Initiative From Meat to Crops that

help cattle-owners to effectively transition the use of their land to grow

crops, feed more people and make profits.

3.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7865387.stm

4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakavya

5.http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2000/08/10/37a747b43

6.http://www.biomimicry.net/

7.http://www.vegsource.com/how_to_win.htm#hunger8.http://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=en
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7865387.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7865387.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakavyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakavyahttp://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2000/08/10/37a747b43http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2000/08/10/37a747b43http://www.biomimicry.net/http://www.biomimicry.net/http://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=enhttp://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=enhttp://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=enhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7865387.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7865387.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7865387.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakavyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakavyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchakavyahttp://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2000/08/10/37a747b43http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2000/08/10/37a747b43http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2000/08/10/37a747b43http://www.biomimicry.net/http://www.biomimicry.net/http://www.biomimicry.net/http://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=enhttp://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=enhttp://www.evana.org/index.php?id=38147&lang=en


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EMPOWERING THE FARMERS AND THE COMMUNITIES

Farmers can well perform as farmer-entrepreneurs with theenvironment surrounding them transformed into a living economic & social

area. We advocate the necessity to form community support systems that

enterprise social actions & seek financial strength while realizing many

additional revenues can be generated within agriculture practice.

Many collective bodies already exist among farmers, but too often to

discuss day-to-day issues they face. We recommend a more proactive

approach beyond reactivity where the farmers come together with an

entrepreneurial zeal to improve social and economic conditions. In Ivory

Coast, the national school canteens program9

(meant to feed all childrenand prevent non education) owes its relative success in rural areas, thanks

partly to such groups. Heres how the basic model works: an authorization

request to open a canteen has to emanate from the village community and

then is granted by the Ministry of Education. Beforehand, the village

provides parcels to grow crops, small cattle and sometimes go even by

building the canteen; other upfront costs are taken care by the

government/international agencies. Then the village empower a women

group (as non-export crops are traditionally grown by women) to exploit

the land and provide local-grown goods on a regular basis to the canteen

as well as divert a part for commercialization. Then, we have a committee

formed by the school management and villagers to overview daily

operations that appoints a canteen manager and women cooks. Both get

remunerated with each child paying an affordable 5 cents per day, the

excess serving to buy additional vegetables not grown on lands and

support very poor children exempted from paying this sum on

discriminative criteria set by the committee. The model has proven very

successful in rural areas and in 2004, already covered 45% of the total

number of schools with other countless benefits.

Community support systems or groups also mean collective bargaining

both in terms of selling their crops at a fairer price and to access funds

such as microcredit schemes10. Many

unseen additional revenues can be generated from agriculture.

Rice husks are an example. Considered as plain throwaway in the past, it

now serves as building material, fertilizer, insulation material in some

countries11. Electricity (yes!) can even be generated with rice husks

coupled with a small technology recently developed12. We have thousands

of villages without electricity, what if we have farmers with anentrepreneurial mindset that decide to purchase with microcredit funds or


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by pulling together money such non-proprietary, affordable technology;

that in turn is managed by a community group that takes the challenge to

bring electricity in every home with a small fee.

9. www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.doc (article in french)

10. Read from the self help group movement in India; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-

help_group_(finance)

11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_hulls

12. http://huskpowersystems.com/

Forest and natural resources management can be also transferred to local

communities and with agriculture bring new revenues through a wise and

sound carbon trading scheme13.

We would finally point out to the fact any community group or supportsystem should serve intergenerational knowledge transfer and be a form

of democratic tribune that offer to young farmers and women a voice to be

heard.

IMPROVING THE FINANCING & DISTRIBUTION MECHANISMS

Subsidies to western farmers are a big burden for developing countries

agricultural sectors and no balanced solutions has been adopted yet

during trade talks.On the other hand, governments of developed & strong emerging

economies are finding new wealth in sovereign funds14, more aggressive in

financial markets today.

Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) is an investmentstrategy which

seeks to maximize both financial return and social good. NEPAD launched

in 2008 the Ai30 Socially Responsible Investment index with the aim to

attract sovereign wealth funds to invest a mere 1 per cent - or $30 billion -

of the worlds almost $3 trillion in Africa15. We can adapt such a proposal

to also ask developed countries to commit at least 1% of their

sovereign funds to agricultural projects in Africa as part of their SRI

agenda.

On the distribution side, we offer two explorative solutions.

New distribution channels such as food pneumatic tubes16(pipelines for

solid goods) can serve to transport agricultural goods from collection

centers to city wholesale markets. Too much often,

farmers are proposed an unfair price by intermediaries who take

advantage of their ignorance of market prices. Poor roads and expensive

inter-city transportation in most developing countries reap out also income

from farmers.
http://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_hullshttp://huskpowersystems.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_returnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_goodhttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://www.panapress.com/cantine/programme.dochttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_group_(finance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_hullshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_hullshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_hullshttp://huskpowersystems.com/http://huskpowersystems.com/http://huskpowersystems.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_returnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_returnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_returnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_goodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_goodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_good


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Farmers could get informed of the market price of the day through a

technology-based information system such as the already existing models

of K.A.C.E using mobile phones in east Africa17 or ITC e-Choupal computer

access points in India18 that however need to be scaled up on a national

level.Goods produced by farmers (in preference in groups) are then collected in

villages through different means to semi-regional or regional collection

points and then conveyed to city wholesale markets through underground

or on-the-surface pneumatic tubes.

The costs avoided from fuel, transportation and other benefits such as

quick arrival, carbon certificates generation can be transferred or shared

with farmers.

13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_emission_trading

14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund

15. http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/080916_Africa.doc.htm

16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube

17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLZAMv6kVU

18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoupal

An International initiative for unused & near expired Food items

could also help in reducing the amount of food thrown out by farmers, thefood industry and even consumers. Traditionally, farmers are frequently

forced to plough up or dispose of large amounts of good fruit and

vegetables because of rigid contracts with processors or retailers; the food

industry dispose of products not sold by retailers and near reaching an

expiry date as waste or donation to food banks and consumers throw out

often unused food.

The idea is to create an online matching system where demands from

NGOs, food banks and other associations collecting food to support the

needy meet the requests of disposal of farmers, the food industry and

consumers. Such a simple system can be time-effective and inform about

the closest locations where to drop or get such goods collected.

FOOD IN URGENCY

Many developing countries can be deemed as poor but are rich indeed

with natural resources. This is especially the truth for Africa and with the

unexpected climate change effects the continent can suffer more floods,

drought and other unprecedented events.

The former UN Oil-for Food program to support the Iraqi population duringthe 1990s19 can be revisited to introduce the concept of barter exchange20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_emission_tradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fundhttp://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/080916_Africa.doc.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLZAMv6kVUhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoupalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_emission_tradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_emission_tradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_emission_tradinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fundhttp://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/080916_Africa.doc.htmhttp://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/080916_Africa.doc.htmhttp://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/080916_Africa.doc.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tubehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tubehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLZAMv6kVUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLZAMv6kVUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLZAMv6kVUhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoupalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoupalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoupal


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youth poverty and hunger eradication 2008

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