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African food security hope

Indigenous African crops proving resilient but restrategizing needed
venzen

Today saw the launch of the Africa Community Gardens Project which has been widely hailed as presenting workable solutions for the protracted insecurity in food supply throughout the continent. Although rich in natural resources and suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry across 80% of sub-Saharan regions, localised extremes of drought and flash flooding has seen the destruction of much of this year's maize, yam and wheat crops.

Reports of maize being scorched 3 months before the harvest season are contrasted by stories from tropical areas where yams have rotted in the ground due to waterlogging following the recent floods. Add to this the escalation in ReDS infections and it all seems just too grim...

However, there is an unexpected glimmer of hope. Yes, today's drier conditions across most parts of Southern and East Africa has been detrimental to maize, wheat and other crops introduced to Africa from outside the continent, but (and here is what localist food growers have been saying for decades now) there are more and more case histories of sorghum and millet fields standing tall and ripe next to fields of maize that have been decimated by lower than average rainfall!

It seems there are several lessons to be learnt. Its about changing diet and reforming agriculture...

Next week the GEAS Volunteer Coordination Africa programme sends the first delegation of international experts to meet with local agricultural experts and we can begin strategizing for local food through global collaboration... Every cloud it seems, does, infact, have a silver lining.

Oct 10
food,strategy,gardens,africa,community


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  • rtgarden2019
    Oct 10
    millett is an amazing crop; it provides fast shade and cover for worms, it siphons water up from deep in th eground, and it makes a very good mulch and soil amendment for the crop that follows it. Amaranth is also good for these farms because you can start to eat the greens right away. It provides nutritious greens and seed. Wonderful fried with sesame seeds.
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