hye life

2010-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Value Chain links – promoting good agricultural practices (GAP)
Shifting from existing farming practices to knowledge-based GAP is a difficult task for Albania’s smallholder farmers. this required long-term and intensive training and giving farmers a strong incentive to learn and conform to the guidelines.

ASDA in cooperation with Bruka Co. of Albania was the first joint undertaking in the country to implement GlobalGap standards. The model aimed to secure sufficient quantities of premium quality fresh produce that meets highest standards of food safety and ensure that everyone in the chain, from grower to consumer, benefits fairly from the operation.

The contract farming model was designed to address basic problems faced by smallholder farmers and buyers. Following risk assessments of target farms, farm owners were organized into groups by the buyer and, together with the company, they designed production plans to supply predetermined volume of farm produce. Traditional constraints on technology and lack of market information were removed through intensive training and regular meetings and discussions with technical representatives of the two companies.

Farmers sell their farm produce at guaranteed prices agreed prior to planting. If at any point in time the market price is higher than the guaranteed base price, the market price is applied. Fair pricing is determined by giving due consideration to farming and logistics cost and the retail price in the target retail market.

Production planning and collection stations established in each contracted group facilitate direct daily delivery of produce from the farm to the Company’s packing house. This streamlined the overall supply chain process, thereby reducing handling cost and spillage. The Company provides a well-planned financial assistance program for farmers, including interest-free loans to group members.

The lessons learned are that for scaling up international organizations and the public sector should provide sufficient support to applied research on innovative farming from seed testing to post-harvest control and handling; assist the private sector, particularly SMEs in developing and applying innovative farming approaches; and develop strong cooperation between public and private sectors for agricultural development planning and implementation. Planning and implementation should give emphasis on sustainability.

Breakthrough Innovations

2010-07-26T07:59:00.001-07:00

Linking food growing to nutrition
Local seed packets for disaster relief (Tonga)
VISTAA
First private winery
Solar drying fruits
Strawbale Cool storage
Passive solar greenhouse
Passito wine
Grapeleaf exports
Arbequina-olives
ASDA marketing-melons
Apple link cold stores-growers
Counter insurgency: rapid assessment in unsecured areas (CID)

Reflections on 30 years of Development

2010-07-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Paul Sommers was at the forefront of smallholder development for food security through increased production and income growth using on farm renewable resources working within the context of the watershed. A pioneer in agro-biodiversity, he has experienced sustainability as a way of life firsthand by observing how households must live within their means.Access to food and availability of food from their own production are key. The challenge for families is balancing the risks of livelihood protection and livelihood growth. They must link the garden structure to vital functions for household survival: nutrition, economics, environment. Beginning in 1980 he authored several how to manuals for U.N. agencies *UNDP,UNICEF/WHO/and FAO, University of the South Pacific, South Pacific Commission, as well as the Peace Corps and his own publication. Here he reflects back on his real world field experience in over 50 countries across a 30 year time span.

Paul is known as a risk taker-consistently thinking outside the box. An avid surfer, he combines the essentials of surfing: risk with grace and perseverance in his approach to his work.
Paul has identified some of the main components required to move food security forward.

1. Natural resource farming systems. Value added using renewable resources
2. Gender mainstreaming
3. Management capacity to promote food security. (International,local(CBO)community-run)NGO Development

Agriculture employs more than one billion people and generates more than one trillion dollars worth of goods annually.
My lifelong goal is to meet the challenge that food will be plentiful, available and affordable.
That means identifying levels of risk and designing a strategy to mitigate those risks.
The key issues are how to cut hunger, grow incomes, while protecting and enhancing the environment.The answer: biodiversity, nutrition, and health supporting each other in a synergistic fashion. Agro-biodiversity used and conserved in a livelihood context can directly contribute to nutrition, health, and income generation. I've studied it and promoted it around the world.

1.Natural resource farming for subsistence and semi commercial growers….
For the past 30 years PS has followed a simple straightforward philosophy on insuring household food and nutrition security: "Grow whatever you can , where ever you can with whatever you have available to you." If the household food system is dependent on outside resources to make it work-forget it. Household use closed systems by default for survival. Planting material, crop management (soil fertility, pest management, trellis material) must come from their home yard or near by environment. Nutrient recycling is pivotal.As agents of change see must start from this fundamental premise and make incremental suggestions that build from there.

Natural/ renewable resource farming for commercial growers.
Our challenge as change agents is to identify useful and effective alternatives to commercial inputs that will retain or add value to their product. If the cost benefit is not there growers will not accept the change.Improving production and productivity while conserving natural resources is our joint task.
Reduce ,reuse, recycle-this time tested method is the key to sustained growth

There is an assumption that basic energy foods (rice, wheat, corn) grown on a large scale farm must use energy intensive means. Let look back at pre WW II for an example. Grains can be grown using natural and on farm resources and natural occurring cycles. Example: legume understory permaculture with grains interplanted in no till system. Bee hives pollinate the legumes adding to yield and honey is high value product.
Key: use what nature provides- design the landscape so that you use it or store it for slow release. nature provides sunshine use it. It provides water-

2. On gender integration/mainstreaming

For the past 30 years Paul Sommers has made gender balance/ integration a focal point for sustainable small holder farm development.
Often project’s use overt methods for promoting gender equality.
• Have more women come to your trainings…
• Provide loans to women instead of..
“You cannot achieve household food and nutrition security without the direct involvement of women. They are the key household decision maker in this matter.”

It is not just about enough food-it is also about the right food.
“The key is to identify options/gaps within the existing household farming system where direct/ increased incremental engagement of women will add value to their smallholder enterprise. “ If it is simply gender promotion for the sake of promotion no one will benefit, especially the intended beneficiary (the entire household unit).
Work is squarely focused on small-scale farm households, which often means it is focused on women. Women do much of the work on small farms around the world, and their well-being and income directly affect nutritional and educational outcomes for children

• MS Thesis- Philippine home gardens in smallholder farming systems
• "how to manuals"- gender integration
• U.N. Region Pacific Islands. Program worked primarily through community based women run organizations. Practiced “affirmative action” in promoting women as the main contact person and leader for the FFPNP.
• OMNI Task Force
• USDA- Armenia. Most rapid and successful assistance activity was with the women tarragon growers of Armavir.
• Cal Poly- Edible landscape. Park William Estate
• DAI. Most experimental/challenging value chain activity with the Marriott Initiative was between a female run smallholder greenhouse. Success with winter vegetables. Export substitution
• DAI/Albania. RASTI. Involving young women from farming families with computer training . Value added through their knowledge of internet for farm operational efficiency, access to new markets, increased sales.

3.Management and implementation capacity. Links between international, local (CBO) and community-based.
On initiating an NGO…..• Sup-Sup Garden Club • VISTAA Armenia

Solutions to acute and chronic food security are known. Technical, management, and policy solutions are well documented for every part of the world. So, after billions of dollars and millions of pages of the what and the how to food security, why is the wheel basically reinvented each time?
Why, when there is a request for new project proposal there is a sort of "deer in the headlights" approach. "We have to come up with something completely different in order to win the contract."
Example: BSG Project.
7 member consortium composed of local branches of international NGO's was asked to put a proposal together showing how they would approach a food security/livelihoods improvement initiative in rain fed Western Ethiopia. The technical approach was very formula based with very little insight into the community's real needs. Why?
Also the capacity of local government was also very weak as were community- run CBO's.
New ways of directly supporting communities need to be explored. Perhaps the internet and youth in these communities may be one solution. Youth are losing interest in farm-based enterprise. They are often encouraged my family to leave the farm and seek higher wages. Youth are fascinated by the internet. Reports are coming in where farming familing are asking their children to use the internet to find technical and business management solutions to their problems. The development community needs to understand this trand and positon itself to expidite it's naturla development.

“The key to successful NGO development is to identify a special need –one that is not currently available or could be more effectively delivered-and design the organization to meet that specific need. Once you are successful with addressing a specific need, expansion to other opportunities is the next step.”

Sup Sup. It started out by addressing urban food and nutrition security issues facing immigrant families. The ended up being a community services agency providing maternal and children services.

VISTAA started out by addressing an unmet need: providing agricultural technical services to Armenia’s newly independent small holder farm families. Today it remains the leading agricultural services provider and it has expanded it’s base to include urban clients.

Quotable Quotes:
1) It works in practice, but will it work in theory? German researchers observing Tongan traditional multi-storied mixed planting system.
2) Produce what you can sell- not sell what you produce. Sales driven or market driven?
3)It is not ,"what can I sell you today." "It is how can I sell to you."
4)Organic farming is not the issue/goal-it is "smart farming" How do we guide farmers in the wise use on-farm natural/renewable resources to improve productivity.
5)Small farmers often determine the price based on their need for a certain return not on cost of production or market price. "I want this price because I need it to buy this or that."
6)Patience is often the enemy of good work. Genuine change takes time. Substance is often lost. It is about who gets credit when.
7)Donors demand quick impact/"success stories". That is why spending on inputs and putting on development shows produce quick "results."
8)AID declares every project a "success"
10)Key to marketing: Produce something that will sell. See things as your customer sees them and then do something about it. Growers need to understand their competitive strengths and potential market share.
11) Product development does not start from understanding the typical customer- it starts from understanding the task the customer is trying to do. Marketing is satisfying needs: functional/emotional/social. You don't sell watermelon- you well pleasure, food safety, environment stewardship, fair trade, etc.
12) Marketing:reaching the right audience, in the right way, with the right message.
13) Value added: value to weight ratio.
14) Value creation process: how to occupy the best part of the value chain? For small growers this means optimal production during the periods of minimal supply when demand is high. Early season/late season or specialty product.
15) Value creation-Moving from commodity-based to value-based thinking
16)"You just can't look ahead- you also have to look around"
17)Green agriculture- zero-carbon farming.
18)Vertical agriculture zoning
19)Greening the value chain: customers want to buy what they can trust:safe,clean and green
20) Linking value chain actors: It is not how do I get them to buy what I grow- it is how do I develop a service that the client wants?
21) On starting a specialty shop. Don't start your own shop-sell where your customers already shop.
22)Cooperatives- Don't start with developing a co-op structure with all of the rules. Start with group development working on just one issue of common interest and the co-op will evolve.
23) Agriculture financing is different than micro loans to urban traders-
Climate risk and cycles
Need for working capital
Return in 4-6 months
24)Farmers often do not see themselves in business. They want money or loans when they really need financing.
25) Banks often don't understand the farming business model- what financial products the farm needs and when.
26)Inputs are not too expensive if your business model is working.
27)Problems with farming silver bullet technical packages. If you don't know how all things are connected within the farming system then often technology is the cause of problems . i.e pesticide or commercial seeds.
28)Sustainable farming :Work with nature-not against it.
29)Value added: it is not about apples-it is about high value apples.
30) Workshops: they are not about the donor- they are about meeting the client's needs.
31)Ask the grower: what business are you in? Are you producers of tomatoes? or are you selling high value/high quality/highly profitable tomatoes.
32)Ask the grower, who is in charge of your business? is it the buyer/chemical salesman, loan officer?
33) Talking with growers- if we don't analyze their farm enterprise, how do we know what advice we will provide?
34)What do you need to earn from your farm to remain in farming?
35)Green farming- it depends on natural resources for economic growth.
36) Profitable farming: You have no control over prices. You do have control over costs and improve yields/productivity. Question: are you maximizing value and minimizing costs? Reduce waste: activities that add cost without adding value.
37)"Value" is determined by the buyer/customer.
38)Pathway to profit: actors/supporters/influencer's: What creates value for your customers?
39)Develop productivity improvement plans with clients.
40)Optimizing asset allocation in the value chain
41)On who to target as initial "clients"...They are leaders in their local community who take calculated risks-building new distribution systems, finding new and attractive markets, paying living wages to their employees. And they do this under challenging conditions-- never dependent of donors/development assistance or government, often beginning without specialized infrastructure or sufficient skills and abilities, but always with an eye to the future and their own self-determination.
42)To start you don't need to convince everybody you just need to convince a few leaders- the rest will follow.One smallholder can not form an effective supply chain.

43)Farmers' groups need not be formal or contractual in order to succeed. they just need a reason (common to all) in order to associate. Formal-co-ops are only needed if you plan to to do business together (buy/sell).
44)On development fatigue amongst target clients... farmers will always find time if there is a good reason to meet. If they perceive the meeting is for the donor's benefit and not in their interest they may come once but that's it. You've lost them.
45) Donor's push out development. Development agencies pull their clients to the next stage of their development.
46) AID is a donor. DAI, A/V are not donors-they are full service business advisory companies.
47)The "sweetener" challenge. When and how to use effectively is an on-going case specific issue.
48)In development work the arguments are often so bitter because the stakes are so small.
49)Plant a seed regrow a community.
50. Helping a VC move from "commodity" to "product."
51)Branding: every product tells a story.
Define who you are
Communicate your brand
Become known for one thing initially
52) Always ask: what exactly are you delivering?
53) Value chain financing:
-Which chains have the most potential for growth?
-Which up-grades are needed to increase market share?
-What type of financing is needed to achieve upgrading?
-Which VC up-grades will benefit the most people in the chain?

54)Adapting VC to 21st century technology

55)Marketing questions every small holder farmer needs to ask:
Why should they buy this product?
What is your product?
What makes it different?
Who is your customer?
Who is your competition?
How will it be promoted to customers?
Where?
When (season)?

56) On community infrastructure projects for agriculture (irrigation, collection points, public markets/cold storage... you can build a new stadium but if the team is no good what is the point?
"It will belong to the farming community": it belongs to everyone and no one- recipe for failure.
57) A better way to ensure impact and sustainability is to get buy-in from
the VC community- a grower's group linked to a buyer. You orchestrate the deal linking the interested actors. Sweetening the deal should come only as a support incentive not pivotal to making the deal happen. (adding value to the existing value chain).
58) In post conflict zones. The process of reconciliation and growth will require the private sector to take the lead. Government and development agencies can help make the linkages but action must start from the main commercial actors.
59)Drug VC's as model. Growth will occur when their is an identified, working, profitable and sustainable VC. Drug VC's are the best example. Why are they so highly developed? Because each link in the chain is clearly defined and relationships work.
Example Khat- Somalia 1980. I was asked to design an high value horticultural program for poor small holder growers in Hargisa. By observation, I quickly learned that my services were really not needed. A perfectly functioning horticultural VC was working: Khat. It effectively used Solmali land, labor, capital which they controlled as well. Gains were achieved with little support by agricultural extension services in terms of providing fertilizers, pesticides, credit or tax breaks.
60) High Value Horticulture has led major changes.The trade in agricultural luxuries was a driving factor in the emergence of modern capitalism. the trade in luxuries was a driving
factor in the emergence of modern capitalism. Included here are tobacco, spices, coco,hashish, opium.
61)The worlds 450 million small farms and 2 billion people...."Most of the world doesn't have the benefit of picking up food from the corner store — they grow it themselves. A family's plot of land has to provide for their nutritional and economic needs. "
62)We tend to think Earth can provide us with an endless bounty of food. But farming practices in most parts of the world can't work forever. Soil is constantly washing away, and what's left is gradually losing the nutrients it needs to sustain our crops.Agriculture in most places is based on practices that use up limited resources.
63) Small farmers, in order to grow, need to think outside the farm gate.
64)Why can't we solve the 10,000-year-old problem of feeding ourselves.?. The solution is to build an agriculture based on the way nature's ecosystems work.
65) Select a "signature" project and go for it. Identify something that can return immediate results. Quick impact so that the clients see you are on the ball.
66.Farmer productivity: A successful harvest depends upon a complex combination of factors, including quality seeds, fertilizers, irrigation systems, and soil health strategies, as well as locally relevant water and crop management practices. We work to provide poor farmers with access to improved inputs, as well as training and support networks to enable them to make better choices and improve their productivity while protecting natural resources. *Gates
67. On use of natural resources. The sun, wind, water fall on the agricultural landscape. We have a choice of how to use these precious/renewable/free gifts from nature.
We can store them
We can reuse and recycle them on the farm
We can do the opposite- get ride of them- and them buy energy and commercial products to do the same thing that nature has provided. Regenerative design is a process which used design to capture and use natures cycles.
68) Role of certification schemes in promoting market oriented eco-agriculture practices. Case study: ASDA and Albanian Melons.Strengthening market incentives to practice eco-agriculture is a key challenge

69. Prioritizing food security
a) Identify the main aim at household level.
Nutritional security
Income security
Mix of nutrition and income (semi commercial)
Agriculture employs more than one billion people and generates more than one trillion dollars worth of goods annually.
Appraisal of the farming system (structure and function) and supply chain
Identify low input/regenerative methods for improving productivity of existing landscape and crops.
Identify ways to intensify, diversity crops for nutrition and or income.Agriculture is the largest industry on the planet.
70) Regenerative vs sustainable ag. Land needs to be reactivated/regenerated. Window dressing "green" to declare sustainable will not work because the basic system is broken.
71) Enhancement vs replacement. Replacement of natural processes with commercial "treatment" technology does not build productive capacity.
Is the goal really to sustained a human built simplified ag. landscape?
A preventative instead of curative approach to "problems" such as soil compaction, low fertility,weeds,insects and diseases will address these serious problems.
72) On water management:
After a raindrop hits the ground, one of four things happen. It can:
i) go UP, as evaporation or transpiration
ii) go SIDEWAYS, as surface runoff or sub-surface lateral flow
iii) go DOWN, as deep drainage
iv) be HELD in the soil before moving

Regenerative landscapes are designed to hold/store the water in the soil so that it can be effectively and efficiently used.
Conventional crop system remove water from the site and then spend $$$ to import water to irrigated the crops! When solar energy hits the soil one of 4 things happen:
It is utilized by the plant
73)Paul Sommers has spent his life learning about nature and the environment all over the world. He spends his time teaching about nature to help people design better products and improve existing technology, especially agricultural landscapes.
The approach is simple: learning from and then emulating natural forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more sustainable and healthier human technologies and designs.

"Take a look at any natural ecosystem, such as a tropical forest, and you will see a remarkable system of food production: productive, resilient, self-enriching, and sustainable. The modern agricultural practices of humankind are also enormously productive, but only in the short term: the irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticide inputs upon which modern food crops depend both deplete and pollute increasingly rare water and soil resources. These "inputs" are imported into the system at great expense to the grower and to the environment. Designing food systems based on nature's processes eliminates the need for these imported inputs as they are produced on-site naturally."

As the global food challenge increases, pressure is also mounting to maximize food production in poor areas and rise living standards while using clean green “carbon neutral” technology. This requires a totally new and innovative thinking . This requires smart solutions which are cheap, fast, doable, and sustainable by the farm families themselves.
For the past 30 years in over 50 countries Paul Sommers has been solving these challenges by assisting growers to improve their productivity and crop quality with the aim of finding new and high value markets.

74) The 4 A's Test Solutions to the problems must meet the following test: appropriate, affordable, accessible and acceptable.

75) Fake it until you make it is all too common in our work

76)On microfinance
On micro-finance May 2010

I am currently working on a new 5 year agricultural development project in southwestern Ethiopia on the Sudanese border. While I completely agree agricultural microfinance is essential for value chain development and expansion, if you use the region I am working with it is understandable why ag. microfinance is not yet operating. While there is potential value in some of the agricultural products it is just that: potential. Small rural banks are very risk averse. The typical microfinance trade loan is straight forward. Buy/sell /return the loan with interest. A very quick turnaround time. Now contrast that process with a typical small holder ag. production loan which is much more complex; takes much longer to repay due to the timeline for producing the crop; plus a little thing called weather and its usual volatile unpredictability. So if you were a loan officer who would you loan too?
Agricultural insurance, is not commonly used by the small farmers. Although available and partially subsidized by the Government, it is expensive for the small farmers and difficult to obtain (much bureaucracy, may take up to 6 months to obtain).

Another problem related to financial services is the cost. Small farmers have problems with collateral since the process for land titles for the small farmers is very slow. Most of the credits available from the banks and microfinance organizations are in the 18 to 30% annual range.

Microfinance or investment?
Investment for increasing agricultural productivity, yields, and job creation in developing countries. What is the effective mix/risk between the public and private sector? What is the private sector level of risk tolerance?

77) Quotable quote
Donor imperatives and need for big returns drive implementation of programs, whether or not they are in the best interest of the people they are purported to help. The "change business" is defined by its ability to sell a product--changing poor people's lives--not to the people it is supposed to help, but to the people buying the product, the donors and contributors from places far away.

The problem is not just donors, however, but the whole development culture. Instead of focusing on projects to make a tangible difference in the life of one person, family, or village, the only sustainable development is to allow people to earn money for themselves, not keeping them donor clients forever. The way to earn money comes with greater investment in infrastructure, such as roads and electricity. But donors and the development community would prefer not to get involved with these projects, because they believe a) they are the prerogative of the state; b) they don't produce tangible statistics that say "we saved X number of lives."

78) On NGO Scaling up
Keys:
Here is what we do
Here is why we do it
Here is why this stuff is important.

Get several models going. Make sure they are replicable to scaling up.
Doing one little thing in one little village is not replicable development.

To partnerships with prime contractors:
What do we bring technically?
We bring brand names.

79) My approach to value added is straight forward.
1) Walk the farm with HH's
2) Observe what they have
3) Everything has value. Compost more valuable than milk (Armenian lesson)
Sell compost, sell worms, do training course in how to compost.

80)The shorter the supply chain intervention the greater the likelihood for impact and success. (consumption and income)
If the intervention depends on a supply chain outside of their community it probably won't work. Hundreds of miles or imports to make it work won't work.
Inputs- intervention should be designed to ensure an "in the ground" food bank (stability) or income bank
Productivity enhancing interventions production/post production
Marketing- local markets first before distant markets. learn how to crawl before walking
Home gardens:
1) Good for your health, food for our earth
2) Produce more while preserving more
3) HG our daily source of supernatural food

Paul Sommers
Director-Agriculture
Cell- 202-2307743

Reporting summary
1. Participants from all stakeholder groups welcomed the opportunity for broad consultation on the proposed principles
2. Speakers highlighted the importance of both domestic and international agricultural investment for increasing agricultural productivity
3. Government representatives from both developing and developed countries described their own experiences
4. Several private sector representatives discussed their experiences with large-scale international agricultural investments
5. In conclusion, participants agreed on the importance of an open and inclusive dialogue to continue encouraging responsible agricultural investment by various parties

RISK
The challenge for development is mitigating/managing risk.

OECD analysis identifies three layers of risk faced by farmers:

* Normal risk is frequent but not too damaging and is typically managed at the farm or household level - for example, small variations in price or yield. General tax, health and social systems help to manage such risks.
* Potentially insurable risks, such as hail damage, have intermediate levels of frequency and magnitude of losses.
* Catastrophic risks are infrequent, but cause great damage for many farmers - flooding, drought or disease outbreaks, for instance. The significant uncertainties associated with these events and the possibility of substantial losses makes it difficult to find market solutions, and there is a good chance of market failure.

Working Life Pathway
The lesson that working taught me above all others, one that's not in the textbooks but should be, is this: There's pure joy when you take a risk to pursue your dream and find work that you deeply connect with.

As a college professor, I saw students struggling with a desire to have more than a career. They want to have a "calling," but many are dissatisfied and frustrated, following a path set by others while afraid to set their own. I have counseled many of my students to follow their passion as I did. But it's not an easy thing to do.

I learned that in the end, for my career to be my calling, it will not be what I designed, but instead the collective of what I experienced. It will not be aimed toward a fixed end of stability and certainty, but a continuous pursuit of growth and awareness. That growth will not be for others to critique and review but for me to judge and deem satisfactory. I now know that my very first decision to become a agriculturalist was only the first step in a journey I didn't know I was taking. And that's what makes it so wonderful. For all its seeming irrationality, it was my announcement to myself and to others that my life was my own.

On motivating people
Project ownership is a lot like food gardening. My boy loved eating raw vegetables he grew in the garden much more than the same ones bought from the market. Why? Because he was involved from the beginning- seed selection, plot preparation, seedling, weeding watering, harvest. Introduce a topic then engage for buy-in and ownership.

Behavioral Change vs Funding cycles

Dilemma of KAP
KAP is a process oriented method which is time consuming (long term)
Project funding cycles are short term (MYAP 3-5 years, SYAP 1 year)

On nutrition improvement

Positive Impacts on Nutrition
• More likely to occur if:
– Vulnerable households regularly consume
the food commodity being produced.
– The intervention includes explicit nutrition
counseling.
– The intervention includes home gardens.
– The project introduces micronutrient-rich crop
varieties.

The "what"is known- it is the "how" that is the biggest challenge.
Identifying delivery services that work and that are truly effective, respected by members of the community, is the key to sustainability.
The what is often the easier part. The Development community tends to emphasize the technical what is the technical issue and what is the technical solution to agriculture,food, nutrition health etc. Many of the issues discussed today were identified decades ago and have not changed significantly.
In addition to culturally appropriate technical messages, who delivers when, where and how these are deliver are of equal or greater importance.

Given the very short funding cycle in which to implement message and messenger are critical to success.

Promoting Agriculture for Social Protection

2010-07-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Promoting Agriculture for Social Protection

Food security investment plan

2010-07-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Food security investment plan

AAC Albania

2010-07-01T19:57:00.001-07:00

USAID Albanian Agriculture Competitiveness Program: Your Partner to Compete in High-Value Markets

USAID’s AAC program focuses on stimulating growth in Albania’s agricultural sector, and thereby contributing to the achievement of sustained broadbased economic growth and poverty reduction in targeted rural areas. This is being achieved through the introduction of technological innovations including: new crops, new varieties and advanced production practices; institutional innovations consistent of forward and backward market linkages, facilitation of contractual arrangements for risk reduction and making markets more efficient; and organizational innovations to achieve economies of scale in production and marketing as a way to overcome the effects of small farm size prevalent in most parts of Albania.

AAC follows a value chain approach, which provides a systematic framework to identify and prioritize project interventions, which are categorized in three main components: a) strengthening producer capacity for competitive commercial farming, b) strengthening capability for market development, and c) increasing access to and use of timely and reliable market information.

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Marines at CID Training

2010-06-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Marines learn agriculture from ground up to help Afghan farmers

2010-06-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

Marines learn agriculture from ground up to help Afghan farmers

CSU/ CID Support Plan for California National Guard ADT Initiative

2009-12-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

CSU/ CID Support Plan for California National Guard ADT Initiative

Introduction:
Building a civil society is seen as paramount to achieving a lasting solution for the Afghan nation. Afghanistan is a rural society with agriculture the dominant activity. The California National Guard recognizes the seminal role of agriculture and has committed troops and funds through its first Agriculture Development Team (ADT).Every effort should be made to support the efforts of the ADT so that success is achieved-one farm at a time.

While the ADT concept is new in Afghanistan, a recurrent challenge reported by ATD members from completed tours is the issue of adapting their agricultural skills from their US experience to the completely different environment of Afghanistan. The US agricultural system is primarily design for commerce while the Afghanistan system is a complex web of social/cultural economic factors.
Guidance in how to adapt ADT expertise to the Afghan situation is crucial for achievement

The Consortium for International Development (CID) stands ready to assist the ADT to ensure a successful outcome. CID members bring wide ranging knowledge, skills and experience from around the globe that are directly applicable to the mission of the ADT.

CID advisers blend technical expertise with essential community engagement skills so that immediate impact happens and genuine improvement is achieved. This art and science approach is especially valuable given the relatively short tour of duty time frame for the ADT. Quick impact is essential so the ADT specialists need to know their key technical messages and the most effective ways of communicating those prime messages to achieve results.

The CID proposes to design a program of support for ADT initiative.

The Aim: to provide advisory support to each team member so that the mission is accomplished.

The Objectives:
By the end of the 12 month program:
1. Each ADT member will have upgraded their knowledge and skills in their technical specialty as well as effective ways to engage the Afghan communities they work with.
2. Each member will have designed their own “road map for achievement” with set benchmarks and timetables. They will be able to show what they achieved during their tour of duty.

The Strategy:
Step 1: Pre-deployment: skills upgrading.
Step 2: Deployment: continuing technical support
Step: 3: Return: Lessons learned for next ADT

Step 1:
CID will design and present a pre deployment skills up-grading workshop.
The quick action training workshop will address the key issue of preparing ADT personal in ways to effectively communicate their technical assistance.

By the end of the training the ADT personal will:
1. Gain an understanding of the Afghan farming environment they will be working in.
2. Understand key technical issues for promotion to improve household food security and or commercial farming
3. How to adjust their existing agricultural skills to be effective in the Afghan environment.
4. Design their own “roadmap to success”
5. Identify support resources from California to make their mission a success.
STEP 2: Deployment
Aim: provide ADT with technical support to ensure the skills developed in the pre deployment workshop are applied effectively.
Strategy:
1. Provide a CID mentor for each ADT specialist for the entire tour of duty.
2. Mentor and ADT member will review their workplans regularly measuring progress challenges and opportunities.
3. Establish private social networking site for the ADT initiative to encourage exchange of ideas between all of the mentors and ADT .
4. Groups “webnars” will be presented by CID at strategic points through the exercise to the ADT members in order to continue with skill upgrading as well as problem solving.
STEP 3: Return from Tour of Duty
Debrief on ADT experience. Discuss lesson learned for the next ADT deployment.

School garden guilding principles

2009-12-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

Checklist for Establishing and Maintaining the
PEC Friendship School Garden Sites

1) Planting material should be reusable. Emphasis should be placed on vegetative propagation and open pollinated / “heritage” seeds.
Lesson:
a) Students learn how to save seeds/planting material for the next season
b) Genetic conservation: reuse and recycle planting material within the garden
c) Growing plants that are adapted to the local environment. This minimizes insect and disease issues.

2) All organic matter remains in the garden. Nothing is removed off site. Additional organic material from the school lunches and farmers market is added to the garden site by first being recycled through compositing bins.
Lesson:
Students learn how to recycle and reuse organic materials in the garden. They learn through composting how to convert unused or “waste “by products into a valuable resource for growing plants. (Closed loop system)

3) Mixed planting in the same garden beds . This design maximizes output from limited growing space. Plants with different height and root structures should be planted together to efficiently use solar energy, soil nutrients and water.
Example: (1) strawberry with climbing peas or beans. (2) Climbing beans, corn, and squash.
Lesson:
Students will learn how to design an edible garden which mimics nature’s mixed; multi layer native landscape and all of it inherit bio-diversity benefits.

4) FAITH Garden (Food always in the homegarden). The garden will have a variety of food, medicinal, and culinary herbs so that something is harvested the year round.
Lesson:
Students will learn that in the Encinitas environment edible garden plants can be easily grown year round providing fresh, clean, and green produce for their family.

agro-biodiversity

2009-11-14T08:59:00.001-08:00

Agrobiodiversity is the result of natural selection processes and the careful selection and inventive developments of farmers, herders and fishers over millennia. Agrobiodiversity is a vital sub-set of biodiversity. Many people’s food and livelihood security depend on the sustained management of various biological resources that are important for food and agriculture. Agricultural biodiversity, also known as agrobiodiversity or the genetic resources for food and agriculture, includes:

*

Harvested crop varieties, livestock breeds, fish species and non domesticated (wild) resources within field, forest, rangeland including tree products, wild animals hunted for food and in aquatic ecosystems (e.g. wild fish);
*

Non-harvested species in production ecosystems that support food provision, including soil micro-biota, pollinators and other insects such as bees, butterflies, earthworms, greenflies; and
*

Non-harvested species in the wider environment that support food production ecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic ecosystems).

Albanian Tomatoes Destined for Montenegrin Tables

2009-10-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

Albanian Tomatoes Destined for Montenegrin Tables

Top quality greenhouse grown tomatoes from the productive farm land of Gorican are now part of the cuisine in restaurants and family dinner tables of Montenegro. The AAC Team brought an export buyer and supplier group together for this trade opportunity as part of AAC market expansion mandate .
Each week a truck from Budhva arrives in the village of Gorican. Members of the Hortigor Association meet with the exporter to first decide on the farm gate price and then allocation of quantities amongst the members to fill the order. Then a small van picks up tomatoes from one farm at a time and unloads into the buyer’s truck.

To date four loads have been shipped. According to the trader, while he is generally satisfied improvements are needed. “The group needs to organize themselves better. A community collection center and simple packing site is really needed to improve efficiency and avoid loading delays.”
The Hortigor members are satisfied with the trade relationship. As one grower said, “The trader pays above whole market price and buys at the farm gate thus lowering our costs.”

Discussions have started between the buyer and the association on procuring cucumbers. However, first the growers will have to change the variety they currently produce. “The market in the neighboring country requires a different kind of cucumber. I can only buy what he market needs “ said the buyer.

The AAC team will be working with Hortigor to assess their risks as well as opportunities for selling a new variety of cucumber into a new market.

Trader inspects tomatoes destined for export

Publications

2009-10-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

UNICEF Home Gardens Handbook: Promoting Mixed Gardens in the Humid Tropics
UNICEF Dry Season Gardening for Improving Child Nutrition
WHO/UNICEF Gardening for Food in the Semi-Arid Tropics
Low Cost Farming in the Humid Tropics: An Illustrated Guidebook
USAID/Peace Crops Nutrition Improvement Through Mixed Gardening-A Training Manual,
University of the South Pacific, Agriculture, Food and Nutrition in the Pacific Islands
U.N. FAO Improving Nutrition Through Home Gardening
California State University, Pomona- Edible Landscaping for High Nutrition (Software)

FAO Online Catalogues

English title: Family food supply
Authors: Sommers, P.; Galloway, R.; Nanau, I.; Sinapati, A.; Wat, T.
Corp.authors: South Pacific Univ., Suva (Fiji)
Publ.place: Suva (Fiji)
Publ.date: 1990
Collation: 74 p., illus.
ISBN: 982-03-0422-9
Languages: English
AGROVOC main descr. : FOOD SUPPLY; FAMILIES; EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
AGROVOC sec. descr.: VILLAGES; DOMESTIC GARDENS; FAMILY FARMS; FOOD PRODUCTION; PLANNING; HOME ECONOMICS
AGROVOC geogr. descr.: PACIFIC ISLANDS
Project: South Pacific Community Nutrition Training Project, Fiji
Call No: 373 So8 (no.3)
Holding library: LIB
Acc.No: 317428
MFN: 317428

Improving nutrition through home gardening. A training package for preparing field workers in Africa (English) FAO, Rome (Italy). Food and Nutrition Div. , 2001 , 281 p.
Accession No: 401899, Document type: HANDBOOK, WEB RESOURCE , Job No: X3996 , ISBN 92-5-104388-4 , Call No: 635 F737(E) (RR) Field library: SAFR, 80 FAO; LOWA, 89; RLC, L/618 c.1/c.2; FAOSRL, 612.39 IMP; FAOSFE, 613.2:635.1F731
Descriptors: DOMESTIC GARDENS; GARDENING; FOOD PRODUCTION; TEACHING MATERIALS; TRAINING; EXTENSION ACTIVITIES; FOOD SECURITY; HUMAN NUTRITION; TRAINING COURSES; ADVISORY OFFICERS
Geographic coverage: AFRICA;
Related language versions: French
Full text: Other language English French
Full text: http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X3996E/X3996E00.HT

The UNICEF home garden's handbook for people promoting mixed gardening in the humid tropics (English) UNICEF, New York (USA) , nd , 55 p.
Accession No: 215901, Document type: HANDBOOK , Call No: 631.5 Un 3(E) (LIB)
Descriptors: DOMESTIC GARDENS;
Geographic coverage: TROPICAL ZONES;
Loan request (FAO HQ staff only)

FAO Online Catalogues

English title: Gardening for food in the semi-arid tropics
Authors: Sommers, P.
Corp.authors: Joint WHO/UNICEF Nutrition Support Programme, Geneva (Switzerland)
Publ.place: (New York) (USA)
Publisher: UNICEF
Publ.date: 1985
Collation: 59 p.
Languages: English
Category codes: F01
Categories: F01-Crop husbandry
AGROVOC main descr. : GARDENING; FOOD CROPS
AGROVOC sec. descr.: SEMIARID ZONES; TROPICAL ZONES; SELECTION; PLANNING; IRRIGATION; HARVESTING
Call No: 631.5 Un30
Holding library: LIB
Acc.No: 257773
MFN: 257773

Sommers, P. 1985. Advancing Pacific Islands food gardening systems: Some observations and suggestions. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Tropical Homegarden, Bandung, Indonesia, December 2-9, Institute of Ecology, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, and United Nations University, Tokyo.

Agriculture - Key Themes

2009-10-04T08:22:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the key themes for advancing agriculture:

In order to meet the needs of the world’s poor, practitioners need to take this one step further and develop agricultural programs that leverage innovative linkages with other sectors; this includes linking agriculture with emergency response; health, water and sanitation, and nutrition; natural resource management and climate change adaptation; microfinance; learning and knowledge management; and ICT.

# Market approaches to agricultural recovery from disaster: diverse uses of vouchers
# Agriculture and nutrition to improve the health status of vulnerable households
# Multiple uses of water for agricultural sustainability
# The role of finance in agroenterprise
# Mobile technology in agricultural development

Policy processes: what political, organisational budgetary processes promote or hinder pathways to pro-poor, agriculture-led growth? What role should different actors, including Ministries of Agriculture, have in this?

Growth and social protection: what are the trade-offs and complementarities between growth and social protection objectives?

Agricultural commercialisation: what types of commercialisation of agriculture both promote growth and reduce poverty? What institutional and market arrangements are required?

Science, technology and innovation: how can agricultural technology be made to work for the poor? How are technology trajectories linked to processes of agrarian/livelihood change?

Addition Drip Line Improves Productivity and Competitiveness.doc - Windows Live

2009-10-03T12:32:00.001-07:00

Addition Drip Line Improves Productivity and Competitivness.doc - Windows Live
Addition Drip Line Improves Productivity and Competitiveness

10 year veteran grower of early season watermelons Tani of Divjake is known by his fellow growers as a top producer. He is amongst the first to the market year after year. He is an innovator always looking for new ways to improve the productivity of his 1.2 hectare melon enterprise.
He was also the ideal candidate to carry out a demonstration of improved fertigation (fertilizer and irrigation) designed to improve productivity.
In the sandy soils of Divjake, melon growers use a single line of drip pipe to irrigate their crop. While the plant easily absorbs the fertilizer and water solution coming through the pipe only one side of the plant benefits. Research completed by the TCC Lushnje Station showed that by adding one additional line on the other side of the melon plant that it would result in better use of fertigation (cost reduction) increase yields, and earlier maturity. This technique was presented to lead melon growers during AAC’s monthly workshop series.
Tani along with two other growers were selected to demonstrate on 1000 square meters of their farm the results of the TCC work. AAC and the selected growers took observations during the critical stages of plant growth.
The results were truly amazing. The growers all agreed that the additional drip line produced larger, faster maturing fruits (by up to one week) than their control plot.
The second line also reduced the number of irrigations and the fertilizer was used more efficiently by being placed in the main feeder root zones.
According to Tani the additional cost of pipe is manual compared to the clear advantages of adding a second line.

Apple Thinning takes on new meaning for Korce.doc - Windows Live

2009-10-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Apple Thinning takes on new meaning for Korce.doc - Windows Live
Apple thinning takes on new meaning for Korca’s apple growers

The June practice of thinning surplus apples too improve productivity is well understood by Korca’s commercial apple growers. As part of AAC’s technical improvement package the outreach team guides growers directly in their orchards on why and how to thin so that they retained just the right amount of premium apples while insuring a good crop for next year through good bud formation and differentiation.
While growers understand the value of thinning the amount of thinning varied from farm household to farm household. Some are more risk averse retaining more apples on the tree just in case something goes wrong.
However this year there is an added incentive to do the right thing and thin apples. The AAC team has facilitated a new value added component to apple thinning. They have established a new source of revenue for the apple culls that usually remain on the soil to decompose or worst serve as a host for pests. This year Korca’s thinned apples are destined for the fragrance industry of France.
AAC has linked grower clients with a local food processor who has bought over 25 tons so far this year. The immature apples are dried and packed for export to France.
“This is a new and very important source of new revenue for us” says apple grower Fernando Goga. What was a waste product has now become a value income source especially at a time when cash flow is very limited. With this new revenue source I can now purchase the inputs required to produce a quality apple product.”

GET Foundation and DAI support future farmers of Albania

2009-09-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

By Lennaert Boekweit

Marketing and selling fresh agricultural products through the internet is not the first item on the agenda of most Albanian farmers or farmer organisations. Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) aims to build capacity for commercial farming in Albania. In two trainings GET Foundation demonstrated the opportunities of e-commerce for agricultural products to students of the Economic University of Lushnjë.

In the past, Albania was isolated by strict communism and a high mountain range. The mountains are still there, but the economy has been opening up in the last decades. The use of internet can be the next step in making Albania’s economy more open. The most important economic sector is agriculture, since it provides income for nearly two-thirds of the rural population and accounts for close to a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. eFresh.com makes it possible to market and sell agricultural products through the internet.

This is why the economic students are very interested in the webinar. The students are working in a computer room in Lushnjë, while GET Foundation gives the training from Zaandijk. The training material and the live demonstration of eFresh.com are projected on a big screen and Denalda Kuzumi, an employee of DAI, translates the explanation. The students also get a chance to practice with eFresh.com and design their own StoreFront. In the final session we evaluate the results, so the students will be able to advise producer organisations in the future how to market and sell their products online.

Good Gardens- Healthy Children

2009-09-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

Good Gardens, healthy children
Profound environmental changes are affecting the health status of Pacific Islanders, especially young
children. Paul Sommers describes how a child-centred approach to improving home food growing and the
home compound environment has led to better family health.
Paul Sommers
The once environmentally pristine Pacific Island countries are undergoing major transition. Modernisation
over the past few decades has created profound environmental changes, especially in the newly settled towns
and commercial farming areas. Pollution of air and water, soil erosion and reef destruction are occurring at
alarming rates. The links between environmental deterioration and poor health - evident in dengue fever,
malaria, diarrheal disease and respiratory infection, as well as injuries from uncovered garbage - is only now
becoming better understood at all levels.
One community's strategy
UNICEF's Pacific Programme, particularly the Family Food Production and Nutrition Project (FFPNP), is
designed to address these issues by promoting an environmentally friendly approach to improving home
food growing. It promotes techniques which build on the knowledge, skills and local resources available to
households. With this brief background, I will share with you one Pacific Island country's strategy of
promoting food production to improve the home environment and family health. Honiara is the capital city
of the Solomon Islands. In 1986 a survey by health workers confirmed what many residents already knew:
their food and health situation were deteriorating and it was affecting the survival and development of their
children. Families were having difficulty purchasing enough good-quality food. The Honiara Garden Club,
through the Solomon Island Government, requested assistance from FFPNP to set up a programme where
families could grow at least part of their daily food needs.
Discussing problems and potentials
A plan of action was agreed upon. The first part would be a rapid appraisal in order to understand the
problems and potentials for growing food in town. It revealed a number of opportunities for enhancing the
overall home environment through first improving the environment for food growing. These included
land use issues such as how to improve soil productivity, how to grow food in a permaculture-type manner
on hillsides as opposed to shifting cultivation, as well as how best to convert household-generated renewable
and nonrenewable materials into useful resources. After this assessment, the Club's plan was to organise a
series of meetings to discuss these problems with the entire community. Suggestions were formulated for
action that the households and the Club would undertake, working in partnership. The final step would be to
develop a plan of action with the community to carry out the suggested activities. A total of 5 meetings were
organised by the Honiara Garden Club, scheduled over a 5-day period so that those who wanted to
participate could find a convenient time to attend. Radio Solomon Islands, the only radio station in the
country, provided publicity for the event as their community contribution.
Growing food in new surroundings
The meetings were attended mostly by women, who are traditionally responsible for growing food in the
village. The discussions were lively and free-flowing. The women easily identified the main technical,
cultural and economic problems contributing to their food insecurity. They discussed among themselves
why the problems were occurring and what needed to be done. The women were basically saying, "we are
responsible for our family's food system and our worth to our society is partly judged on our ability to
produce sufficient food. In our clan-based village environment, we could choose the best lands and shift
cultivation when the land became unproductive. But the Honiara environment is totally different. Here we
live on very small lots with a dry climate and coral soil. We never would use this type of environment to
grow food back in the village." In other words, they had neither confidence nor experience with food
growing in this new environment. In addition, they had brought only a few food plants from their outer
island villages, when they came to settle in Honiara. They were unfamiliar with many of the foods sold in
the public market and the shops. To start rebuilding their confidence, the Club organised home garden tours
as part of the workshop, so the women could observe and talk with other women about how they developed
their food gardens. It quickly became evident that this strategy of "look and learn" was very effective in
helping the women realise that their limited land could indeed be productive.
Action for family health
With the successful completion of the meetings, the staff of the Club began to concentrate on the problems
associated with undernutrition in Honiara's children. The key message conveyed to households was: good
home food gardens will improve the physical home environment and help improve the health of your
children. The Garden Club staff, together with the Honiara Town Council's Medical Division, designed a
strategy for addressing the needs of households. They called this the Family Health Workshop Series. Each
workshop series ran for 6 months in communities which had been assessed as having high health risks. The
first phase was a 3-day intensive workshop with interested community members. The entire family was
encouraged to attend. However, for various reasons, women and children were the main participants. The
first day focused on the importance of good nutrition and health. The first task was to tailor the main
messages to the actual needs of the community. This was achieved through a process of assessment, analysis
and action (Triple A) with the community. The Triple A process helped the participants identify the main
causes which had an impact on their child's health status, and to suggest practical activities they could
undertake immediately to improve the physical environment in which their child lives.
Starting from the child's environment
The staff used a simple framework to facilitate the discussion. The group looked at their young child's
environment, starting from conception through pre-school. They started by discussing the risks that an
unborn infant faces at the prenatal stage, if the environment within the mother's womb is unhealthy. If the
mother is underweight due to poor-quality food and/or exposed to infection due to air pollution from poorly
ventilated cooking areas or unclean drinking water, the child is at risk of low birth weight. Once the child is
born, it faces a different set of environmental challenges. Exposure to the hostile physical environment,
coupled with inadequate food intake, will affect the child's ability to survive and develop. Items such as solid
waste can be breeding sites for mosquitoes and rodents as well as sites for potential injuries from rusted tins
and broken glass. Once the group identified these issues, they looked at why they were occurring and what
they could do about it.
Improving the environment
The group realised that many of the nutrition and health problems of their children could be addressed
through improving their home environment. A good place to start were sites where they grow food. The
second day therefore focused on the activities of the Honiara Garden Service Centre. The centre provided a
practical venue for discussing solutions to the nutrition and health problems identified the day before. The
group observed simple techniques to enhance their home environment by using resources available to them.
For example, the idea of burying organic refuse was an unfamiliar concept to most women, especially those
that had been farming in the villages. Before the workshop, most households would gather the refuse from
around their home compound and pile it for collection by the Honiara Town Council. According to council
figures, more than 75% of the refuse collected was organic. The garden club staff demonstrated how to bury
the organic material, thus improving the soil while at the same time reducing the breeding site for rodents
and mosquitoes. Another example was the use of non-renewable solid waste materials such as biscuit tins
and used tyres. Previously, these items were usually strewn around the home compound, causing accidents
and mosquito breeding sites when full of water. The garden centre demonstrated how these discarded
materials could be made into containers for growing food. Wet areas that used to serve as insect-breeding
grounds were planted with moisture-loving plants. The garden centre also demonstrated sloping-land
farming systems and the benefits of polyculture. The group was thus exposed to a variety of practical
techniques that the women could apply immediately upon returning home that day.
Growth monitoring
On the third and final day in the first phase of the Family Health Workshop Series, the importance of growth
monitoring was discussed. This was designed to encourage women to become more actively involved in
monitoring their child's growth. Women learned about the significance of a change in the direction of their
child's growth line and the action they need to take if growth is faltering. The second phase of the Family
Health Workshop series consisted of half-day sessions each month over a period of 4 months. Each session
focused on just one new-food growing technique and one new food recipe demonstration. Issues related to
nutrition and child health were also discussed. The child growth chart was used as the main entry point for
the discussions. The third and final phase in the Family Health Workshop Series was held during Month 6
and was designed to reinforce the topics previously covered during the previous phases.
Encouraging results
Activities undertaken by the staff of the Honiara Garden Club have increased food availability and food
security as well as improved the home environment. The club's activities came to be known as "sup-sup"
garden, a pidgin term meaning everything that goes into the soup (main meal). It has received praise as
perhaps the most popular community activity in the country's young history. A recently completed national
nutrition survey funded by UNICEF showed that, of those interviewed in Honiara, nearly 20% of the
households had started growing food in response to the project's activities. Improvement of existing gardens
has also been significant. Low income families estimate that, by growing food at home, they now save up to
20% of the money they used to spend at the market on fresh foods. The Honiara experience has
demonstrated that a process of working with the community, using a child-centered environmental
improvement approach and emphasizing home food production as a starting point, can be the beginning of a
process which will result in a sustainable healthy environment.
Paul Sommers
.

Apples to Market Albania

2009-03-19T02:19:00.000-07:00

apples to the buyer-Korca Albania

2009-03-19T02:17:00.000-07:00

Urban Agriculture

2009-03-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

IDRC: Research Programs: Cities Feeding People: Reports Index------------------------------------------------------------------

Cities Feeding People
CFP REPORT SERIES Report 9

Promoting Urban Agriculture: A Strategy Framework for Planners in North America, Europe, and Asia
by

Paul Sommers and Jac Smith
The Urban Agriculture Network, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Presentation to Habitat 94 in Edmonton, September 20, 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF URBAN AGRICULTURE

3.0 URBAN AGRICULTURE'S MULTIPLE PURPOSES

3.1 Food
3.2 Income
3.3 Recreation
3.4 Cultural preservation

4.0 ADAPTION TO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

5.0 CHALLENGES FACING THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN AGRICULTURE

5.1 Environmental improvement
5.2 Waste management
5.3 Crime prevention
5.4 Urban development
5.5 Inter-city enterprise zones
5.6 Child nutrition programs
5.7 Health care
5.8 Education

6.0 CONCLUSION

7.0 REFERENCES

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Urban agriculture is an integral part of life for hundreds of millions of people throughout the cities of the world. Many valuable programming lessons have been learned from activities in Asia, Europe, and North America. These experiences need to be shared with city planners and managers in order to further refine on-going efforts and spread the benefits to those denied access to urban agricultural activities.

This report has two sections. The first part of the paper will present a general description of the significance of urban agriculture; who practices it, why they do it, and where its done. The second part presents a planning framework for expanding urban agriculture activities or for establishing an urban agriculture program.

2.0 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF URBAN AGRICULTURE

If there is one common denominator amongst urban people of the world it is agriculture. Urban agriculture, the production of crops and livestock, is practiced by people from all walks of life: elites and recipients of social welfare; gang members and ladies clubs; the physically and mentally impaired; seniors and kids alike. They grow for different reasons, in all types of locations, and use very different production methods. The numbers show just how significant urban agriculture is:

* In Poland 28% of urban families are involved in urban agriculture activities. There are over 900,000 plots on 42,000 hectares of land. It is estimated that a further 700,000 families are waiting to purchase a garden plot. (Smit,et al. 1993) Approximately 30% of Russian food is produced on only 3% of the land in suburban "dachas" (Center for Citizen's Initiatives 1993).

* In former West Germany, 800,000 garden allotments covered 24,000 hectares.

* Urban agriculture in the Netherlands is estimated at 33% of total production. Plans call for a "rim city". Rotterdam to Amsterdam will serve as the "tire" with agriculture as the "hub".

* Urban agriculture in Sarajevo is alive and growing. Since the start of the blockade 2 years ago, self- reliance in urban food production, is estimated to have grown from 10 % to over 40% for vegetables and small livestock .

* In the United States, metropolitan areas contain 33% or 696,000 of the estimated 2 million farms in 1991. These farms, which operate of 16% of farmland, account for 35% of all crops and livestock sales (Heimlich and Barnard 1993). Approximately 25% of all household are involved in urban agriculture. An estimated $38 million dollars worth of food is produced from urban plots. There are over a thousand municipal greening projects.

* New York City has over 1000 community gardens; Boston 400; and San Francisco 100. Philadelphia's "Green" Program, which spread to Canada, has an impressive record in urban agriculture. Montreal has 10,000 allotments. Toronto has nearly the same number. Vancouver's "City Farmer" Program has been running for 20 years.

3.0 URBAN AGRICULTURE'S MULTIPLE PURPOSES

The reasons why agriculture is practiced vary as much as the types of produce grown in an urban garden. For the poverty-stricken, it is often multi-purpose and a question of survival. For the economically secure, it is for exercise and recreation. Gardens also serve as a tangible form of cultural preservation. A survey conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) identifed over 40 distinct farming systems with produce ranging from medicinal herbs to aquaculture (Mougeot 1993).

3.1 Food

* For Poles, urban agriculture plots provide one out of every 15 kilograms. For retired persons it is one out of every seven kilograms. The cropping pattern is designed to maximize production. The garden structure is often a three-layer system with fruit trees at the top, berries below and, on the lowest layer, vegetables (Smit et al 1993).

* Most households in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Island Regions practice urban agriculture for a single reason: food. It is often the most direct means for obtaining a fresh, continuous, and healthy food supply to supplement the main parts of meals.

* A home lot will often contain more than 50 different kinds of plants, mixed together with livestock and, where feasible, fish.

* In South Pacific cities urban gardens often contain crops grown traditionally in outer- island gardens. Traditional root crops and vegetables are often too expensive for the poorer segments, so these grow their own.

* The small food gardens of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, are frequently a major component in a household's survival strategy. Seedlings are raised in homes during the long snow filled winter. At the first possible opportunity to plant, mobs of people can be seen busily planting every space available in their garden. A typical garden contains a multi-layer mixture of Mediterranean type vegetables, spices, herbs, fruit trees and grape vines. Once produce is ripe almost all the crops are processed and stored for future use.

* For the temperate climates of North America and Europe what portion of food needs can be met from an urban garden? The answer depends on a number of physical and climatic factors. One estimate is that a 10 meter by 10 meter plot in a 130-day growing season will produce enough vegetables to supply most needs year round. Nutritionally the plot would provide most of the vitamin A,C, and nearly 1/2 of the vitamin B complex and iron (Minnich 1983).

3.2 Income

* Income generation and savings are also major factors for undertaking urban agriculture. In Bangladesh, 10% of the total family income is often derived from small homelot food gardens (AVRDC,1991). In Honiara, the Capital of the Solomon Islands, surveys show that families save up to 20% from their previous food bill by now growing food that they once purchased (Solomon Island National Nutrition Survey 1991).

* Ringing nearly every major Southeast Asian city are small, intensively cultivated plots of vegetables. These plots are usually buzzing with activity as produce is continuously harvested and sold. The mini-states of Singapore and the Territory of Hong Kong, with some of the highest population densities anywhere, hardly come to mind when thinking about urban agriculture. However both places have thriving commercial food and flowers enterprises. It is estimated that they are both 30-50% self-reliant in fresh produce. In the major cities of the Southeast Asia, where land is available, households often design their productive land so that it has a multiple function; food production being one of these. A portion of the produce is used for home consumption and the remainder is sold.

* U.S. urban farms sell 13 times more per acre than non-urban farms (Heimlich and Barnard 1993). A League of Women's Voters survey suggests that 80% of urban buyers are willing to go the extra length to buy locally. The growth in the Montepiller, Vermont's weekend farmer's market, reflects the survey results. Small farms near the city are using more organic or environmentally friendly methods as their urban clientele tend to favor natural methods of production (Pulver 1993).

* Restaurants in Chicago and Washington D.C. buy over 80% of their vegetables from locally grown sources in season. The "Greens" Restaurant, one of San Francisco's most popular eating establishments, is known for it's nature-friendly fresh produce. It uses "greens" from it's Zen Buddhist organic farm in Marin County, some 15 miles away (Alexander 1983).

* Along the Southern California Coast, where real estate prices are some of the highest in the US, urban agriculture is alive and well. Ornamental, especially cut flowers and potted plants are commercially grown in green houses and open fields next to homes valued at $500,000.

* The Los Angeles riots of 1992 illustrated the need to engage youth in meaningful economic activities. Urban agriculture has proven to be a successful example of how to attract youth do undertake constructive work. Post-riot rehabilitation funds were used to create a 7.5 acre community garden. Over 100 families are involved. In a related project, gang and potential gang members are involved in raising a variety of salad herbs and spices. Their garden produce is used as ingredients in a salad oil that is marketed in South-Central L.A. and other parts of Southern California.

3.3 Recreation

* Europeans love their gardens. The situation in Zurich is typical of most European cities. One of the most sought after urban privileges is being allotted a piece of garden land near your residence to create your own world of food and flowers. In Berlin 15% of the city is used for urban agriculture activities. All 80,000 garden allotments are occupied with a further 14,000 persons on the waiting list. Annual rents are as high as $400.00 US.In the growing season, especially on weekends, families can be seen tending their gardens and sipping refreshments in front of their tiny cottages built as part of their garden allotment.

3.4 Cultural preservation

* In the Makaha area, on the Island of Oahu, a native Hawaiian group has developed a parcel of land that is both a working farm and cultural preservation site for native traditional Hawaiian plants and cultivation practices. In Tauton, Massachusetts, it is easy to identify homes owned by families of Portuguese decent: the lots are covered with grape vines (Treves 1994).

4.0 ADAPTION TO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Urban agriculture fits no specific geographic location. It is done wherever land is available. Private lands, public lands, legally and illegally. In many low income urban communities on the East Coast of the US, abandoned lots which added to the urban decay scene are now being converted to community garden sites, managed by local community residents:

* The Green Guerrillas in New York City are helping to establish gardens, wherever space is available in Harlem, the South Bronx, and the Lower East Side.

* The Chicago Botanic Garden's "Green Chicago" outreach program helps neighbourhoods to create gardens, especially on the South and West sides.

* The Tilth Group in Seattle has the P-Patch Program that works with neighbourhoods to create gardens.

* In Hawaii, the Honolulu City Council allots land along the Ala Wai waterway. They provide improvements including fencing, water facets, and storage sheds for tools.

* In L.A.'s densely populated San Fernando Valley (which was once all agriculture) the only remaining large, scale urban agriculture is done in the floodplain area. Commercial enterprises grow sod lawns and summer vegetable crops on lands leased from the city.

* In Yerevan, the sky over city streets serve as food growing sites. Grape vines are trained on trellises to arc over roads.

* Rangoon, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok, etc. small water loving crops are grown in canals that run in front of houses.

* In Suva, Fiji and Stockholm, front lawns are quickly being converted to garden plots. In parts of Taipei, food is grown on trellises over water canals and along rail lines. Nearly every square meter of land is planted with something. Floating gardens, constructed on bamboo rafts, can be seen in front of homes along many of the clangs or waterways of Bangkok, Thailand. Residential lots on the edge of Hanoi City use an agricultural system locally known as VAC. Crops (food and flowers), livestock, and fish are grown in a closed agro-ecosystem. Each part of the system uses and supports the other. Balcony and roof top gardens are common place in European, North American and Asian cities.

In summary, urban agriculture is practiced by a variety of people and is done for a wide range of reasons. It is undertaken wherever land or space is available: residential plots, public access areas, abandoned or vacant lands, balconies, canals, rooftops, etc.

The success of urban agriculture is a result of both individual efforts and government supported initiatives. What should be the role of urban planners and city managers in accelerating the expansion of urban agriculture activities?

5.0 CHALLENGES FACING THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN AGRICULTURE:

Urban agriculture is an ideal tool for the city planner to work with. Urban agriculture potentially fits into nearly every major on-going program in urban centres today. These activities include environmental improvement, solid waste management, crime prevention, health care, child nutrition programs, redevelopment/inter-city enterprise zones, and education.

The strategy framework for strengthening and accelerating urban agriculture is straightforward. A strategy workshop on urban agriculture is an effective method for raising its profile among planners. The workshop could review current city government programs; identify opportunities for including an urban agriculture component into existing programs; and identify resources from government and the private sector that could be tapped to carry out activities (Sommers 1991).

5.1 Environmental improvement

There is near universal agreement that protection and further enhancement of the physical environment in urban areas is a top priority. Urban residents need greenery and they can be quite militant about it. The 1960's "Peoples Park" saga in Berkeley, California, is an example of the level of aggressiveness with which some are willing to protect greenery and prevent the spread of the asphalt jungle.

Promotion of urban agriculture as part of an urban environment policy is logical. As discussed previously, Europe, and North America have undertaken various practical agricultural programs which have resulted in an improvement of the urban environment. In general, Asia has lagged behind North America and Europe in implementing effective programs to curb pollution. Polish and Armenian gardeners use ecological cultivation methods and intensive production techniques which conserve and enhance the local environment. Chicago's Urban Forest Climate Project has been studying the effect of vegetation on the city environment. The study's conclusion was that a program to plant trees and create forest-like conditions would have a positive cost-benefit ratio (Mc Pherson, E.G. et al,eds 1994). The City of London was planned as a city with a 'green rim' of agriculture and forestry around it, though in practice, this has not worked as well as for other cities on the continent.

Land-use planning was strictly controlled in the former USSR and parts of Eastern Europe. Extensive use of high-rise flats insured that prime agriculture land was preserved. Most cities are heavily planted. Main streets are lined with trees and neighbourhood parks abound. However, this is not the case in Armenia, where Yerevan's urban forest is rapidly disappearing. Due to a chronic energy crisis resulting from a combination of the collapse of the USSR and continuing economic blockade, the residents of Yerevan are busy cutting trees all over town. Stumps have replaced streets. It is estimated that Armenia has lost over one million fully mature trees in the past few years, with no end in sight (Armenian Assembly of America 1994).

5.2 Waste management

The issue of the disposal of an ever increasing amount of refuse is a chronic problem for city authorities. Disposal systems are expensive to operate and fraught with environmental challenges. In recent years, a number of cities have introduced varying types of recycling programs to deal with the solid waste issue.

Urban agriculture should be a component of any solid waste policy. The City of Los Angeles has a pilot project in which residents must separate organic refuse from gardens and lawns from solid waste materials, such as glass and cans. These organic materials can be useful products for urban agriculture activities and the maintenance of scenic parkways.

Possibilities also exist for re-use of liquid waste. In Santee, California, waste water is reclaimed and used in a series of recreational lakes. The Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas uses purified effluent to irrigate its 52 hectare golf course.

Separation of waste at source is already being done in parts of Asia and the South Pacific. In the Solomon Islands, approximately 75% of total refuse put out for collection was organic and recyclable. The government felt that collecting this type of material was costly and unnecessary. It used a two-pronged strategy for addressing the issue. A radio campaign was designed, urging residents to recycle the organic material back into their homelot gardens. The second activity had the objective of earning revenue from the organic material. The remaining organic refuse was picked up and taken to a site where it was composted. The processed material was then offered for sale to the public or used to improve public parks and gardens. Observations show that households have listened to the radio campaign and responded by burying their organic refuse in their gardens.

A section of Fiji's Suva City Refuse Center has been converted into a commercial enterprise for producing flowers and ornamentals. Since the flowers and plants are not consumed, they pose no threat to human safety. (Some organic materials are contaminated by heavy metals and pathogens). The compost, which is rich in organic materials, could be safely used to produce non-edible plants.

5.3 Crime prevention

One of the most important issues of concern to urban residents in North America and Europe is the rise in violent crimes. This issue is also becoming a concern for residents of Asian cities. Statistics show that teenagers and young adults are responsible for the majority of violent crimes. Those that commit crimes or are predisposed to commit crimes often list lack of activities and of meaningful work as one of the main reasons for engaging in criminal activities.

Urban agriculture has been used successfully as a method for deterring would-be criminals and turning them into productive citizens. One success story is with L.A.'s inter-city youth who are growing a variety of salad herbs and spices and producing a commercial salad dressing. San Francisco has a prisoner training program that continues beyond release from prison.

5.4 Urban redevelopment

Decay is a part of urban life, in the US and parts of Europe. Every major city has sections that are characterized by abandoned or condemned buildings and debris-filled lots. These are environmental nightmares: they are physically unsafe and often serve as magnets for criminal activity. Urban agriculture should form a part of any program that deals with urban renewal. The United Kingdom cities of Sheffield and Birmingham have converted abandoned industrial areas into sites for urban agriculture. Successful examples from North American cities, which were mentioned previously, show that local communities will respond to the challenge of cleaning up vacant lots and transforming them into green centres for food and recreation.

5.5 Inter-city enterprise zones

Urban agriculture should be a component of any plan to establish an inter-city enterprise zone. Opportunities for the production of food and ornamentals abound. There is a need for small-scale food production centres specializing in ethnic foods and spices particular to the local residents in the nearby area. Ornamental horticulture is are particularly well- suited to sites with limited space. Flowers, indoor as well as outdoor plants, can be grown under nursery conditions. Supplying neighbourhood offices and businesses with fresh flowers and indoor plants through plant "rentals" are two very real possibilities.

5.6 Child nutrition programs

The nutritional status of low-income urban residents is disturbingly low, especially in some major US cities. Micronutrients that are present in fruits and vegetables are often consumed at rates below the minimum daily suggested intake. Since young children need only one cup of vitamin-rich vegetables daily to satisfy micronutrient requirements, urban food production may offer a partial solution to the nutrition problem.

A wealth of experience is available from the developing world on planning for nutrition improvement through urban agriculture. Two particularly successful programs are the Solomon Islands "Sup-Sup" Garden Project and the Thailand Vitamin A Improvement Project. The combined efforts of the Honiara City Council and the Sup-Sup Garden Club increased the total number of homelot food gardens by an impressive 20% in two years (Schoefield 1991). The New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Organization report identified the key elements in the successful promotion of urban food gardening:

o Thorough analysis of the factors impacting of child malnutrition.

o Identification of solutions using existing knowledge, skills, and resources of nutritionally at-risk households.

o Establishment of a neighbourhood garden service centre which provided: planting material and garden supplies from organic and solid waste materials, demonstration plots showing small-scale intensive food gardening, technical assistance at both the garden service centre and through visits to individual gardens, and a mass media campaign (Sommers 1991).

The Thai Project, Social Marketing of Vitamin A-Rich Foods, used a similar strategy to the Sup-Sup Garden Project. The main difference in the Thai project was the promotion of a single food, ivy gourd. An initial review shows that production has expanded and an increase in consumption by children has been recorded (AVRDC 1991).

Urban agriculture improves access by the poor and all residents to healthy, locally grown produce. Mothers and/or care providers receiving assistance from government nutrition program in North America and Europe could be encouraged to engage in small-scale food-growing activities.

5.7 Health care

The intense debate on what to do about universal health care in the United States is continuing. There is little argument that people need to take more responsibility for their own health, especially in making healthy food choices and in preventing non-communicable or life-style diseases. The cost to city governments, in terms of treatment and lost revenue from worker illness, is unacceptably high. Urban lifestyles, characterized by a sedentary life with a minimum of physical activity, is conducive to a number of health care problems. Most of these problems are unnecessary and preventable. Most health experts agree that the key to preventing many non-communicable health problems is a combination of moderate exercise and healthy eating habits, including a large portion of fresh fruits and vegetables. One hour of moderate work over a one week period (digging, planting, cultivating, etc.) will provide a significant amount of exercise to keep healthy.

In the Central Pacific atoll country of Kiribati, one urban district medical program used urban agriculture as a main primary health care strategy. It had become difficult for government to provide hospital care. Records showed that the majority of requests for hospital admission were for illnesses related to lifestyle including cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and health disease. The central hospital decided on a two-pronged strategy to address the health care crisis: reserve hospital services for mainly emergency injury cases and limit the number of patients with life-style diseases. The public health staff would begin a campaign to promote food growing. The theme of the campaign was to encourage people to take more responsibility for their own health situation. The treatment: more exercise and increased consumption of fresh produce. The method: home-gardening. The chief medical officer, who became known as the garden doctor, observed during personal visits to his patients that most had started small food gardens and were actively involved in the production and consumption of the produce (Takatio 1985).

5.8 Education

The issue of providing meaningful and relevant education to today's youth is an on-going challenge. Should urban agriculture be a part of the curriculum? All of the issues raised above clearly point to the fact that urban agriculture is a relevant and potentially vibrant part of urban life.

A couple of options present themselves for inclusion of urban agriculture in the educational system. The role of urban agriculture should be blended into existing curriculums. The Vermont-based Food Work's Project has developed a primary school curriculum based around agriculture and the environment (Peduzzi 1993).

Guidelines for including urban agriculture could be developed and presented through in-service training courses. Another opportunity is through the offering of urban agriculture as a occupational training course. The Los Angeles Unified School District, through its Occupational Center Program, offers certificate courses in agricultural occupations relevant to the urban environment. Young adults, out-of-school youth, and adults needing to be retrained develop business and technical skills in nursery management and lawn and garden maintenance. The Los Angeles Tree People teaches urban ecology to over 60,000 school children each year.

6.0 CONCLUSION

This paper was designed to stimulate creative thoughts on ways to effectively plan for urban agriculture. In sum, urban agriculture is alive. Its roots are firmly planted in the cities of the world. It has grown through individual initiative as well as through government and non-government organizations.

Cities that have urban agriculture programs need to expand them. Those that don't need to start. Perhaps no other activity touches so many aspects of urban life. The benefits of urban agriculture are known. With effective planning urban agriculture can grow and blossom into its full potential.

7.0 REFERENCES

Alexander,M . 1983. Personnel Communication.

Armenian Assembly of America. 1994. Deforestation Alert. Report to Non-Government Organization Committee.

Asian Vegetable Research Development Center. 1991. Household Gardening Experiences in Asia. Center for Citizen's Initiatives .1993.

Davidiants, Vladimir. 1994. Armenian Monthly Public Health Report. U.S. Center For Disease Control.

Heimlich,R and Barnard,C. 1993. Agricultural Adaption to Urbanization: Farm Types in United States Metropolitan Areas. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Mc Pherson, E.G. et al,eds.1994. Chicago's Urban Forest Ecosystem:Results of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project Minnich,J.1983. Gardening for Maximum Nutrition. Rodale Press.

Peduzzi,C. 1993. Personal Communication.

Pulver, L. 1993. Personnel Communication.

Schoefield, P. 1991. Evaluation Report: UNICEF Pacific Island Family Food Production and Nutrition Project. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Organization.

Smit,J.;Ratta,A.;Nasr,J. 1993. Urban Agriculture:Resource for Food,Jobs, and Sustainable Cities. UNDP. New York.

Solomon Island Ministry Of Health. 1991. Solomon Island National Nutrition Survey.

Sommers, P. 1991. Household Food Security in the South Pacific. South Pacific Commission Head Of Agriculture Conference,Tahiti.

Sommers, P. 1991. Testimony Select Committee on Hunger, U.S. House Of Representatives.

Takatio,T. 1985. Personnel Communication.

Treves, J. 1994. Personnel Communication.

US Department of Agriculture. 1991. Statistical Abstract, 1991.

Edilble Landscape-Pomona

2009-03-19T01:55:00.000-07:00

29, 2001
W.O.R.K.S. — 1139 West 6th Street — Los Angeles, CA. 90017 — (213) 202-3930 — www.worksusa.org
Open spaces and designated play areas add to the family friendly
atmosphere at Park William. Putting Down Roots in Pomona
Residents of Park William in Pomona are reapingbenefits of community gardens designed
by students at Cal Poly Pomona.
By L.C. Greene, Staff Writer

The scent of sage filled the air at the opening celebration Saturday at the Park
William apartment complex in Pomona, California's first Tenant Cultivation
Affordable Housing Development.
The 31-unit urban village, interlaced with vegetable and fruit gardens rather
than ornamental plants, provides a place for the tenants to grow their own food.
"It's the best living environment for me and my family socially and economically—especially economically," resident Perry
Frazier told the gathering at the dedication ceremony.
Ten-year-old Betsy Sanchez said Park William is a great improvement over her previous home. We have more freedom. In my
old apartments we didn't have a playground and no place to ride our bikes," she said. In addition to a playground and gardens,
the complex features a computer room with six PCs and computer classes for the children.
The idea behind the garden apartments came as the result of a chance meeting between project developers and Cal Poly
professor Paul Sommers of the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. Sommers said he and his students wanted to
create a garden environment meaningful to the residents in terms of food and energy conservation."The residents don't want to
make a choice between heating or cooling their homes and food," Sommers said.
The gardens are watered with low maintenance and economical drip
irrigation. The residents pick the fruits and vegetables to be planted.
A number of the plants chosen are typically cultivated in Mexico
where a high percentage of renters originated, Sommers said. "We
could not generate interest and enthusiasm without their input," he
said.
The $4 million dollar renovation project was funded with county and
private funds. Money to help purchase the property came through
the county from the City of Industry. "The City of Industry sets aside
20 percent of its taxes for affordable housing," said Los Angeles
County Housing Development and Preservation Director Syed
Rushdy. The largely industrial town has no land for its own
affordable housing but has a substantial tax base, Rushdy said.
The two and three bedroom Park William units rent for between
$400 and $600 to residents whose household income ranks between
35 percent and 50 percent of the Los Angeles County median
income, said Los Angeles County Community Development
Commission spokesman Calvin Naito. Los Angeles County
Supervisor Gloria Molina said the Park William development will
serve as an example for future endeavors."This is an amazing model
that needs to be shared throughout the state," she said.
Betsy Sanchez expressed her feelings in the opening lines of a poem
she presented to the gathering dignitaries: "My sweet home is very
Park William families socialize and interact under the grapevine. fun; my sweet home is full of joy; my sweet home is full of fruits.”

Edible Landscape

2009-03-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

The Incredible Edible Idea

While visiting a renovated low-income apartment complex in Pomona California that had been turned into a lush, food-producing garden, Hunger Commission program manager Peggy Roark was struck by the idea of edible landscaping. It just made sense, and was definitely something that could be developed here in Sacramento. The edible landscaping project at Park Williams apartments in Pomona was implemented by Cal Poly professor Paul Sommers and a class of his students. To the best of our knowledge it was the first project of its type, but it has proved extremely successful. Though planting only began in 2001, the landscaping at Park Williams now supplies residents with a year-round supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, all of species from their choosing!
Edible Landscaping: The Concept

Though intuitively logical, edible landscaping has had very little practice, at least in the United States. Hundreds of years ago Old World gardens were filled with productive fruits and vegetables, but as 'farming' became more associated with peasantry, and 'gardening' became more associated with the upper classes, productive landscapes and gardens disappeared and were replaced by ornamental species. Edible landscaping is a renaissance of how we think about what we plant. If the words 'Edible Landscaping' inspire visions of the Garden of Eden, then you are getting the idea.

Surrounding low-income housing with food-producing landscaping logically furthers the Hunger Commissions mission to improve access to food that is affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate, but access is just one element of edible landscaping. Our project hopes to draw people out of their apartments or homes and bring the community together through the universal bond of food. Tying nutrition education to the palpable, and palatable, fruits of their labor will help teach residents about their nutritious value.

The Kennedy Estates Edible Landscaping Project is one of the first of its kind in California, maybe the United States, but we hope that it is a concept that spreads! Using the Kennedy Estates project as a model, we have created an Edible Landscaping Guide and Toolkit to provide advice to other individuals or organizations interested in instituting edible landscaping to improve food security in low-income areas.

Strawbale Cool Storage- Armenia

2009-03-19T01:46:00.000-07:00

ECO NEWS

Building from Waste

As part of a USDA (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture) project a building has been just been constructed in Armenia using what has up to now been considered a waste product. Built in October 2004 in Jurahovit village in the Ararat Valley was built to be used as a cost effective cold storage facility and has been built primarily of bales of straw. Straw is typically seen as a waste product and burned contributing to air pollution.

The vision of the project was to use the principles of sustainable agriculture to help farmers be more profitable, and they produced a building that can be build with no special labor skills, material costs 30% less than stone construction, labor is 80-100% less than stone construction and is 320% more efficient than 10cm of styrofoam. The village farmers will store fruits and vegetables in the cold storage and sell them later in the season.

For more information contact:

Paul Sommers USDA Armenia

UNDP Resident Representative Visit First Organic Farm Demo

2007-07-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

13.07.2007

Today the UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative together with invited guests and experts from Agribusiness Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Market Development Program (ASME) – DAI, USDA, FAO, RA Ministry of Agriculture, 'Ecoglobe', 'Shen', 'Green Lane' and others participated in the opening of the first organic demonstration farm (EcoFarm) initiated by the Armenian Organic Agriculture Foundation. The setting up of the farm was supported by UNDP and FAO.

Due to a multidimensional cooperation of the international and local key players in the agricultural sector of Armenia, the 'EcoFarm' with its 12 hectares of organically grown broccoli, potato, wheat, fennel, carrot, etc. in Dimitrov village, Ararat region, has become a reality and sets a ground for practical trainings, seminars and research projects in organic agriculture. 'This is a great chance to create a more eco-friendly environment in Armenia, reduce environmental damage from bio-chemicals and also develop an affection among farmers to the land after years of industrialization', mentioned Assistant FAO Representative Avetik Nersisyan. Such projects are also very important in creating closer ties among the farmers and leading to land consolidation and profitability of the agricultural products as was the case with the 8 farmers of the 'EcoFarm' project.

Paul Sommers, Deputy Chief of Party at Agribusiness Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Market Development Program (ASME) – DAI, stated that he witnessed the transformation of the agricultural sector in the country and the development is obvious. 'I am convinced that Armenians will keep up the good work and follow the traditions of their ancestors by shifting back to clean and organic-type nature based agriculture', he mentioned.

UN RC Consuelo Vidal also indicated the importance of such initiatives especially with its positive impact on the development of the agricultural sector in Armenia as well as great contribution to healthier life and cleaner environment in the country. She acknowledged the effectiveness of joint efforts towards this end.

Photos of Armenia's Landscape

2007-07-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

2006- first science project Armenia

2006-03-09T23:09:00.000-08:00

Apricot Harvesting In The Ararat Valley-2005

2005-07-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

Tony's Art Show-Yerevan

2005-07-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

2005-07-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

First Strawbale Cool Storage in Armenia

Paul Sommers, USDA MAP Marketing Advisor, invited Daniel Retz, an engineer and a Peace Corps volunteer, to build a straw bale building for cool storage in Jrahovit village funded by MAP. The local cooperative members helped Mr. Retz in construction. According to him, straw bale buildings, widely used in the West US and in many other countries, insolate the storage space far better than stone buildings. In addition, it is cheaper, faster, and easier to build. "This is a special application and can be suitable for both cool storages and for houses," said Daniel. The idea is to use this storage as a model. There are already people and projects interested in using this method for building social buildings and houses. As stated by Daniel, straw bale storages will also allow reducing air pollution: it can become a value added product for farmers when sold as building material rather than burning the straw as a waste product. Daniel Retz and the cooperative members learned by doing. Their experience can be used for other straw bail constructions. Jrahovit fruit grower cooperative will own and maintain this cool storage. A compressor, evaporators, condenser, piping, and other necessary equipment have been installed. Very soon the members of the cooperative will start storing their fruits and vegetables in this unique straw bale cool storage, which is the first and the only one in Armenia. Paul Sommers made noticeable efforts to make this project happen. Vachik Grigoryan, assistant-translator and Levon Yeritsyan, driver, also provided valuable help.

2005-07-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

October 2004 Homemade Vinegar Proves Effective in Controlling Weeds

Two groups of fresh herb growers recently participated in an experiment that has profound implications for improving crop management. They sprayed their own commonly made household vinegar (acidic acid) on weeds in their plots of tarragon and within one hour saw dramatic results: the weeds that they normally must remove by hand hoeing every 10 days were rapidly dying. "The results are simply dramatic" was the reaction of Alvard Tovmasyan and the 10 women of Nalbandian Village who witnessed the demonstration. The participants in Mrgashat Village echoed the same reaction. Four concentrations of vinegar were demonstrated: 6%, 10 %, 15%, and 20%. Dr. Sergey Yeritsyan of the AAA carefully prepared them. Growers under the supervision of Dr. Hrant Terlemezyan did the actual spraying. Nuneh Sarukhanyan of Agrogitaspir served as extension leader for the project. According to Sarukhanyan, the random plot findings showed that vinegar concentrations of 15% and 20% had the most immediate effect on weeds. However spray drift caused slight damage to the tarragon. The 10% and homemade 6% concentrated vinegar worked slower and also proved effective however they caused no damage to the tarragon crop. The idea for the demonstration came from Paul Sommers and Felix Vardarian of USDA MAP. "The idea was to validate research conducted by the USDA National Research Center at Beltsville under Armenian conditions," said Mr. Sommers." Vinegar is bio-safe, low cost, and is traditionally made by farm families. This successful exercise has great implications for reducing one of the most labor demanding and costly aspects of growing quality crops-weeds.

2005-07-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

Ricotta Cheese Introduced to Domestic Market A New First for Armenia

The story of Ricotta cheese, started with the young son of USDA MAP TDY, Paul Sommers. In asking mom to bake lasagna (Italian dish made with ricotta cheese) he triggered a chain of events, which has resulted in sales of this new MAP-developed cheese to top Italian restaurants in Yerevan. "When I asked MAP TDY Cheese Specialist Poul Hansen about the availability of locally produced ricotta, his reaction was sure it can be made locally," said Mr. Sommers. Ricotta is a by-product of the cheese making process. "Before I would remove the whey from the mozzarella and discard it. MAP has provided me with a low cost process of converting the waste stream of whey into a new product that is in-demand and profitable," said Myasnik Grigoryan, the owner of Balaki Lechak plant. MAP marketing team investigated retail sources of imported ricotta and contacted restaurants to identify their needs for it. Hansen began to work with a goat cheese producer in Vatoz Dzor to demonstrate how to make ricotta. Marketing investigations showed that ricotta was imported (on an infrequent basis) from Italy and sold at a retail price of 3,500 drams for 250 grams. Its shelf life was also very limited. The marketing team also learned that Italian restaurants were very keen to have a supply of good quality locally produced ricotta for hot pasta dishes and desserts. Ricotta is now produced and marketed by Balak Cheese. Myasnik Grigoryan, the owner says that he cannot meet the demand for ricotta. Also the combination of producing mozzarella and ricotta has meant the several fold increase in profits. "This quick action, high impact exercise has increased the efficiency of the Balak's operation, expanded markets, increased sales and profits," added Mr. Sommers.