Low-cost Potato Storage Technologies in Afghanistan's Central Highlands

Bamyan Valley cover with potato crops. Aug 2015 (c) Rafael Merchan

Growing potatoes in Afghanistan’s Central Highlands is easy. The narrow valleys in the provinces of Bamyan, Ghor, and Daikundi abound with rich, meters-deep, fertile soil. Its surrounding mountain peaks accumulate a thick snowpack during winter, providing plenty of water during spring and summer.  Using an intricate system of ancient irrigation canals managed by the farmers, every corner of the valley gets its share of water for the thirsty crop.

Sure there are some practices that could be done better. Farmers tend not to select potato seeds, planting many varieties as evidenced by the different colors in the potato flowers. There are viruses affecting the plants (early and late blights, Black scurf, and others), and from time to time farmers get considerable pest damage. Broadcast fertilizer is often wasted, rows are also very wide (wasted space where weeds can take hold), and the ridges are sometimes too high to properly absorb water.

But despite these issues, potatoes in the Central Highlands grow very well. The problem, however lies elsewhere.  Farmers in this region don't have an effective mechanism to store potatoes over winter.

Instead, farmers either sell their produce during harvest, or bury the potatoes in large pits they dig on their plots. None of these options are good.

During harvest – late August to early October – the price of potatoes usually drops from $.65 (US)  before harvest to no more than $.10. While this is not unusual for agricultural products,  farmers in Afghanistan are particularly vulnerable as they have few marketing opportunities to bargain for better prices or store the potatoes until prices come back up.

Potatoes damaged from frost (c) CRS

Those farmers who opt for traditional pits gamble with their harvest. When farmers open their pits in April/May, they often find half of their potatoes rotten or with freeze damage. This happens because dormant potatoes continue to 'breathe' during winter. Inside the pit the conditions get very hot and humid – a perfect environment for decay to take over the harvest. A 50% post-harvest loss is tantamount to losing half of your yearly income, as potatoes in region tend to be the only source of cash for farmers apart from goats and sheep.

In response to this, the organization I work  for has introduced a system that takes advantage of traditional practices, and improves it to reduce post-harvest loses. The Ventilated Improved Pit Storage (VIPS) – is a cheap and effective alternative to traditional pits. VIPS incorporates ventilation pipes and simple temperature and moisture management practices to improve traditional potato storage practices. Costing less than $10 (US), VIPS enable farmers to store potatoes until the following spring for seed, consumption, and sale (use this link can find more technical information about VIPS or watch a short video about it).

VIPS used a showcase in community in Chaghcharan. (c) CRS

The technology was introduced a couple years ago and now it’s spreading like wild fire.  Abdul Bashir, one of the farmers participating in the project, said that people in his village - Akhta Khana Bala, Chaghcharan District – were very skeptical at first. “We didn't think this pit would be any different from ours.” However, when they opened the VIPS in April, community members saw that none of the potatoes were rotten or frozen. Like Abdul Bashir, there are now more than 150 farmers in Chaghcharan district who have replicated the VIPS in their communities without project support.

VIPS Design (c) CRS/UC Davis

Promoting improved agricultural practices that are technically-sound, inexpensive, and culturally appropriate results in farmers’ trust. Farmers are too resource-poor to change their behavior for something they may consider risky unless they are totally convinced the technology works. Building their trust by showing how a practice can make a difference in their life is the best way to achieve agricultural development and increase the income of farmers.

Grains and Leaves: Weekly Ag-Related News, Events, and Others

Hi there fellow readers -

Here are some good links for your weekly reading list. Suggestions are always welcome. Happy reading.

• GMO-Free salt! The WSJ on how companies are finding profitable adding the 'GMO-Free' label to things that don't even have genes. 
• Meanwhile Scotland ban all GMO grown in the country, which amounts to a remarkable 0%!  reports Politico 
• Fred Perlak - one of Monsanto's renowned scientist behind Bt corn - gives a fascinating interview to the folks at Inquiring Minds. Also check out his Q&A session at Redditt 
• Thinking of buying organic? Not so quickly, the NYT reports on how organic food accounted for 7% of the foods recalled in 2014 - up from 2% last year. Now, if you're craving burgers, you may be better off buying 'organic'. The Washington Post describes how ground beef from grass-fed, antibiotic-free,  has fewer chances of having 'superbugs' (nasty bacteria). 
• Now this one got me worried - according to the Washington Post, eggs are getting more expensive and are not longer the cheapest source of animal protein. In some places they are almost six cents a piece! Luckily, here in Afghanistan they're still about 7 AFA (11 cents)
• For NGOs interested in doing 'Local and Regional Procurement' (a much better way to do food aid), check out CRS's new guide: MARKit: Price Monitoring, Analysis and Response Kit. It gives practitioners tools to monitor and adjust your program to market fluctuations. Also, if you're looking for other field-tested technical information on development interventions? Check out: http://www.crsprogramquality.org/ 

Goat Cheese Paradise - Shvil Izim

One of my favorite parts of visiting other countries is getting to know farmers. While I don't hold anything against large, mechanized farming, I'm a lot more interested in farmers that are more attuned to the environmental limits of their work, and are willing to challenge the conventional wisdom of modern agriculture.  Progressive farmers always offer a unique perspective, leaving you with new ideas and inspiring you to update your long-neglected blog.

Welcome to “Shvil Izim” or “Goat Path” a wonderful family-run goat farm, specializing in Agrotourism. Located in the serene rolling hills of Moshav Tal Shachar – Central Israel – Goat Path offers an excellent refuge from the busy streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Similar to Kibbutz, Moshav are communities organized around farming, where cooperation and democratic values are central to the community. In contrast to Kibbutz, however, each farmer owns and manages their own farm.

Two of those farmers are Ruth and Alon, the couple that started "Goat Path" farm in 2004. I had contacted Ruth a couple weeks ago about the possibility of attending one of their cheese-making courses. I’m expecting to have copious amounts of goat milk when the snow starts to melt in the Afghan central highlands, and what better way to preserve it than with some tasty chevre and feta.  So when Ruth graciously agreed to host us, we scheduled our visit to “Goat Path” as our first stop on our itinerary.

We visited the farm on an unusually rainy Friday, so the farm wasn't as packed as it would have been otherwise – Friday’s are their busiest days. We started out with a brief chat with Alon. He told us more about the farm, his background, and farming in Israel. Like pretty much any other country, small farmers often struggle to cope with the regulations and taxations of central governments that have little interest in the needs of small farmers.


According to Alon, he needs about 400 goats to have a herd that is economically viable. With only 40, the farm relies on people like us who are willing to pay a premium to try excellent cheese right at its source.

After the intro talk, we headed to the pen where Alon keeps his Alpine goats – one of the best breeds out there for milk production. On average, he gets about 3 liters per day, though some of his best performers can produce up to 6 liters. There were heaps of fodder everywhere, which explains why the goats look plump and healthy.

Alon then picked five goats and brought them up to the milking platform. Being a small farmer doesn't mean you have to neglect ag technology. The farm has a mechanized milking machine made by Afimilk that individually tracks each goat's production with chip technology. That way, Alon can identify goats that may show signs of trouble or ones with excellent production traits.

This time, however, went the old-fashioned route. Equipped with surgical gloves and a hair net to filter the milk, we sloppily started milking one of the goats. We only needed about a litter, so with Alon’s help we got there pretty quickly.

We then took the precious milk back to the farm where the magic began. Alon told us we were going to make Circassian goat cheese – a simple fresh cheese that requires less than an hour of preparation. We began by warming the milk to about 80 degrees C. Although it’s not needed, we added a tablespoon of yogurt to activate some cultures and then another tablespoon of vinegar to generate curds. I was surprised at how quickly the whey started to emerge. With great care, we took out the whey and filtered the curds. To finish it off, we added a pinch of salt, zetar and nigella seeds. So simple and yet so delicious.

Waiting for us to finish up a wonderful day was a plate of 5 different locally-made cheeses, ranging from fresh to several months aged.

All in all, a plate of cheese paired with delicious local wine was the perfect way to end our lesson - and a rainy Friday.  If you're looking for a place to reconnect with nature and enjoy local cheeses, give Alon and Ruth a visit. They'll be happy to show you around what's become their business and home.

Saying bye to East Africa

After a wonderful year in Malawi and Zambia, Agdes is now moving to Afghanistan. The pictures below capture the highlights of my time in the warm heart of Africa. More updates coming soon about the new location. For more pics, check out https://www.flickr.com/photos/rafamerchan/ 

Market in Chikwawa, Malawi

Indigenous Veggies - Chikwawa, Malawi

Local community in Nsanje, Malawi

Local maize silo, Chipata, Zambia

Local traders buying maize - Kasungu, Malawi

SILC/VSL Group, Chipata, Zambia

Cotton field - Zambia

Local stables. Mongu, Zambia

Input dealer - Kasungu, Malawi

A TED Classic: Cary Fowler - One seed at a time, protecting the future of food

Where does your food come from?

Thanks to @calestous for sharing:

Baobab - My Favorite Tree and its Juice

I’ve always been fascinated with big trees. Growing up in Colombia’s Cauca Valley, the beauty and magnitude of the Ceivas (Ceiba Pentandra) tree was an essential part of my childhood and its fantasy. I would see these giants on our trips around the countryside and think that they must be in charge of the forest: so tall and thick, they must control where other trees grow and animals dwell. I wasn’t the only one creating mythologies out of Ceibas. These giants were also sacred to indigenous cultures such as the Mayans, who thought that Ceibas were the link connecting heaven with the underworld - Xibalba.

Across the Atlantic, the Ceibas’ older cousins are equally fascinating. Growing in hot and dry climate, the baobabs (Adansonia Digitata) are part of the quintessential African landscape of most countries in the sub-Saharan region. Like the Mayans, many African cultures consider these remarkable trees a Godsend. In addition to being a revered meeting place for the community, the Baobab has plenty to offer for those living in harsh climates. Many cultures pound its bark to create ropes and textiles. The white flowers and green foliage are also edible. The water-proof fruit shells are hard as metal, and many people use them as calabashes or containers.

But if you already have a clothing and kitchenware and are not too keen on eating flowers, Baobab Juice is for you! Each fruit has dozens of small seeds covered in a yellowish pulp. This vitamin C-rich pulp makes a refreshing, effervescent drink called ‘Baobab Lemonade’ (despite the lack of actual lemons in the juice). Here in Malawi it’s Baobab season and I enjoy the juice so much that I decided to try making it at home. 

Here is how:

1. Travel to Africa and go to a place where it is hot and dry
2. Wait until the end of the rainy season when Baobabs start to fruit
3. Go to a local market and buy at least three large Baobab fruits
4. Find a hard surface, hold the fruits with a towel and smack them against the ground (hard!)
5. Try again, but harder!!!
6. Once they crack, open the outer shell to expose the seeds
7. Pull out all the pulp and put it in a big pot of warm water
8. Stir for a couple of minutes and then leave it sitting for a couple hours
9. Once the brown seeds are visible and the pulp is completely dissolved, drain the juice
10. In a blender, mix the juice with some lemon juice (here are the lemons!), sugar, and ice
11. Enjoy!

Promoting Agricultural Development with Video Technology

Readers of this blog are probably familiar with the impressive work of Digital Green, an international NGO which uses pico projectors to disseminate extension messages. Their work started in India and spread quickly to other countries in Africa and elsewhere. Today, they are reaching almost 90,000 farmers with more than 2,000 videos. The impact of their work has attracted the attention of donors and practitioners as we look for ways to improve the intake of extension messages. Governments are also intrigued by the possibilities of equipping extension agents with DG's approach.  In early 2014, the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture held a series of training workshops with extension staff to pilot video-facilitated extension in four regions of the country.

FHI360's Integrating Low-Cost Video into Agricultural Development Projects: A Toolkit for Practitioners, is an excellent resource for those considering the use of video platforms to strengthen behavior change messages. The toolkit allows practitioners to develop a more systematic approach to use low-cost video as one of the mediums through which they share information with farmers.

The toolkit provides the information in six modules, starting with examples on how video technology is currently being used. Besides showcasing the work of Digital Green, the guide also describes the work of InsightShare, One Media Player Per Trainer (OMPT), and Agro-Insight, a Belgium enterprise, also producing professional videos on various agriculture topics. Agro-Insight videos can be streamed at http://www.accessagriculture.org/ or purchased for institutional used.

Although briefly discussed, the guide elaborates on the benefit of multimedia learning, and how a combination of visual and audio inputs increases the effectiveness of your messages (see graph).

The subsequent modules walk practitioners through the process of deciding if video is the right approach, and if so, how to create, disseminate, and track video platforms.  The final module provides excellent information about the technical considerations for camcorders, projectors, and other types of software and hardware needed for these types of projects. 

IFPRI 2013 Global Food Policy Report

​IFPRI just published it flagship report examines the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2013. It puts into perspective the year’s food policy successes and setbacks, and suggests how to advance policies that will improve the food situation for poor people in developing countries.

Chapter 4, Sustainable Agriculture Intensification, is a must read. It reviews the different agronomic such as Conservation Agriculture, Organic Agriculture, and no-till, and provides an assessment on the impact of these practices in the cereals and grain yields. The report also has a series of shorter articles on hot topics, written by the heavy weights of ag. development - Spielman argues that new agronomic practices need more evidence, and Hoddinott reviews the different approaches to safety nets. Enjoy this excellent read!

Notes from the Field - Seeds and Voucher Fairs

Right before the Shire River meets the mighty Zambezi, in the Southern tip of Malawi, lay two of the poorest district in the country. This beautiful valley, dotted with baobab and sugar cane plantations, has very erratic weather, ranging from dry spells and droughts to flash floods.

Traditionally, development agencies have used seed distribution to help farmers mitigate the impact of these climatic shocks. Using the ‘Seeds and Tools’ methodology, farmers were given seeds based on what the development agency considered most appropriate. Unfortunately, this approach was based on a flawed assumption – that farmers are passive recipients of seed, instead of dynamic agents relying on a combination of formal and farmer networks to acquire seeds.

‘Seeds and Tool’ approach was therefore plagued with many problems: farmers often consumed (instead of plant) the distributed seeds, or tried to sell them in other markets. More troubling, given that these seeds may not have been adapted to the particular ecological conditions of a community, crops failed completely, leaving farmers worse off.

A much better alternative is the Seed and Voucher Fairs (SVFs). The principle of giving vulnerable farmers seed to help them cope with the losses from climatic shocks remains the same. SVFs, however, are fundamentally different in that they empower farmers by giving them a choice. Instead of distributing seeds from the formal sector, SVFs provide farmers with vouchers. Each voucher has a monetary value that farmers use to redeem seeds from local and regional suppliers. And it’s the availability of these local seed suppliers what makes the fairs successful, as they act as marketplaces where farmers can chose the bundle of seeds that best fit their preferences (soil, area, taste, market etc.).

The pictures in this post are from a recent SVFs conducted in the Chikwawa district. Farmers in some areas of the district had lost part of their crop to heavy rain and flash floods. Using the SVFs, we distributed seeds for the winter season which starts in April and ends in June/July.  A successful winter season would help farmers compensate for some of the losses from the last harvest.

Farmers rely on residual moisture and irrigation to grow crops during the winter season. The cold climate of April-June reduces evaporation rates, providing enough moisture for plants to develop. There are two important elements for a good winter harvest: first, farmers need to ensure the soil has enough mulch and organic material to retain water in the soil. Conservation agriculture provides a good toolkit on how to do this, using maize stover and other crop residues. Second, because the winter season is shorter, farmer need short-maturity seeds that reduce the need for irrigation when it starts to get hot and residual moisture is used up.  

During the fair, we brought local vendors of sweet potatoes, maize, groundnuts, beans, cowpeas, fruit trees, and vegetables (Mpiru – Mustard, Bonongwe – Amaranth, and Kamganje – Rape). Each farmer received vouchers to exchange for 10kb bundles of Orange-Flesh Sweet Potatoes, 5kg of Maize, beans, and cowpeas, 2 mango trees, and small package of vegetable seeds.

While SVFs are a much better alternative than ‘Seeds and Tool’, this approach is logistically more complicated. Establishing the right price for the vouchers, identifying the venues, mobilizing the community, and working with vendors are all things that require a lot of planning with multiple stakeholders. Last minute problems are bound to happen. During one of the fairs, one vendor ran out of sweet potato vines and another one didn't show up. In another fair, the extension agents told farmers to show up at a different time for the fair. We also had problem with farmers standing in line for way too long. In any case, these are minor issues that can be adequately addressed – we told farmers to pick up the maize and sweet potato at another nearby fair and we streamlined the process to redeem the coupons in the subsequent fairs.

Farmers in this part of Malawi continue to grow at subsistence and sub-subsistence  levels. They have few incentives to increase productivity as market links are weak and farm investment too expensive for farmers to afford. And while SVFs do little to address these underlying problems, the fairs help farmers ensure they can at least cope with the immediate damage caused by harsh weather. Having enough food to feed their family is the first step in supporting farmers as they transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture production. 

Useful resources:

• Seed Vouchers and Fairs A Manual for Seed-Based Agricultural Recovery in Africa -  
• Strengthening Smallholder Farmer Seed System   

Lifting Farmers out of Poverty in Malawi

This is a nice video that of WALA - a project that among other things supports farmers transition from subsistence production into commercial farming.

 

Now that Agdes is based in Malawi, expect to see more blogpost about agriculture and food security from the warm heart of Africa. 

Promoting Community Health Workers (CHWs)

Summer Plans

This summer Agdes will be working for CRS in their "5 Skill Program." These are the skill CRS has identified as essential to become more viable farmers and link more effectively to farmers.

The skills include:

• How to manage themselves as a group (developing and implementing a common vision, democratic decision-making, conflict resolution, etc.)

• Savings and financial skills (crucial for protecting and accumulating assets)

• Basic business and marketing skills (specifically how to identify an authentic market opportunity, and develop it as a business)

• Basic principles of sustainable production and natural resource management (how to maintain and increase the productivity of their natural resource base; also to understand the importance of natural resources and ecosystem services); and

• Technology and innovation skills (how to access, adapt and apply new technology to increase the productivity and profitability of their enterprises).

See video below. You can also find more information about the program at: http://www.crsprogramquality.org/five-skill-sets-for-farmers/

TED Talks about Food and Nutrition

Our friends from the FoodTank have compiled an excellent list of TED talks that touch on the issue of agriculture, food and nutrition. Watch and listen: 

1. Roger Thurow: The Hungry Farmer - My Moment of Great DisruptionThurow, author of The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change, explains the profound "disease of the soul" that hunger represents, and how empowering smallholder farmers can bring long-term sustainable health and hope to the people of Africa.

2. Mark Bittman: What's Wrong with What We EatBittman, a food writer for The New York Times, examines how individual actions--namely food choices--contribute to both the detriment of the climate and long-term chronic health diseases. He suggests that we eat meat in moderation because agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gas pollution than transportation.

3. Anna Lappe: Marketing Food to ChildrenLappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, questions whether multibillion dollar corporations should be marketing unhealthy foods to impressionable children, especially considering the numerous food-related health issues that are increasingly common among young people.

4. Ellen Gustafson: Obesity + Hunger = 1 Global Food IssueAccording to Food Tank co-founder Gustafson, the American food system has changed dramatically in the past 30 years; agriculture has been consolidated, new and cheap processed food have gained popularity, and U.S. agricultural aid abroad has decreased. These factors are major contributors to the current problem of one billion hungry and one billion overweight people on the planet.

5. Tristram Stuart: The Global Food Waste ScandalStuart laments how supermarkets, cafeterias, bakers, farmers, and other food producers are “literally hemorrhaging” food waste--the majority of which is fit for human consumption, but has been discarded because it is not aesthetically pleasing. He offers a radical solution: “freeganism,” a movement in which food that would normally be thrown away is eaten instead.

6. Brian Halweil: From New York to Africa: Why Food Is Saving the WorldHalweil, publisher of Edible Manhattan, was on track to become a doctor until he realized that repairing the global food system could help to conserve people’s health and wellbeing more. Halweil believes that the local food movement is a truly powerful medicine.

7. Fred Kaufman The Measure of All ThingsKaufman, from the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism, heralds the rise of a “Great Greenwash.” He further questions whether Wal-Mart and other corporations participating in the Sustainability Index are living up to their claims.

8. LaDonna Redman Food + Justice = DemocracyRedman, founder of the Campaign for Food Justice Now and long-time food activist, examines how the root causes of violence and public health concerns experienced by her community are strongly connected to the local food system, and are best addressed by making changes in that system.

9. Jose Andres: Creativity in Cooking Can Solve Our Biggest ChallengesChef Andres highlights the power of cooking. He demonstrates how we can tackle obesity and hunger using our inherent creativity. He urges everyone to turn simple ideas into big solutions--something we’ve been doing for centuries. Creativity and cooking are what he claims can give us hope for feeding the world.

10. Jamie Oliver's TED Prize Wish: Teach Every Child About FoodCelebrity chef Oliver has waged a revolution to combat the biggest killer in the U.S., diet-related disease, through food and cooking education. Using stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, WV, he shows how the power of information can defeat food ignorance and obesity.

11. Dan Barber: How I Fell in Love with a FishBarber tells a humorous love story starting with every chef’s predicament: with the worldwide decline in fish populations, how are we going to keep fish on our menus? He is skeptical of the current trajectory of fish farms, and asks whether they are truly sustainable. But there is a solution – Barber tells of one farm in Spain utilizing a revolutionary, yet basic idea: ecological relationships.

12. Carolyn Steel: How Food Shapes Our CitiesMeat consumption and urbanism are rising hand-in-hand. Steel, an architect, explains how we got here by tracing how human settlements have fed themselves through time and, thus, shaped our cities. But in today’s cities, our relationship with food is misshapen--it is disconnected. Steel suggests an alternative to urban design in which we use food as a tool to reconnect and interconnect.

13. Ann Cooper: Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our ChildrenCooper, the “renegade lunch lady,” wants us to get angry about what kids eat at school. She wants kids to eat healthy, sustainable food; but first, we all need to care why this should happen. In this talk, she tries to rally us around changing the financing, facilities, human resources, marketing, and food in the school lunchroom.

14. Ron Finley: A Guerrilla Gardener in South Central L.A.Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central Los Angeles -- in abandoned lots, traffic medians, and along the curbs in order to offer an alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys." He explains how his community is desperate for nutritional food, and why he thinks urban gardening is the solution.

15. Tama Matsuoka Wong: How I Did Less and Ate Better, Thanks to WeedsWong describes the path she took to discover that weeds are not only nutrient-rich, environmentally sustainable foods, but can also be quite delicious. She abandoned her career as a corporate attorney to become a professional forager, eventually founding MeadowsandMore, an initiative that teaches people to take advantage of the food resources right in their backyards.

16. Stephen Ritz: Green Bronx Machine: Growing Our Way Into a New EconomyMost of Ritz’s students live at or below the poverty line, and/or live with disabilities. But through his Green Bronx Machine project, he has turned their lives around. By teaching them the business of installing edible walls and green roofs, he has empowered his students to make a real difference in their own lives, in their communities, and beyond.

17. Angela Morelli: The Global Water Footprint of HumanityMorelli, Italian information designer and World Economic Forum’s 2012 Young Global Leader nominee, helps consumers visualize the enormous expenditures of water that occur daily in the food system using graphic design. In this talk, she explains the concept of the “water footprint”--something that is hugely affected by simple diet choices.

18. Birke Baehr: What's Wrong With Our Food SystemBaehr, at just 11 years old at the time of this talk, presents the most glaring problems in our food system with the directness that, truly, only a child could do. He gives hope that future generations will really lead the charge in changing the food system: "Now a while back, I wanted to be an NFL football player. I decided that I'd rather be an organic farmer instead."

19. Graham Hill: Why I'm a Weekday VegetarianDespite his “hippie” upbringing, Treehugger.com founder Hill is not a vegetarian. In this short talk, he explains his choice to become a weekday vegetarian, instead, and outlines the many benefits of choosing this lifestyle. 20. Joel Salatin: Thinking About SoilSalatin, the “lunatic farmer,” decries the modern farming practices that destroy necessary insects, create chemically engineered plants, and breed sick livestock, resulting in a “dead food system” based on a “mechanistic view of life.” He calls for a return to organic, natural farming and processing practices. 21. Roger Doiron: A Subversive PlotGardening is a subversive activity. Food is a form of energy, but it’s also a form of power.” This sums up Doiron’s persuasive argument as to why everyone should undertake the project of a home garden, and control their own access to fresh, hyper-locally grown produce.

22. Britta Riley: A Garden in My ApartmentRiley struck out to plant a garden in her tiny New York City apartment, and ended up developing an environmentally sustainable window garden - that yielded delicious results. Riley describes her method as “R&DIY - Research and Develop It Yourself.”

23. Arthur Potts Dawson: A Vision for Sustainable RestaurantsDawson has designed two environmentally sustainable London restaurants, Acorn House and Water House, that work toward eliminating waste entirely and using only clean energy. He explains how, by pursuing more projects such as these, the restaurant industry, “pretty much the most wasteful industry in the world,” can be reformed. 24. Ken Cook: Turning the Farm Bill into the Food BillCook, President of the Environmental Working Group, explains how farm subsidies are being placed into the very wrong hands; specifically, those of farmers producing corn only for fuel. His talk is a call to change the federal incentive system that is directly threatening the food on our plates.

Development Boy - A Parody Produced by Some Classmates

2012 Global Food Policy Report

Save the Bees

Check out the NYTimes reports on the bee crisis and its excellent editorial demanding action. While many questions remained unanswered,  I'm glad that the times, CBS, and others are covering the story and pressuring officials to respond. The culprit, so far, seems hard to identify. In the UK, studies have liked the bee crisis to increased use of a pesticide called neonicotinoids. Europe's Food Safety Authority said that these pesticides pose an unacceptably high risk to bees. Efforts to ban it, however, have failed. Stay tuned.

Al Jazeera's Inside Story on the Politics of Global Food Security

Much Needed Reform to Food Aid - We Hope

© Flickr: usaid.africa

What better way to end the month-long hiatus than by sharing the good new on food aid reform. According Politico, NYtimes and others, the Obama administration is expecting to announce a full transition to local procurement and cash vouchers. Instead of the sending containers full of US-grown commodities across the ocean, humanitarian and development organizations would soon be able to buy the food needed in regional and local markets.

Although I've written many times here and elsewhere about this, allow me to recap why I consider this a huge deal. First of all, our current system - in-kind food aid programs - is extremely inefficient and expensive. Most of the funding goes to pay for shipping and the food often takes months to arrive to its destination. In addition, the practice of selling food aid in local markets - monetization - can reduce local prices, leaving poor farmers worse off. The type of food is often not culturally adequate, and -with few exceptions-  it provides little nutritional value as it's mostly basic staples.

Local and regional procurement - the way WFP and other international donors do food aid - is much cheaper and efficient. Reporting for NPR's Morning Edition, Dan Charles interviewed Andrew Natsios (former USAID Administrator)  on the proposed changes to Food for Peace, the main program used to distribute food aid. According Natsios, when he first proposed the local procurement at one of the food aid conference in Kansas City, he was almost physically attacked. Virulent opposition coming from the shippers and some sector of the farm lobby prevented the reform from taking place.

I had the opportunity to visit one of the Kansas City Food Aid conferences few years ago while working for a small Nicaraguan NGO that relied on some USAID programs for its operations. The one thing that stuck in my mind was the shiny showcases the shippers used to allure contractors and NGOs into hiring their services when sending food aid across the ocean. I would later learn that close to half of our food aid budget goes to pay for these services.

Few stands from the shippers, my nostrils captured the smell of salmon coming from one of the corners. I followed my nose expecting a guy giving out delicious d'œuvres to find instead an Alaskan company sampling canned wild salmon used in food aid. While quite tasty, the cost of shipping these guys to places like Somalia, Ethiopia and Bangladesh takes up to 90% of the total tab American tax payers have to pay for the program.

Later in my career I had the honor to work with the USDA in a pilot program to replace in-kind food aid. Our proposal was one of the few in Latin America and the only one used to supply rural schools with fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy from nearby farmer cooperatives. I saw the tremendous impact programs like these can have in the communities where they are implemented. One of the farmer coops we worked with was able to expand its market to other costumers. In fact, a key factor behind the famous Brazil's Zero Hunger program was its local procurement for public schools, a model similar to the current proposal.

While we are all still waiting for the official announcement from the administration, I really hope this time we get it right. It wouldn't be the first time powerful lobbying groups and a handful of humanitarian organizations get away with maintaining our current broken system. I'll keep you all posted.

Reforming American Food Aid

Below are two key policy recommendation that Agdes has been advocating for a while. Thanks to The Chicago Council on Global Affairs for preparing the summary below and providing the leadership to support these important reforms. 

 

The 2012 US Agriculture & Food Policy Panel and 2009 Global Agricultural Development Leaders Group issued the following recommendations:

Increase funding for local purchase of food aid

US food aid would be more efficient and cost effective if the US transitioned to a more cash-based food aid system except in certain emergency situations in which a food donation is required.  A cash-based food aid system is a speedier and more cost-efficient way to reach beneficiaries in developing countries than shipping U.S.-grown food to low-income countries. Cash can also be distributed rapidly even to remote locations.  Local and regional purchases of food aid reduce delivery time by an average of 13.8 weeks, or by more than half the current delivery method, while stimulating agricultural development.  The transaction costs of a cash-based system are also lower than shipping food aid.  According to the FAO, approximately one-third of the total funds allocated for emergency food aid is spent on transportation costs.  Moreover, a cash-based system will allow local and regional purchases of food and stimulate local markets without artificially lowering prices. 

The United States is the only aid donor that still gives food in-kind rather than cash. Donation of U.S.-purchased food aid should continue only when local supplies are inadequate or nutritionally dense foods are not readily available.  These instances could include donations to refugee camps in famine areas or aid following natural disasters.

Scale down the monetization of food aid

Both task forces also recommended that the United States should scale down the practice of monetization.  The loss to taxpayers is huge considering the overhead costs, and the practice contradicts efforts to eliminate wasteful government spending.  The 2011 GAO report on reducing duplication in government programs and saving tax dollars found that the process of using cash to procure, ship, and sell commodities costs $219 million out of total budget of $722 million over a three-year period.  Almost 30 percent of the funds appropriated for development projects did not reach intended recipients due to the monetization process.   The GAO report concludes that monetization “cannot be as efficient as a standard development program which provides cash grants directly to implementing partners.”  Additionally, the sale of U.S. goods can drive down local market prices and discourage local food production.  Groups recommended that the US government transfer funds directly to nongovernmental organizations to conduct their development programs overseas.

About the task forces

The 2012 US Agriculture and Food Policy Panel was a bi-partisan task force led by Catherine Bertini, former executive director, UN World Food Program; August Schumacher Jr., former undersecretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, US Department of Agriculture; and Robert L. Thompson, professor emeritus of Agricultural Policy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.   The panel’s final statement, released in June 2012, included recommendations for how to modernize US food and farm policy to meet the production, nutrition, and environmental challenges of the future.

The 2009 Global Agricultural Development Leaders Group was a bi-partisan task force led by Catherine Bertini and Dan Glickman, former secretary, US Department of Agriculture.  The group released recommendations in February 2009 laying out the opportunities and benefits of greater US investment in agricultural development in Africa and South Asia as a means to alleviate global poverty and hunger and increase global food production.

More information:

• U.S. Agriculture and Nutrition Policy Statement: Transforming American Food and Agriculture Policy (PDF), June 2012
• U.S. Monetization Policy: Recommendations for Improvement (PDF), December 2009
• Renewing American Leadership in the Fight Against Hunger and Poverty (PDF), February 2009