Backgrounders
Backgrounders are brief introductions to important and technical topics and Answers to frequently asked questions share key information on a topic.
Use this information to plan an episode or series of episodes on the topic, to prepare for an interview, or to answer questions from callers.
- All
- Agriculture
- Aquaculture
- Children and youth
- Climate change
- Community development
- Crop production
- Energy
- Environment and climate change
- Gender equality
- Health
- Hygiene and sanitation
- Land issues
- Livestock and beekeeping
- Marketing and market information
- Nature-based Solutions
- Nutrition
- Post-harvest activities
- Social issues
- Soil health
- Trees and agroforestry
- Water management
Apply Water Evenly With a Watering Wand
Are all the plants in your nursery – plants such as coffee, tea, tobacco, spices, or tree seedlings – growing at the same rate? Getting the same amount of water to each seedling can help them grow more evenly. And having seedlings of equal size and vigour will get your crop off to a good…
Simple Precautions Can Prevent Malaria
This is a short story about how a group of people got together to fight malaria in their village. Their village was plagued with malaria. Malaria was making everyone sick. They had fevers. Their joints were sore. They had diarrhoea and stomach aches. Sometimes they vomited. Everyone knew these symptoms of malaria but not everyone…
Beekeeping – Part one: Have You Heard the Latest Buzz?
A few beehives could be an important addition to your life. You can sell the delicious honey and the wax that bees make to earn extra money. Honey and wax are worth good money on the market these days. And this is only a small part of the benefit that honey bees can bring to…
Uninvited Guests for Dinner: Managing the Cabbage Worm
Would you share your dinner with someone who has 20 legs? Would you share your dinner with someone who steals from you? Probably not, but this may be happening to you right now. In your garden the hungry cabbage worm (Artogeia rape or Pieris rapae) is busy eating part of your dinner. The cabbage worm…
Understanding Plant Disease, Part Two
Today we are going to tell you about some simple ways you can stop diseases from damaging your crops. If you do these simple things, your plants will have a better chance to stay healthy and free of diseases. Even if you don’t know the name of the disease that is hurting your plants, there…
Understanding Plant Diseases, Part One
Do you wonder why the leaves on your plants are curling up or falling off? Or why, for example, the grain doesn’t form on your rice plants? There are many possible reasons. But here’s one explanation. Your plants might have a disease. Today, we will talk about what diseases are, and why plants get diseases.…
Growing Vegetables When Water is Scarce
Save and edit this resource as a Word document If your garden seems to be drying out, don’t give up hope! You can grow lots of tasty, nutritious food even if you live in a very dry climate. Here are some simple things you can do to make the best use of the water you…
How to Treat a Fever
A fever is a sign that someone is sick. You need to treat a fever. You also need to find out what is causing the sickness. Treating a fever is the same for every disease. But the treatment for the many diseases that cause a fever are different. This is why a person must go…
A Nutritious Baby Food You Can Make
You probably know that the best possible food for your baby during the first four to six months of life is your own breast milk. Your milk has all the good things in it that your baby needs to grow and stay healthy. As your baby grows, the time will come when she needs more…
Cross-ridging Holds Precious Rainwater on the Land
Do your crops sometimes suffer from lack of water? If so, and if your land is flat or almost flat, what I’m going to tell you now may help you increase your crop yields next season. Sometimes when it rains, so much water falls in such a short time that it can’t all sink into…