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
Grow Moringa for Food and Fodder
An ideal tree to grow in the city or country is moringa (Moringa oleifera). Moringa will give you food, fodder, fuelwood and shade. Its pods make a tasty, nutritious vegetable. You can eat its tender leaves and flowers too. The leaves also make excellent livestock feed. Best of all, this useful tree grows quickly and…
Stone Lines Reduce Erosion
As a farmer you may live in a place where the land is dry. You might have noticed that soil blows around and that your crops don’t grow or are stunted. It may have started with a drought, or drought has made it worse, and you are worried that you will have to keep moving…
Prevent Erosion with Vetiver Grass
Vetiver grass (Vetiver zizanioides) can stop your soil from running away from home. Farmers all over the world use it to prevent soil from eroding on hillsides. It may work for you. If you plant vetiver close together in a row it makes a thick hedge. This hedge slows the flow of water down a…
How to Plant Bamboo Cuttings
The bamboo plant has many uses. It can be used to carry water, as a building material, and to control erosion on riverbanks. Yet not many farmers grow it. It just grows wild. Most types of bamboo grow shoots from underground stems called rhizomes. These shoots grow into tall, above-ground trunks. If you are planning…
Home care for people with AIDS
By the year 2000, scientists estimate that close to forty million people will be infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. There is the chance that someone you know or someone very close to you will get this disease. Even today, in many places, local health services cannot cope with the number of…
Clean your saltwater using solar energy
Save and edit this resource as a Word document. Water is as important to life as air. Unfortunately, not everyone has clean, drinkable water. Some areas only have saltwater, which you cannot drink without getting sick. But there is a way you can purify salty water using the heat from the sun. This heat is called solar energy.…
How much soil are you losing?
Save and edit this resource as a Word document. A farmer in Guatemala suggests a small experiment to calculate approximately how much land we lose to soil erosion every year. Soil erosion losses vary from field to field, so this experiment does not indicate exact losses. Some soils are resistant to erosion, some streams cause…
Good sanitation can help control bilharzia (schistosomiasis)
Save and edit this resource as a Word document. With a better understanding of bilharzia everyone in your village can learn how to control it. Bilharzia is a disease which comes from flat worms called flukes. These flat worms spent part of their life in snails and the other part in people. They burrow through your skin when…
Vaccinations protect your children from six serious diseases
Save and edit this resource as a Word document. When your baby is sick you take care of her. But, you can stop your baby from getting sick in the first place by vaccinating her against certain diseases. Vaccinations protect our babies from disease. You may recognize some of the diseases we can vaccinate our…
Use half-moon ditches to prevent soil erosion
Save and edit this resource as a Word document. You may live in a place where the land is dry and cracked. No trees, plants or crops grow there. Animals barely survive. You worry you will have to move to find better land for farming. You are not alone. Infertile land is spreading like a…