Resource Pack 60
Also known as traditional knowledge or local knowledge, indigenous knowledge is the wisdom held and shared by the people in your community, and passed down from generation to generation. It can be knowledge about farming methods, medicine, technologies, the environment, the spiritual world, or anything else that is important to a particular community of people. The disappearance of indigenous knowledge is a significant problem. Women and elders have an important role to play in preserving this valuable resource. For example, women possess an enormous amount of knowledge about food production and processing, medicine, child-rearing and other important survival skills.
Resource Pack 59
In rural areas as in urban areas, youth face disease, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, unsafe work environments, social exclusion, and limited opportunities for education and employment. Many choose to leave their rural homes in search of a better life. Our challenge is to involve youth as active partners in food security and agricultural production. We must do this by overcoming constraints such as lack of land, access to credit, and lack of education and training for both farm and non-farm activities; by providing income-generating activites in rural areas, and access to agricultural extension and other support services.
Resource Pack 58
Our January 2001 package features seven crops that are regularly grown and play a central role in diets in many parts of the world. One or more of them is probably grown by the farmers in your audience. They are: maize, rice, cassava, sweet potato, yam, green leafy vegetables and finger millet. Crops such as rice and maize are widely recognized as staple crops and are the focus of much research by scientists. On the contrary, minor millets such as finger millet, foxtail millet and proso millet, have been largely ignored by scientific research and as a result many farmers have stopped growing them.
Resource Pack 57
We focus attention on the important contribution that women make in their communities. As development workers, we want to raise awareness of the challenges that women face every day. Women’s work is poorly understood, undervalued and underestimated. Women in rural areas have very little access to information. They are mostly poor and illiterate. Inexpensive information technologies – such as radio – can play a major role in creating awareness, enhancing information exchange, and enabling women to adopt technologies and techniques with the potential to bring positive change.
Resource Pack 56
Since the beginning of organized agriculture thousands of years ago, farmer-breeders have developed tens of thousands of varieties of crops. Each crop and variety has specific uses, and together they act as a kind of crop insurance. Even in difficult growing conditions – drought, torrential rains, poor soil, or pest infestation – a farmer who has planted different crop varieties will still have a harvest. In this way, crop diversity – sometimes called biodiversity – contributes powerfully to local food security.
Resource Pack 55
The scripts in this package give many different examples of how to successfully grow trees with crops and livestock. Trees have many different uses. They can be used as fuelwood and as timber for building. They also supply food, fruits, nuts, fodder for animals, mulch, oils, resins and medicines. Trees also control runoff and soil erosion, improve soil fertility, provide living fences, and protect livestock from cold winter winds and summer heat.
Resource Pack 54
Water scarcity is the single greatest threat to human health, the environment and the global food supply. Users at all levels – individual farmers, as well as communities and governments – must take initiatives that offer sustainable and environmentally-safe solutions to improve water management.
Resource Pack 53
We examine the transition to sustainable organic agriculture. Specifically, we will examine the case of Cuba, the first country in the world to initiate a large-scale conversion from chemical agriculture to organic agriculture. The Cuban conversion is an example of what a country and a people can achieve. Many other nations today have severe economic problems and face food shortages. Cuba is proof that a country can successfully change direction, even in the face of an economic crisis.
Resource Pack 52
In this script package, we will look at the potential harmful effects of pesticides, as well as alternative pest management methods. We will then also examine the importance of proper sanitation and clean water to achieve healthy lifestyles.
Resource Pack 51
In this script package we will discuss livestock and poultry practices that can increase the health of your family and provide more nutrition and household income.