AsiaDHRRA Online

A beloved friend and leader,  Gil P. Cua, 55,  succumbed to liver cancer on December 17, 2008.  A sudden departure for us. Though he had bouts of sickness the past months, he was diagnosed of cancer only last month.  The whole network and our DHRRA leaders mourn his death and extends prayers for his wife, [...]

Inquirer.net
JAKARTA—(UPDATE) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations took a major step towards becoming an EU-style community Monday with the passing into force of a new charter setting benchmarks for democracy.
The charter sets out rules of membership, transforms ASEAN into a legal entity and envisages a single free trade area by 2015 for the region of [...]

HungerWednesday brings this very informative article about how secondary crops can enhance household food security.
“Secondary crop-based agribusiness development will contribute to the stabilization of household food security by promoting crop diversification, improving and fulfilling nutritional requirements, absorbing farm labour and generating farm household income. In addition, secondary crops will play a role in maintaining diverse [...]

AsiaDHRRA together with ESCR-Asia, CODE-NGO and the U.P. Asian Center, sponsored the forum “Kasali Ka, Kasama Ka:  Discerning Relevant Applications of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Prospects of Ratification of the Optional Protocol in the Philippines and in Select Countries in Asia” on Dec.9, 2008, 8:30-12 noon, at Romulo Hall, [...]

AsiaDHRRA joins the rest of the world today in celebrating the International Human Rights Day. In this year’s celebration, the UN focuses on the theme “Dignity and justice for all of us”
Read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights here…
Some suggestions from the UN on how to participate in the worldwide celebration of Human Rights.

We mourn the death of Ka Vic Paglinawan, a model farmer leader from Mindanao, who also touched our lives in the region for his active participation in the regional activities hosted by AFA and AsiaDHRRA in the past years. During those times, Ka Vic Paglinawan represented PAKISAMA as its National Chairperson.
We fondly remember Ka Vic’s [...]

This is a very interesting reading although a bit old already. It presents how commercial foods depend on manufactured flavors for their taste and feel. “Mysterious, man-made “natural flavor” explains why most fast food — indeed, most of the food Americans eat — tastes the way it does”
By Eric Schlosser
Excerpt From Eric Schlosser’s new book’Fast [...]

JOHANNA CAMILLE SISANTE, GMANews.TV
MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippines will achieve rice self-sufficiency by the year 2013 if the government increases its investments into the agriculture sector, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said Monday.
In a public forum at the House of Representatives, PhilRice executive director Ronilo Beronio said increased technological and farm input support to [...]

FarmFriday is here again and we showcase this downloadable guideline on organic livestock production — it details the steps necessary to market livestock produce as ‘organic’.
The contents of this Primefact include:
* Role of livestock in organic farming systems
* Livestock nutrition
* Shelter
* Breeding
* Livestock welfare
* Livestock health
* Marketing
* Conclusion
* References
download the primefact here….

TechTuesday presents this interesting news article about how small farmers in South Africa are using cellphone to better manage their irrigation system.
Small scale sugar cane farmers in South Africa have managed to potentially reduce their direct irrigation costs by US$300 per hectare thanks to the use of a high cellphone technology system that is providing [...]

Are you an non-profit and want to post your all pictures in flickr but can’t because you dont have a pro account yet? well, worry no more. Flickr for Good is donating 10,000 1-year Flickr pro accounts to nonprofit organizations in partnership with TechSoup Stock.
So hurry on and visit Flickr for Good for details.
(via [...]

AsiaDHRRA extends it warmest congratulations to FFTC’s new director, Mr.  Jen-Chyuan Lee:
Director Lee is one of Taiwan’s leading research and development (R&D) managers whose professional commitment is the scientific and technological advancement of the agriculture and fisheries sectors in the Asian region. His professional experience speaks well of his managerial and administrative competence, having been [...]

FarmFriday brings this instructive list by Brenton Johnson of johnsonsbackyardgarden.com. (via http://www.organicconsumers.org)
1. Locally grown food tastes better. Food grown in your own community is usually picked within the past day or two. It’s crisp, sweet, and loaded with flavor. Produce flown or trucked in from Florida, Chile, Mexico, or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. [...]