Franz Chávez interviews Bolivian expert in natural resource management WILFREDO QUIROZ
Wilfredo Quiroz / Credit:Franz Chávez/IPS

LA PAZ, Apr 3 , 2010 (IPS) – The gradual loss of traditional farming practices that preserve the land has pushed into extreme poverty small farmers in Bolivia who 20 years ago were producing surplus produce to sell at market and now are barely able to feed themselves.

This was the conclusion reached by agricultural engineer Wilfredo Quiroz, who is working on follow-up and evaluation in the Management of Natural Resources in the Chaco and High Valley Regions Project (PROMARENA), a Ministry for Development Planning programme that receives support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The project, which operates with a 14.9 million dollar fund, including 12 million from IFAD and 1.1 million from the national treasury, is aimed at reducing poverty and boosting food security in rural areas.

Continue reading about how Bolivia plans to fight hunger through eco-friendly farming practices….

The Forum is being co-organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as the first regional forum on food security to showcase Asia and the Pacific as an attractive region for increased public and private sector investments on food security related initiatives. It will also feature a Market Place allowing the private sector and CSOs to present their innovative products and services.

More details can be found at the forum website here…

The forum was participated by national and regional network in Asia and Pacific promoting food security / food sovereignty. The forum was well attended by key ADB staff from the NGO Section of ADB and the Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development Unit.

The forum aimed at identifying ways of expanding the spaces for meaningful participation of CSOs in ADB processes. The primacy of continuing the proactive work with the member countries of ADB in drafting the country partnership program (CSP) which is the basis of the bank’s assistance to its member was emphasized. CSOs urged ADB to improve its indicator system on social accountability that provide premium to participation of CSO beyond mere consultation towards adoption of relevant CSO inputs into actual policies and programs of the bank supportive of sustainable agriculture.

Have a look-see at the website of the FAO Civil Society Regional Consultation on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific Region. Available for download are the consultation proceedings, various documents and presentations during the activity. You can also view the activity photos.

The overall objective of the regional Civil Society consultations was to agree on a workplan for achieving a concrete civil society agenda with proposed outputs for the upcoming 30th FAO-Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Seoul in September 2010.  It also ushered in a new partnership among CSOs engaging FAO through the creation of the regional CSO Ad Hoc Committee  (AHC) for the APRC. Sixteen regional organizations representing small farmers and fishers, Indigenous Peoples, rural women and youth, and rural development NGOs have signed up participation in the AHC.

The AHC has completed a mission in Seoul in April to start-up the contact building and discussions among Korean CSOs who will play host to the event.  They have agreed to create the Korean CSO Working Committee (KoCWC) composed mainly of farmers associations and cooperatives. The AHC and KoCWC will have its first planning meeting in mid-June in Manila.

The first regional consultation process took place in Pasig City, Philippines on 24-25 February 2010. AsiaDHRRA was CSO host to the event with support from FAO.

IRRI News | 04 May 2010 | Los Baños, Philippines

Rice growers in Bohol, an island province of the Philippines, are expecting higher rice yields and income thanks to new japonica rice varieties developed in collaboration with Korea and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Early last month, as part of IRRI’s 50th anniversary celebrations and to commemorate the 45-year partnership between the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of Korea and IRRI, MS11, one of the new rice varieties, was ceremonially handed over to the Bohol Japonica Rice Growers Association by Dr. Jae-soo Kim, administrator of the RDA.

“This is our symbol of gratitude toward the International Rice Research Institute for helping Korea, through collaborative research, become self-sufficient in rice,” said Dr. Kim.

Japonica rice is a high-quality medium-grain rice that attracts a premium price in countries where it is not traditionally grown – including the Philippines. Usually it grows only in temperate climates such as those found in Korea, but Maligaya Special 11 (MS11) can grow in tropical climates.

IRRI Director General Dr. Robert Zeigler attested that “Korea, through the RDA, had remained not only a donor, but also a vital partner through the years in providing scientific support to IRRI.”

IRRI and the RDA started collaborating in 1963 by developing the indica/japonica rice variety Tong-il that can be grown in the temperate climate of Korea. Tong-il, coupled with a rapid seed multiplication program, helped Korea significantly raise rice production in the 1970s, transforming the country from a rice importer to a self-sufficient rice producer.

By 2008, MS11, the first japonica rice suited to tropical climates, was released in the Philippines, followed by its sister variety, Japonica 1, in 2009. These rice varieties outyield local tropical varieties and sell at higher prices – boosting farmers’ income.

RDA and IRRI plan to continue working together where RDA will contribute US$100,000 per year for 2010-2011, focusing on developing drought-tolerant rice using marker-assisted backcrossing, developing cultivars resistant to high temperature, and improving high-yielding Tongil-type cultivars and their adaptability to tropical regions.

RDA is also funding a $100,000 joint project that will address Asia’s impending food crisis caused by climate change and population growth. The joint project is seen to steer rice-importing countries in Asia toward self-sufficiency. “Asian countries should build an institutional model for agriculture,” said Dr. Kim. “This is the first and most important step toward achieving agricultural development.”

At the same event, RDA launched the book “Partnership for 50 Years Between IRRI and Korea,” documenting past experiences and the continuing association between the two institutions. A tree-planting was also held at IRRI, led by Dr. Zeigler, Dr. Kim, and the IRRI Board of Trustees, to symbolize the continuing relations between IRRI and Korea.

They sift the powder through their fingers, smell it and admire its soft, brownish shimmer. The members of the delegation from Japan, dressed in black suits and yellow helmets, stand attentively in a factory building in Leoben, Austria, marveling at a seemingly miraculous transformation, as stinking sewage sludge is turned into valuable ash.

Nothing suggests that the brown dust comes from a cesspool. It doesn’t smell, is hygienic and is as safe as sand in a children’s sandbox. It’s also valuable. The powder has a phosphate content of around 16 percent. Phosphate, the most important base material in mineral fertilizer, is currently trading at about €250 ($335) a ton.

Untreated sewage sludge was once dumped onto fields as liquid manure, until it became apparent how toxic it is. Human excretions are full of heavy metals, hormones, biphenyls — and drugs. New processing plants are designed to remove these toxins far more effectively than before, thereby paving the way for the use of sewage sludge in safe, human fertilizer. Ash Dec, the company that operates the pilot plant in Leoben, has dubbed the program “Ash to Cash.”

continue reading this interesting article at speigel.de …

From Kansas to China’s Sichuan province, farmers treat their fields with phosphorus-rich fertilizer to increase the yield of their crops. What happens next, however, receives relatively little attention. Large amounts of this resource are lost from farm fields, through soil erosion and runoff, and down swirling toilets, through our urine and feces. Although seemingly mundane, this process cannot continue indefinitely. Our dwindling supply of phosphorus, a primary component underlying the growth of global agricultural production, threatens to disrupt food security across the planet during the coming century. This is the gravest natural resource shortage you’ve never heard of.

continue reading about peak phosphorus from ForeignPolicy.com here …

Got this from our friend Diderik. HungerWednesday shares this informative book published by the

The world is experiencing a grain rush. With increasing frequency, food-importing countries and private investors are acquiring farmland across the developing world. This new publication, Land Grab? The Race for the World’s Farmland marks one of the first efforts in the United States to bring together perspectives from international organizations, farmers, and investors alike about a trend often referred to as a new phase of the world food crisis. Contact asia@wilsoncenter.org for a free copy or click on the book image above to download the PDF version. Edited by Michael Kugelman and Susan L. Levenstein.

Visit the website here…

Download the free PDF copy of the book here…

Cheap food causes hunger.

On its face, the statement makes no sense. If food is cheaper it’s more affordable and more people should be able to get an adequate diet. That is true for people who buy food, such as those living in cities. But it is quite obviously not true if you’re the one growing the food. You’re getting less for your crops, less for your work, less for your family to live on. That is as true for Vermont dairy farmers as it is for rice farmers in the Philippines. Dairy farmers today are getting prices for their milk that are well below their costs of production. They are putting less food on their own tables. And they are going out of business at an alarming rate. When the economic dust settles, this will leave us with fewer family farmers producing the dairy products most of us depend on.

This is the central contradiction of cheap food. Low agricultural prices cause hunger in the short term among farmers. And they cause food insecurity in the long term because they reduce both the number of farmers and the money they have to invest in producing more food.

Continue reading how cheap food causes hunger….

We will be posting hourly updates at the activity blog over at http://faocsofoodsecurityconsultasiapacific.blogspot.com/

The overall objective of the regional Civil Society consultations is to agree on a workplan for achieving a concrete civil society agenda with proposed outputs for the upcoming regional meetings, including for the realization of specific partnerships at sub-regional and regional levels.

The first regional consultation process will take place in Manila, Philippines on 24-25 February 2010 to be held in the Richmonde Hotel; 21 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

The consultation is being organized by a local NGO host, the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA) and with support from FAO.

The Regional Consultations will have the following specific objectives:

1. Update and assess existing mechanisms and their contributions relevant to food security and nutrition, including existing networks, alliances and campaigns.
2. Update and identify existing regional spaces for civil society engagement in policy dialogue regarding agriculture, rural development and food security.
3. Contribute to the progressive implementation of CFS reform with a focus on strengthening FAO regional conference processes, engagement and roles of CSOs/NGOs and regional actors, and ensuring direct links and integration with existing  processes relevant to food security and nutrition (including coordination at the regional/national level, monitoring/accountability mechanisms and development of a global framework).
4. Contribute to the development of FAO’s enhanced cooperation with civil society, notably through development of partnerships and regional platforms for exchange of information and action.
5. Nominate a specific team and develop a provisional agenda for a parallel meeting and consultation process during the FAO regional conferences.