If you go to ECHO category Dryland Farming you read;
“A large part of the surface of the world is arid, characterized as too dry for conventional rain fed agriculture.
Yet millions of people live in such regions,and if current trends in population increase continue, there will soon be millions more.
These people must eat, and the wisest course for them is to produce their own food. ”
It seems amazing to me that there is, in all these years, no Conversation about such subsistence farming! Why is this?
Is it because no-one believes that these subsistence farmers can produce their own food?
But is some countries they are doing just that, on degraded soil, and without any need to know of CA, AE, etc.
You can find out how by visiting the Jack bean project at [www.youtube.com/watch?v=--KdPEKLdbo]
Videos later, we hope, from Uganda/Kenya.
Graham Knight - biodesigndiy@gmail.com
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I am responding to what was written about us local farmers
who grow food for consumption and some for sale.
I would like to inform him since the introduction of the jack beans growing we have seen a very big change in the yield of food as well as rainfall pattern which used to be scarce now it rains well.
This natural crop has done as very well in terms of food we do not have hunger as we used to have.
Our soil is very fertile now.So,we need to plant more jack beans for our
good environment and to have good food not to use chemicals which is
harmful to both humans and environment.We pray for Graham to continue assisting us local farmers.Thank you.Yours Janet.
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Hello Graham, a very short response from my experience.
I am working with NGO and subsistance Farmers since 25 years in Africa and was leading a farm in Chad. From my experience, a lot of subsistance Farmers are suffering food insecurity, because the yield of their crop is low (among a lot of other factors, but this one is crucial). A lot of Farmers have a yield lower than 1t/ha for cereals. That is what they get with traditional farming.
So they need a change to have a better life, and if they practice conservation farming, agroecology, etc. that’s how they get 3t/ha of cereals and they are out of food insecurity.
I was using very often the Echo Dev. Notes to teach how to improve agriculture for susbsistance Farmers and I have seen how they change from 1t to 3 t.
Blessings.