http://www.agfax.net The poor condition of many rural roads causes frustrations and delays for millions of people across the world every day. For farmers and other rural businesses, poor roads also mean high transport costs, cutting into their profits. Unfortunately, in many cases government resources to improve rural roads are inadequate. The opening report in this month’s pack – Community action to improve rural roads – features the work being done by two community parliaments in Kenya to improve their local transport situation. The parliaments are mobilising people to work in groups to carry out improvements, and have been able to access local authority funds, as well as technical support. The parliaments are also helping the communities to have their voice heard by local politicians. In one of the communities the improvements have already had a significant impact in reducing transportation prices. Crop storage is another factor which can have a major impact on how much farmers earn from their crops. Prices are usually low at the time of harvest, but rise later in the year when supplies become scarcer. This means that if maize farmers, for example, can store their crop for several months, they may be able to earn a better price for it. However, smallscale farmers often need to sell their crop immediately, when the price is low, because they need money quickly to pay bills and buy things for their families. In Zambia a new scheme is being tried, whereby farmers are able to store their maize in a registered warehouse, and receive a receipt for the amount they have deposited. They can then use this receipt as collateral for a loan from a bank, enabling them to access money for their immediate needs, and release their crop for sale when prices are better, so earning a higher price for it. The warehouse system is explained in Obtaining credit on stored maize. Cassava is one of Africa’s most important crops – over 200 million people depend on it as a source of food. Disease is one of the biggest threats to cassava production, with cassava mosaic disease being a particularly severe problem. In Ghana, cassava farmers have been working with researchers to test hundreds of cassava plants to find varieties that suit their needs. Many of the plants had resistance to cassava mosaic disease, as well as other characteristics that made them attractive to farmers. Georgina Smith met with researchers and farmers to find out more about the work, which she reports in Breeding cassava the co-operative way. Lastly, our focus shifts from healthy crops to healthy livestock, in particular how to improve training options for vets. For vets in Africa looking to do further studies, to increase their expertise or their range of skills, up to now the only option available has been to do full-time, residential courses. For those living in rural areas this will normally require them to leave their homes and jobs in order to attend the course, which for many, particularly women, is very difficult. Veterinary training needs to change, to become more accessible and flexible. Fortunately, this change is already underway. Key African veterinary training institutions have recently established the African Universities Veterinary E-learning Consortium. The consortium will work to develop a curriculum for veterinary training which can be delivered by computer, drawing on the strengths of the different universities in different subject areas. In An online remedy for Africa’s vets, Susanna Thorp talks to members of the consortium about how significant this could be for veterinary training in Africa. en-PI http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ JellyCast http://www.jellycast.com p.harvey@wrenmedia.co.uk (wrenmedia) Science Mon, 22 May 2006 16:14:24 +0100 Mon, 22 May 2006 17:38:25 +0100 https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/files/pcimage-tn.jpg http://www.agfax.net 144 144 The poor condition of many rural roads causes frustrations and delays for millions of people across the world every day. For farmers and other rural businesses, poor roads also mean high transport costs, cutting into their profits. Unfortunately, in many cases government resources to improve rural roads are inadequate. The opening report in this month’s pack – Community action to improve rural roads – features the work being done by two community parliaments in Kenya to improve their local transport situation. The parliaments are mobilising people to work in groups to carry out improvements, and have been able to access local authority funds, as well as technical support. The parliaments are also helping the communities to have their voice heard by local politicians. In one of the communities the improvements have already had a significant impact in reducing transportation prices. Crop storage is another factor which can have a major impact on how much farmers earn from their crops. Prices are usually low at the time of harvest, but rise later in the year when supplies become scarcer. This means that if maize farmers, for example, can store their crop for several months, they may be able to earn a better price for it. However, smallscale farmers often need to sell their crop immediately, when the price is low, because they need money quickly to pay bills and buy things for their families. In Zambia a new scheme is being tried, whereby farmers are able to store their maize in a registered warehouse, and receive a receipt for the amount they have deposited. They can then use this receipt as collateral for a loan from a bank, enabling them to access money for their immediate needs, and release their crop for sale when prices are better, so earning a higher price for it. The warehouse system is explained in Obtaining credit on stored maize. Cassava is one of Africa’s most important crops – over 200 million people depend on it as a source of food. Disease is one of the biggest threats to cassava production, with cassava mosaic disease being a particularly severe problem. In Ghana, cassava farmers have been working with researchers to test hundreds of cassava plants to find varieties that suit their needs. Many of the plants had resistance to cassava mosaic disease, as well as other characteristics that made them attractive to farmers. Georgina Smith met with researchers and farmers to find out more about the work, which she reports in Breeding cassava the co-operative way. Lastly, our focus shifts from healthy crops to healthy livestock, in particular how to improve training options for vets. For vets in Africa looking to do further studies, to increase their expertise or their range of skills, up to now the only option available has been to do full-time, residential courses. For those living in rural areas this will normally require them to leave their homes and jobs in order to attend the course, which for many, particularly women, is very difficult. Veterinary training needs to change, to become more accessible and flexible. Fortunately, this change is already underway. Key African veterinary training institutions have recently established the African Universities Veterinary E-learning Consortium. The consortium will work to develop a curriculum for veterinary training which can be delivered by computer, drawing on the strengths of the different universities in different subject areas. In An online remedy for Africa’s vets, Susanna Thorp talks to members of the consortium about how significant this could be for veterinary training in Africa. WRENmedia wrenmedia p.harvey@wrenmedia.co.uk podcast No April 2006 Agfax radio service produced by WRENmedia The AGFAX Radio service has been running since January 2000 and is a widely used resource for radio stations throughout Africa. The radio service, offers the opportunity for regular radio interviews to be broadcast in English and/or local languages, by national, regional and community-based radio stations. Feedback on this service indicates that the material reaches a very wide audience of listeners. https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/7 Suggested introduction Veterinary schools in sub-Saharan Africa have joined forces to create an online training programme that will allow vets to study for postgraduate degrees while continuing to work. Postgraduate training for vets in Africa is currently limited to traditional full-time, residential courses. Concern over the lack of flexible, accessible courses and the need for veterinary training to cover a broader range of skills was the focus of recent meetings held in Naivasha, Kenya and in Entebbe, Uganda. The meetings were funded by the DFID Animal Health Programme, and brought together the deans of African veterinary schools. The outcome of the meetings has been to launch the African Universities Veterinary E-learning Consortium, known as AUVEC (pron. Ovek). Key partners to the Consortium are the African Virtual University, based in Nairobi and the University of Edinburgh, which has recognised and award-winning e-learning expertise, particularly in the medical and veterinary sectors. At the launch of the Consortium in Entebbe, Susanna Thorp spoke to several of the members to learn more about the objectives of the group. Paul Kanyari, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nairobi began by outlining the Consortium’s vision. TAPE IN "The vision that we came up with is to have a ... TAPE OUT ... benefits of this getting together in due course." DURATION 6'59" Closing announcement: Paul Kanyari of the University of Nairobi ending that report on a new consortium which is working to develop a computer-based veterinary training curriculum in Africa. Tue, 23 May 2006 10:35:30 +0100 Content https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/7 jellycast https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/7 No Podcast 00:06:59 https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/6 Suggested introduction At harvest time, when markets are flooded with crops, prices tend to be low. Those farmers who are able to store their crop can often earn a much better price later in the year. But storing a crop is, for many, not an easy option. Farmers may not have good storage facilities, so the quality of the crop is quickly affected. And farmers frequently have to sell soon after harvest, at a low price, because they need money for paying bills or buying household essentials. For maize farmers in Zambia, the development of a new warehouse system that gives access both to safe storage and to financial credit, could offer a solution to these problems. Six crop warehouses have so far joined the scheme. Warehouse staff have been trained and inspected by the Zambia Agricultural Commodity Agency, known as ZACA (pron. Zaka). Once good storage standards are in place, the warehouses become registered, and can then offer a guaranteed storage facility to farmers and grain traders. More than that, however, ZACA has also been working with the banking industry in Zambia, so that farmers, who are given a receipt for their stored grain by the warehouse, can use this to obtain credit. Mike Davison spoke to some of those who have been involved with the warehouse system, starting with Martin Hamusiya, chief examiner at ZACA. Martin began by explaining why being able to store grain is so important to Zambian maize farmers. TAPE IN "The Zambian market is very interesting ... TAPE OUT ... will be quick enough to help us." DURATION 7'05" Closing announcement: Roderick Nyendwa, secretary of the Kulya Nkona co-operative, ending that report on a warehouse system in Zambia that aims to offer maize farmers both reliable storage facilities and access to credit. Mon, 22 May 2006 17:35:55 +0100 Content https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/6 jellycast https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/6 No Podcast 00:06:59 https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/5 Suggested introduction How relevant can a tuber be to the economy of Africa? Cassava is one of the most important root crops on the continent, with over 200 million people depending on cassava for their daily intake of calories. In Ghana, the crop provides 26% of the agricultural GDP. So when a disease like cassava mosaic disease threatens crop yields and production, farmers are rightly concerned. There are better and higher yielding varieties of cassava available, but usually it is only scientists or researchers, who have access to them. Then, when they are finally given to farmers, they often do not meet local needs. So, the Crop Research Institute based in Kumasi, Ghana has tried out a different approach. In this project, farmers were asked to help choose cassava seedlings or clones, which would suit their needs for new varieties. In a move towards better farmer involvement, the scientists enabled farmers to have access to the wider and better range of seedlings available internationally. Both farmers and researchers selected their favourite seedlings or clones over three generations, giving both the opportunity to fully contribute to the final outcome of the breeding process. Georgina Smith visited Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana, to discover how asking farmers their opinion has yielded positive results all round. TAPE IN "Cassava – one of Ghana’s major crops... TAPE OUT ...to know where they will send their product." DURATION 6'35" Closing announcement: Oswald Ohene-Gyan ending that report on how scientists and farmers in Ghana are working together to identify disease-resistant and productive varieties of cassava. Mon, 22 May 2006 17:35:25 +0100 Content https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/5 jellycast https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/5 No Podcast 00:06:59 https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/3 Suggested introduction Pitted with pot holes, or swamped in sand or mud, the poor condition of rural roads causes frustration and delays for millions of people across the world everyday. And for those, like farmers, who depend on rural roads to transport their produce to markets, the impact can be especially severe. Even if transport facilities are available, they are often very expensive as vehicle owners try to compensate for the hard knocks their vehicles receive. However, in the districts of Kiambu and Kirinyaga in central Kenya, local people are developing their own solutions to the problems of poor roads. In the towns of Lari and Mwea, farmers, business people, transporters and others who use the rural transport network have elected community parliaments, enabling them to pool their ideas, access support from development agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and have their voices heard by local authorities. Mike Davison recently met with two of the parliamentarians, John Kariithi from Mwea, and Abraham Mburu, chairman of the Lari community parliament, who began by explaining their approach to rural road improvement. TAPE IN “We have mobilised the farmers … TAPE OUT … Yes very soon.” DURATION 6’15” Closing announcement: John Kariithi, explaining some successful initiatives of the Mwea Community Parliament in improving the rural road infrastructure. The community parliaments in Lari and Mwea have been supported by the Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technology (KENDAT), and the Crop Post-Harvest Programme of the UK Department for International Development. Mon, 22 May 2006 17:34:30 +0100 Content https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/3 wrenmedia https://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/node/3 No put some keywords here 00:06:59