safari ya kilimo
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
In this regard, a High Level Roundtable on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture was held in New York from 15th to 16th March 2012 with the purpose of deriving effective actions towards the implementation of ecologically, socially and economically sustainable agricultural and Food Systems....................................
Friday, April 20, 2012
An increase in mobile use can raise the annual GDP rate in developing countries???
Growing up in in my rural village, I remember owning a phone was reserved for a few individuals - the village elite who could maintain it 'buy airtime'. I remember my uncle warning me against buying a phone from the savings I accrued from burning and selling charcoal (Before I realized the need for conserving tree). "A mobile phone will eat all your money" he told me. To drive the point home, he told me that unlike human beings who runs on ugali served with vegetables, phones will always need money in them in form of airtime and that they devours it faster than one earns. He then advised me to wait until am "rich" before I could afford to buy and maintain one.
"An increase in mobile penetration can raise the annual GDP
rate in developing countries" Was a headline in one daily. Without looking at the content, my mind went back to what my late uncle told me and what am going through as a phone owner. In the context of my late uncle, this headline does not hold true but its no basis for dismissing. So the question is, what are the necessary conditions for this headline to be true? Leave your comments please
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
African ministers reaffirm ST&I commitments - SciDev.Net
The first African Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Youth Employment, Human Capital Development and Inclusive Growth has concluded with ministers announcing a range of resolutions to harness ST&I for sustainable development.
Initiatives to solve societal problems in areas such as water, health, information and communication technologies (ICTs), renewable energy and agriculture were also agreed at yesterday's ministerial meeting, attended by 57 government ministers with responsibility for science, technology and innovation,finance, planning and education.
They pledged to use ST&I as a driver for inclusive growth and youth empowerment, with a focus on entrepreneurship, through strengthened support for innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Read more here...African ministers reaffirm ST&I commitments - SciDev.Net
Initiatives to solve societal problems in areas such as water, health, information and communication technologies (ICTs), renewable energy and agriculture were also agreed at yesterday's ministerial meeting, attended by 57 government ministers with responsibility for science, technology and innovation,finance, planning and education.
They pledged to use ST&I as a driver for inclusive growth and youth empowerment, with a focus on entrepreneurship, through strengthened support for innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Read more here...African ministers reaffirm ST&I commitments - SciDev.Net
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Lest you din't know; stress significantly affects decision making
If an important decision looms but your mind is consumed with the fear
that you’ve lost your wallet, better save decision making for later.
Multiple studies show that stress significantly affects decision making.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Rural youth ditch farming for lucrative bodaboda business
Year in, year out, at the onset of every rainy season, Mr James Wanje, a Busia district resident, used to prepare his land for planting. With the help of family labour, the 34-year-old would plough their two-and-a-half-acre piece of land and thereafter sow various food crops.
“I planted maize on about one-and-a-half-acres of the land and other crops on the remaining piece. I used most of the harvest for my subsistence and would later sell some,” Mr Wanje recounted last week.
However, times have changed. Today, as rain clouds gather for another season, Mr Wanje cares less about tilling his farm or planting. He is busy all day long ferrying customers to various destinations using his bodaboda.
His drastic change of livelihood is mirrored by hundreds of young men in rural Kenya who have swapped farming for motorbike business.
The bodaboda industry is fast growing and is believed to be lucrative. It has attracted many young men all over the country, many of whom were engaging in agriculture.
Unfortunately, this has caused a worrisome trend, especially in rural areas, as it is the elderly who now till the land to feed their folk.
This pattern has raised the eyebrows of agricultural experts, who believe that motorbikes harbour a potential threat to food production in Kenya.
Like in other African countries, agriculture is the nerve centre of Kenya’s economy.
Currently, the country relies heavily on food imports from its neighbours in East and Southern Africa. Economic analysts blame sky-high prices of food for last year’s decline in value of the shilling against world currencies, where the local unit sunk to a historic low of 107 to the dollar in October.
A ministry of Agriculture report in January shows that Kenya intends to import over 600,000 bags of maize by June.
“Many youths are no longer interested in farming because there are readily available jobs and quick money in bodaboda business,” said Mr Mark Naimo, an agricultural extension officer in Western Kenya.
First, many youths are selling land inherited from their parents to buy motorbikes. And, second, others have shunned agriculture to seek jobs in the transport industry.
“Since most youths cannot afford about $1,050 (Sh87,360), which is the average price of a motorbike, they turn to land, the only resource available to them, and readily dispose it to buy the two-wheelers,” Mr Naimo said.
He noted that land sizes in most parts of rural Kenya are shrinking fast because of subdivisions. “I sold an acre of my land at $3,700 (Sh307,840) and used part of the money to buy two motorbikes at $1,070 (Sh89,000) each. I have employed someone to run one as I ferry people with the other,” said Mr Wanje. He now has just one-and-a-half-acre piece of land.
Mr Naimo says many youths lack patience — a virtue that agriculture demands. Erratic weather patterns have also weighed in, pushing young people to alternative sources of income.
“I planted maize on about one-and-a-half-acres of the land and other crops on the remaining piece. I used most of the harvest for my subsistence and would later sell some,” Mr Wanje recounted last week.
However, times have changed. Today, as rain clouds gather for another season, Mr Wanje cares less about tilling his farm or planting. He is busy all day long ferrying customers to various destinations using his bodaboda.
His drastic change of livelihood is mirrored by hundreds of young men in rural Kenya who have swapped farming for motorbike business.
The bodaboda industry is fast growing and is believed to be lucrative. It has attracted many young men all over the country, many of whom were engaging in agriculture.
Unfortunately, this has caused a worrisome trend, especially in rural areas, as it is the elderly who now till the land to feed their folk.
This pattern has raised the eyebrows of agricultural experts, who believe that motorbikes harbour a potential threat to food production in Kenya.
Like in other African countries, agriculture is the nerve centre of Kenya’s economy.
Currently, the country relies heavily on food imports from its neighbours in East and Southern Africa. Economic analysts blame sky-high prices of food for last year’s decline in value of the shilling against world currencies, where the local unit sunk to a historic low of 107 to the dollar in October.
A ministry of Agriculture report in January shows that Kenya intends to import over 600,000 bags of maize by June.
“Many youths are no longer interested in farming because there are readily available jobs and quick money in bodaboda business,” said Mr Mark Naimo, an agricultural extension officer in Western Kenya.
First, many youths are selling land inherited from their parents to buy motorbikes. And, second, others have shunned agriculture to seek jobs in the transport industry.
“Since most youths cannot afford about $1,050 (Sh87,360), which is the average price of a motorbike, they turn to land, the only resource available to them, and readily dispose it to buy the two-wheelers,” Mr Naimo said.
He noted that land sizes in most parts of rural Kenya are shrinking fast because of subdivisions. “I sold an acre of my land at $3,700 (Sh307,840) and used part of the money to buy two motorbikes at $1,070 (Sh89,000) each. I have employed someone to run one as I ferry people with the other,” said Mr Wanje. He now has just one-and-a-half-acre piece of land.
Mr Naimo says many youths lack patience — a virtue that agriculture demands. Erratic weather patterns have also weighed in, pushing young people to alternative sources of income.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA)
I thought you might be interested.......................
Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) is a program to provide free or low cost access to major scientific journals in agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences to public institutions in developing countries. Launched in October 2003, AGORA will provide access to 1900 journals from the world's leading academic publishers.
Led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the goal of AGORA is to improve the quality and effectiveness of agricultural research, education and training in low-income countries, and in turn, to improve food security. Through AGORA, researchers, policy-makers, educators, students, technical workers and extension specialists have access to high-quality, relevant and timely agricultural information via the Internet.
Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) is a program to provide free or low cost access to major scientific journals in agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences to public institutions in developing countries. Launched in October 2003, AGORA will provide access to 1900 journals from the world's leading academic publishers.
Led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the goal of AGORA is to improve the quality and effectiveness of agricultural research, education and training in low-income countries, and in turn, to improve food security. Through AGORA, researchers, policy-makers, educators, students, technical workers and extension specialists have access to high-quality, relevant and timely agricultural information via the Internet.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
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