Cassava or Yuca or Manioc, a perennial woody shrub with an edible root, is the third most important source of calories in the tropics. In the situation of economic and climate uncertainty world’s community is looking for more diversified base for food security, apart from the three staple crops, rice, wheat and maize.
The activities of the forum were basically finished already on the Thursday, and the last day was more a day of thanks and goodbyes, and of looking back at what's been accomplished. The goal of the forum had been to create a global movement for living soils, and to give energy to some tangible projects that may continue into the future.
We are approaching the end of the Living Soil Forum and so far we have seen many exciting sessions. The theme of today was to process the fruits of this week’s collaborative developments among the participants. The aim was to tap into the range of knowledge and experiences existing among us and figure out what the next steps would be to make our ideas or projects to come true.
On the third day of the forum, someone has been mentioning 'the FOMO syndrome' (Fear Of Missing Out), and I have personally felt it as simultaneous action-oriented workshops are going on while I'm updating the webpage from a weak wi-fi connection in the café.
The second day here in Järna and the Living Soil Forum kicked off with another 4 keynote speakers. The theme of today was that of a local perspective, compared to yesterday’s which had more of a global focus. In fact it was even 'hyper local', as one from the organizing team phrased it; with people from around Järna presenting.
Diversified agricultural systems along with sustainable and efficient management of resources and soil fertility are essential in order to improve and maintain land productivity. To reduce starvation and malnutrition, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and partners in Africa have dedicated funding for food security related research projects.
This first day of the Living Soil Forum has had the simple purpose for participants to arrive, meet, and get a sense of what issues are on the table for this week. As such, it has been only half a day of activities, where participants have met to present themselves and broadly identify and discuss problems and priorities for soil stewardship.
Naturskyddsföreningen released a new Report “100% organic? The agro-ecological and organic farming: role for food security and environment”.
In 2008 the world’s urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time in the history. This urbanization process is happening together with growing urban poverty and food insecurity and this trend is set to continue.