Louisa Wong's blog

Smaller and bigger – why does it matter?

Louisa Wong — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 21:34:15 +0000

If a smallholder farmers in Central Africa earns an extra dollar, what kind of food would the farmer buy? The answer is - starchy staple food, fruits, meat and vegetables. If compared to a guy from a richer country like the United States, this guy would rather spend his extra dime on beverages and tobacco or dine out in a junky fast food chain to enjoy a cheeseburger with a diet coke. “The Afrint Project” is a study by from Lund University; Agnes D. was explaining in the Breakout session that her project team tries to find out the challenges faced by staple crop intensification in relation to farm sizes and urbanisation.

Bridging the gender gap

Louisa Wong — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 23:36:15 +0000

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) report, Lesotho is ranked first in Africa for bridging the gender gap and eighth in the entire world - with 95% of women able to read and write, compared with 83% of men. Women can take up important positions in the job market and can be as competitive as men. It’s only one side of the story. Lynn Brown was sharing her point of view about gender sensitive agriculture in the Breakout session about under-nutrition

Agroforestry and fruit diversity enhance food and nutrition security

Louisa Wong — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 07:38:54 +0000

During the first day of the Science Forum, we have 2 sessions of “knowledge share fair” for scientists to present and discuss their studies in digital format and a cozy setting with morning coffee and hot buns served. When I came into the room, there were already a few people crowded in front of a “poster”. Katja Kehlenbeck works for ICRAF- Would Agroforestry Centre in their Nairobi office in Kenya, and she was telling us how their newly developed model “Fruit tree portfolios” can identify local specific fruit tree sets, which help the Kenyan farmers to reintroduce fruit trees into their farms according to seedling availability and seasons. Katja was presenting in the knowledge share fair during SF 2013

Transition town – the story so far

Louisa Wong — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 21:34:55 +0000

Global warming, peak oil, climate change; GM seeds of the bio-giants BAYER and MONSANTO are ruining our biosphere; 40% of greenhouse gas emissions comes from the industrialized agriculture sector; – how to get from where we are now to an abundant, pleasurable and resilient future? The 65-minute long documentary film “Voices of Transition”gives us a concrete answer to this powerful question. Leigh Court Farm in England

How do Non-timber forest products help Nigerian farmers?

Louisa Wong — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:10:53 +0000

African bush butter, oil bean seeds, soursop fruits, bush mango, African bread fruit, African star apple, bitter cola… Do you know there are many edible fruits in Africa and they are socio economically important for indigenous people and farmers?

GIZ projects to promote urban agriculture

Louisa Wong — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:22:32 +0000

GIZ projects to promote urban agriculture On Wednesday morning, representatives from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH shared their experience on rural development projects in Africa.

I Have A Dream – Dialogue with Christian Andres

Louisa Wong — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 07:22:46 +0000

Christian Andres – a young scientist and a specialist on yam – a native plant in West Africa, is one of the 3 award winners of the Hans H. Ruthenberg Award for Graduates. This is a prestige award in the academia of agriculture for diploma or master thesis that contribute on food security research and reduction of poverty in developing countries. He is now working as a research assistant for production system at the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL). Chritian wrote his master thesis at ETH Zurich about fertilization of Yam with poultry manure and its effects on nutrient dynamics and nutrient use efficiency.

Rural bias? Reconnect urban and rural land use dynamics

Louisa Wong — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 06:43:42 +0000

What do we know about agriculture in urban city area and how can we connect urban and rural households and their livelihoods to the land in the modern context of urbanization? Gordon Prain a Senior Scientist for social and Health Sciences at the International Potato Centre presented on the topic of “The Dynamic livelihoods along the rural urban continuum – How can agriculture research and policy contribute?” as a keynote speech in the opening ceremony.

Get to know about Paulina from Mexico

Louisa Wong — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 09:13:38 +0000

Paulina is from Mexico and she has been living in Germany for 5 years. She is doing her masters in Hohenheim University in Stuttgart on Organic Agriculture and Food Systems. She is very much interested in rural development issues in the Tropical regions and she thinks it is a great opportunity to be a student reporter and do networking with students and professionals in the Tropentag, and to hear about current topics and first-hand knowledge from the presentations. Paulina hopes that she will find an inspiration for her master thesis topic from the ideas that she will collect from the conference.