Climatefarming in northern Senegal

Definition Climatefarming en francais

Definition Climate Farming

Climate farming uses agricultural means to keep carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses from escaping into the atmosphere. Like organic farming, climate farming maintains biodiversity and ecological balance on productive, argicultural land. But climate farmers like Hans-Peter Schmidt go a step further and covert leftover organic mass into biochar, a solid carbon compound that can improve soil quality. Biochar production also creates a kind of gas that can then be burned to help generate power. A climate farm could grow food, generate power, and help keep carbon out of the air.

Climatefarming – Pour une agriculture durable

von Hans-Peter Schmidt

Le climatefarming est souvent décrit comme une méthode agricole au moyen de laquelle du CO2 est prélevé de l’atmosphère et stocké de façon stable dans le sol sous forme de carbone. Ceci pourrait permettre de freiner le changement climatique. Mais le climatefarming, c’est également un concept écologique durable pour l’agriculture du future, qui produira aussi bien des denrées alimentaires que de l’énergie et de l’air propre, encouragera la biodiversité et protégera le paysage.

Au travers de leurs feuilles, les plantes prélèvent du dioxyde de carbone contenu dans l’air et le transforment à l’aide de la lumière, de substances minérales et de l’eau en molécules carboniques. Lorsque la plante meurt ou pourrit, ou si elle est mangée et digérée, les molécules longues de carbone sont de nouveau scindées. Ce processus libère de l’énergie et donc du carbone qui, composé à plus de 99% de CO2, s’évapore dans l’atmosphère. (en savoir plus ...)

Google News: deforestation

Climatefarmingprojekt Öfen für Afrika

Donnerstag, 29. September 2011

New Agriculturist: News brief - Farmers reap benefits from bamboo

New Agriculturist: News brief - Farmers reap benefits from bamboo

Farmers reap benefits from bamboo

Farmers in Western Kenya are taking up bamboo farming (© Neil Palmer (CIAT))
Farmers in Western Kenya are taking up bamboo farming
© Neil Palmer (CIAT)

Tobacco farmers in Western Kenya are abandoning the crop in favour of growing bamboo after working with Maseno University's School of Environment and Earth Studies. The farmers, mainly from South Nyanza province, have been involved in the University's 'Tobacco to Bamboo' project, encouraging the cultivation and utilisation of bamboo as an alternative to tobacco production, which has degraded the area through the need for fuel wood to cure and dry tobacco leaves.

Farmers involved in the project have stated that tobacco production has led to increased poverty in the region, caused by high demand for fuel wood, exposure to toxic substances leading to serious health issues, and high labour demands which often require the whole family to be engaged in production. However, growers have been impressed by the bamboo's fast maturity noting that its planting does not involve numerous processes and it can be planted anywhere with little expenditure. Bamboo cane is now being used by farmers to build affordable houses and make a wide range of products from plywood to flutes and fencing.

Johnson Olweru, a bamboo farmer, has called on the government of Kenya to encourage the production of bamboo to prevent the destruction of traditional forest cover in the country. Bamboo has also been credited by environmentalists as an efficient means to offset carbon emissions.

Written by: Joseph Ojwang

Eritrea - Greening Eritrea (Part 2) - YouTube

Eritrea - Greening Eritrea (Part 2) - YouTube

1o tons of wood in the first year only with seawater!

Fighting desertification in Morocco | Global Ideas - YouTube

Fighting desertification in Morocco | Global Ideas - YouTube

Schwarzes Gold: Im Wald warten die Forscherauf Wunder - Region - DerWesten

Schwarzes Gold: Im Wald warten die Forscherauf Wunder - Region - DerWesten

Sonntag, 18. September 2011

Organic, no-till farming (Minifarms) | DESERTIFICATION

read at:
Organic, no-till farming (Minifarms) | DESERTIFICATION

Organic, no-till farming (Minifarms)

Read at : GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK

Organic, No-till Farming

The solution to world hunger is teaching the farmers to farm profitably and sell locally. There is a grassroots movement, around the world, for families and groups to produce their own food due to cost, flavor and chemical contamination. “There’s this belief that in order to stop poverty, we have to find ways to get people to stop being farmers. What we need to do is find ways to stop them from being poor farmers.” Amy Smith, MIT This can feed the world regardless of how high the population goes. The demand for local, organic, fresh food is unlimited in most countries in the world.

The following will do that! These are based on the internet, US & international agriculture magazines, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research data and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.

Organic, no-till farming, in permanent beds, using only a machete/corn knife/weed knife, doubles or triples yields compared to traditional ways, reduces labor 50% to 75%, reduces inputs/expenses to nearly 0 [buy only seed for new crops and green manure/cover crops], increases fertility, stops soil erosion [no rain water runoff], eliminates most weed, disease and insect problems and greatly increases profits if marketing. Use DIY drip or DIY bucket drip irrigation [made by farmer] to produce during the dry season and in areas of low rainfall.

These practices stopped the migration of farm families to the cities. [Honduras]. The majority of the food in develop-ing countries is produced by women farmers. They need help. There is unlimited, documented proof. There are 105,000,000 no-till hectares worldwide.

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visits, an Indian farmer has been no-till [vegetables] for 5 years, a Malawi farmer has been no-till [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years and a Honduras farmer has been no-till [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a no-till garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. I have been on farms where the farmer, alone, farms 10 acres [4 hectares], using only a machete [bush knife/corn knife].

Biochar, terrapreta - Google News

soil carbon or biochar - Google News

"Biochartechnologies" via Joerg