Global food crisis: Towards a 'doubly green' world

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I believe we should draw on all technical tools available to us for food production: conventional technologies such as fertilisers and pesticides, but used with precision; intermediate technologies such as improved treadle pumps; traditional technologies such as rainwater harvesting techniques; and new platforms for innovation based on scientific advances such as genetically modified crops for drought, pest and disease resilience.

Sustainable agricultural systems that have already had some success include conservation agriculture, where no-tillage systems have led to better water absorption and soil structure, and methods of integrating crop and livestock systems to improve soil nutrient management. They also include integrated pest management, where I and others have discovered that it is possible to better tackle some pests by reducing pesticide use in conjunction with other agronomic techniques; and systems of rice intensification, where specific agronomic practices have led to better yields using fewer resources.

As a scientist with more than 50 years of professional experience in tropical agricultural development, I am also a passionate advocate of multidisciplinary approaches that combine science and technology, environmental considerations and social and economic factors. I have also seen that political leadership is vital to ensuring that new approaches are championed, resourced and sustained.

Africa: Genetic Discovery Could Benefit Farmers

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Scientists have discovered two genes in cattle that may help African farmers improve their livelihoods by preventing premature deaths in their herds from the trypanosome parasite that causes "sleeping sickness".

The illness causes an estimated U.S.$5 billion in livestock losses annually for African farmers across an area roughly the size of the United States. The zone stretches from Senegal on the west coast to Tanzania on the east and from Chad in the north to Zimbabwe in southern Africa. It is known as the "tsetse fly belt" after the insect that transmits the trypanosome parasite.

The parasite is best known for causing illness in humans, but the more devastating effect on Africans has been on their cattle and livelihoods.

"Trypanosomiasis is probably the single largest disease affecting African cattle and restricts what farmers can do in large parts of Africa, so it's very difficult to use cattle either for grazing or more importantly for agriculture, for plowing and pulling carts," said Harry Noyes, a scientist at the University of Liverpool. Africans also keep livestock for milk and fertilizer.

Noyes co-authored the report of the study's findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. The discovery is a culmination of research by scientists at the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Britain's universities of Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh, and others

STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LAKE QARUN PROTECTED AREA IN FAYOUM, EGYPT

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To: Egyptian Government, Minister of Antiquities, Minister of Environment, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Governor Fayoum

In December 2010 Egypt’s Tourist Development Authority (TDA) sold 650 acres in the Lake Qarun Protected Area in Fayoum to the Amer Group, the Egyptian real estate developer responsible for the massive Porto Marina and Porto Sokhna tourist developments. The Amer Group paid a megre sum for this land (an annual fee of USD 0.01 per square metre). This is the first development of such huge proportions to be authorized in an Egyptian protected area.

Amer Group Chairman Mansour Amer is a former member of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party and reportedly has close ties to former president Hosni Mubarak. Since the fall of the Mubarak regime, many improper land deals have come under scrutiny. The former Minister of Tourism, Zuhair Garanah, is now serving a five-year prison sentence for corruption, and other government figures, prominent businessmen, and even the TDA itself, are currently under investigation.

Gebel Qatrani, where the development is to take place, is a desert area of outstanding natural beauty north of Lake Qarun. It has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it contains one of the world’s most complete fossil records of terrestrial primates and marshland mammals and remains critical to our understanding of mammalian--and human—evolution. Just last year, excavations there revealed the complete fossil remains of a prehistoric whale, new to science. In addition to its priceless fossil deposits, Gebel Qatrani is brimming with other prehistoric and pharaonic treasures, including the world’s most ancient paved road.

Porto Fayoum and other planned tourism developments in this area will also destroy bird habitats around Lake Qarun, which is a BirdLife International Important Bird Area (IBA).

The head of the Ministry of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass sanctioned the building in this area, despite its cultural, scientific and global importance. The former Governor of Fayoum supported the project against recommendations of experts and donors. Officials at Egypt’s Ministry of Environment opposed the developments, but were unable to stop the tourism projects, including the half-completed asphalt road around the lake.

If it goes ahead, Porto Fayoum will wreak untold destruction to this priceless natural and cultural heritage site, valuable to Fayoum, Egypt and the world.

Nature Conservation Egypt (NCE) and the signatories of this petition are calling on the Egyptian government to:

1) Rescind this illicit land deal and return this land to the Egyptian people.

2) Abolish all TDA jurisdiction in the Lake Qarun Protected Area and return the land to the Ministry of Environment’s Nature Conservation Sector, responsible for Egypt’s Protected Areas.

3) Declare the northern part of Lake Qarun Egypt's to be first UNESCO Geopark.

4) Take steps to protect this area’s rich natural and cultural heritage by developing the Geopark’s management and infrastructure, turning it into a genuine ecotourism attraction for Fayoum oasis and Egypt.

5) Undertake the necessary measures and procedures to declare the Gebel Qatrani Geopark as a UNESCO World Heritage Site to bring recognition to this area of global importance.

Success in England and Northern Ireland proves Greens are now seen as a real alternative in the UK

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In local elections on the 5th of May, Greens gained 23 seats in England bringing its total number of councillors to 61. The Party fielded 1,600 candidates across the country, with the biggest win in Brighton and Hove, where it gained 10 seats to reach a total of 23.

Caroline Lucas, Party Leader and MP for Brighton and Hove, said the Party's long-standing presence in the area was probably a factor. "We've had councillors here since 1996, people have seen Green policies in action, they like what they see, and they want more. The challenge, of course, is to scale this up and to spread it out more widely."

The bold & the Bin laden

It was weird for me as an Egyptian guy in the 20th to watch some of my friends follow a thousand episodes of an American TV series….i was wondering do not they get bored?? Do not the producers or the writers of that series get bored??

However I grew up also following another series which seems to be starting a new season…..war against terrorism with the hash tag Bin laden or Bin laden was the star of the previous seasons??….and I am still wondering do not the writers of this series also get bored ??

Those writers should acknowledge the needs of the reforming world in CHANGE……change even in the kind of drama driven to them….change with the hash tag this time of peace, nonviolence and sustainable development