Comments on: Sharing solutions in West Africa

By: curtbeckmann

curtbeckmann — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:13:43 +0000

Bertie, thanks for the information and the links!

Publishing solutions online is a HUGE first step, and it's excellent that ILEIA and other orgs as mentioned (and many more) are sharing. If the rest of the problem solvers shared their solutions it would significantly reduce the reinvention of wheels.

By: Bertie

Bertie — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:07:04 +0000

I agree it would be excellent to have "a vast collection of articles on these topics and much more" online. In fact, ILEIA Foundation has worked on building up such a collection since 25 years. Our LEISA Magazine exists since 1984, and our articles on sustainable family farming, participatory technologies, seeds, food, biodiversity etc are all downloadable for free (most recent issues are still available on paper also). Our latest issue from Dec 2008 was on the theme how farmers adapt to climate change. Our forthcoming issue will be on diverse farming systems. We are working on a more effective search engine for our site. Also, we are working on a new educational series for small scale farmers, for the larger part online. Our partner organizations publish similar magazines in other languages, and also online. Like you I expect that in some years many more farmers in the South will have access to the internet. It is good to see that so many initiatives are going on gathering and sharing knowledge about sustainable small_scale farming through the web - like Appropedia, LEISA, e-Agriculture, TECA etc.

By: Village Chickens and Hard-boiled Eggs | Appropedia Blog

Village Chickens and Hard-boiled Eggs | Appropedia Blog — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:57:37 +0000

[...] which was doubling as a camera, apparently was not partial to the weather. After one photo (see my previous post), the software departed for parts unknown and did not return till end of day. I looked through a [...]

By: P2P Foundation » Blog Archive » The Peer 2 Peer University

P2P Foundation » Blog Archive » The Peer 2 Peer University — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:12:55 +0000

[...] we also face at Appropedia”. However, it’s not one that worries us greatly - as Curt Beckmann recently blogged, “I’ll bet a nickel that within five years most villages will have a resident with good [...]

By: Chriswaterguy

Chriswaterguy — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:00:20 +0000

I might suggest a form of microfinance that doesn't encourage members to kill each other and provide plots for mystery writers (just reading the Wikipedia article). ROSCAs are the ones that I've seen in Indonesia, but apparently exist in various countries.

Really interesting post, and I definitely agree that most villages will have some kind of net connection within a few years. Regarding farmers' knowledge, the truth is indeed complex. One thing that's certain, IMO, is that farmers in any context will benefit from better access to knowledge.