Motley Moose – Archive

Julia Baird of Newsweek brings us a thoughtful page on a possible silver lining to our current economic woes.

Crossposted to The Suicidal Cactus Hour

One thing I’ve recently observed is the degree to which America self-corrects when selecting its leaders. It’s very interesting to compare successive presidents; the new president nearly always lacks the weakness the previous president had. Though of course he comes with his own flaws.

I’ll start with Jimmy Carter. Carter was known for being honest and a bit naive, in stark contrast to his predecessor Richard Nixon.

Carter, however, had a negative reputation for being an obsessive micromanager. He was replaced by Ronald Reagan – who was famous for leaving the details (and sometimes the whole plan itself) to his aides.

Reagan and the elder Bush were criticized as too old for the job. So along came Bill Clinton and Al Gore, the youngest presidential team in history, as the next presidential group.

Of course, Bill Clinton is remembered for his sexual indiscretion and the Monica Lewinsky affair. His replacement – George W. Bush – was widely characterized as morally upright and religious.

He was also characterized as stupid. Which is a criticism nobody would level at his successor Barack Obama – one of the most intellectual persons who has ever graced the high office.

And so the cycle continues onwards.

–Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is holding the third global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum this week in Rome, Italy. The Forum-which brings together more than 70 farmers groups from around the world-is an opportunity for IFAD and other groups to learn firsthand, from farmers, the challenges they face in the field.

On Saturday, the Forum held a workshop to discuss the unique challenges faced by women farmers. Women are the majority of farmers in the world-particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where up to 80 percent of farmers are women. In addition to the day-to-day problems faced by women farmers-including the lack of access to credit and land tenure-women also are underrepresented in farmers groups, associations, and unions, making it hard for their voices to be heard.

But by increasing women’s participation and representation in these groups, women and men farmers alike can work together to improve gender awareness, as well as improve their access to loans and agricultural inputs and land tenure.

Participants at the forum are also discussing the importance of increasing agricultural education among youth. Youth make up 60 percent of the population in rural areas and making agriculture an attractive and economically viable option for them in the future will be important for improving food security and livelihoods (See Cultivation a Passion for Agriculture).

Yes, our shiny new Senator for Massachusetts has learned his lessons well.

When called on a questionable piece of bluster, the best thing to do is to GO HARDER!

Crossposted, with puzzling formating issues, at The Suicidal Cactus Hour…

Today’s weather was bearable, for February in Michigan. The temperature was around 27°F and the air was calm when Al and I headed out for our walk. Our neighbor, Beau, who you met in an earlier diary, must have been craning his neck to see us as soon as possible. He practically sprinted out of his house before we even reached his driveway. Something was obviously up.

I’ve known Beau for a few months now, ever since he moved here from Mississippi. I know him well enough to recognize when he’s wearing a smug grin. It didn’t take long to find out what had put it there.

It’s the middle of February. Spring still seems far away. Politics is in its usual effed up condition. The economy is still in the doldrums. Life sucks. Except when you have a cat in your lap. Here are a few pet pics to cheer you up.

In a surprise announcement, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh has decided not to run for reelection, opening the seat for a teabagger like Mike Pence and giving more strength to the “Democrats implode” meme.

He made the decisions only DAYS before the deadline to file, while expected to file, and didn’t even tell Harry Reid or President Obama until AFTER his announcement

OK, let’s be clear, it’s not ALL of Utah, but rather, Utah State Senator Chris Buttars has a  cunning plan that he thinks will help their budget crisis. And possibly solve some of those pesky Evolutionists’ designs on their yow’uns’ hearts and minds.

Crossposted to The Suicidal Cactus Hour  

Kenyan farmers persevere despite cultivation challenges

By Nancy Karanja, Danielle Nierenberg and Mary Njenga

Omaha World-Herald

http://www.omaha.com/article/2…

Karanja is a professor at the University of Nairobi. Nierenberg is a senior researcher with the Worldwatch Insitute in Washington, D.C. Njenga is a Ph.D. student at the University of Nairobi.

Driving through the crowded streets of Kibera slums in Kenya, it’s nearly impossible to describe how many people live in this area of about 400 hectares, the equivalent of just over half the size of Central Park in Manhattan.

Everywhere you look, there are people. Anywhere from 700,000 to 1 million people live in what is likely the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa.

And despite the challenges people here face – lack of water and sanitation services, space and lack of land ownership are the big ones – they are thriving and living.

We met a “self-help” group of female farmers in Kibera who are growing food for their families and selling the surplus to their neighbors.

Such groups are present all over Kenya – giving youth, women and vulnerable people the opportunity to organize, share information and skills and ultimately improve their well-being while giving them a voice that otherwise would not be heard.

The women we met were growing vegetables on what they call “vertical farms/gardens.” But instead of skyscrapers, these farms are in tall recycled sacks filled with soil, and the women grow crops in them on different levels by poking holes in the bags and mainly planting seeds/seedlings of spinach, kale, sweet pepper and spring onions.

The women’s group received training, seeds and sacks from the French NGO Solidarites to start their sack gardens.

The women told us that more than 1,000 women in their neighborhood are growing food in a similar way – something that the International Red Cross recognized as a solution to food security in urban areas during the 2007 and 2008 political crisis in the slums of Nairobi.

For about a month, no food could come into these areas from rural Kenya, but most residents didn’t go without food because so many of them were growing crops – in sacks, vacant public land such as that along rail lines and along river banks.

These small gardens could produce big benefits in terms of nutrition, food security and income. All the women told us that they saved money because they no longer had to buy vegetables from the markets or kiosks, and they claimed that the vegetables were fresh and tasted better because they were organically grown – but that sentiment also might come from the pride of growing something themselves.

Mary Mutola has farmed on this land for over two decades. She and the other farmers – more women than men – don’t own the land where they grow spinach, kale, spider plant, squash, amaranth and fodder. Instead, the land is owned by the National Social Security Fund, which has allowed the farmers to use the farm through an informal arrangement.

In other words, the farmers have no legal right to the land. They’ve been forced to stop farming more than once over the years, and although they’re getting harassed less frequently, they still face challenges.

About a year ago, the city forced them to stop using untreated wastewater (sewage from a sewer line which they tapped into) to both irrigate and fertilize their crops. Although wastewater can carry a number of risks, including pathogens and contamination from heavy metals, it also provides a rich – and free – source of fertilizer to farmers who don’t have the money to buy expensive fertilizer in stores and other inputs. And because of longer periods of drought (likely a result of climate change) in sub-Saharan Africa, the farmers didn’t have to depend on rainfall to water their crops.

But even with the loss of their main water supply and nutrient sources, Ms. Mutola and the other farmers are continuing to come up with innovative ways of growing food crops – and incomes – from this farm.

In partnership with Urban Harvest, the farmers are not only growing food to eat and sell but, perhaps surprisingly, also becoming suppliers of seed of traditional leafy African vegetables such as amaranth, spider plant and African nightshade for the commercial vegetable rural farmers who supply the Nairobi city with these high-demand commodities.

Kibera farmers have always grown fodder for livestock feed for both urban and rural farmers. But by establishing a continual source of seed for traditional African vegetables, they’re helping dispel the myth that urban agriculture benefits only poor people living in cities.

Using very small plots of land, about 50 square meters, and double dug beds, the farmers can raise seeds very quickly. Fast-growing varieties like amaranth and spider plant take only about three months to produce seeds, worth about 3,000 Kenyan shillings (about $40) in profit. And these seed plots – because they are small – take very little additional time to weed and manage.

The future for these farmers continues to be uncertain. Their land could be taken away, the drought could further jeopardize their crops, and the loss of wastewater for fertilizer could reduce production. But they continue to persevere despite these challenges.

This is the Holiday which, as far as I can tell, is designed for Car Dealers more than it is to revere the men who made our country great.

When I was growing up we had separate holidays for Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday. The first honored the man who was our first President and who led us through the military activities of the Revolution. We also remembered every year that he voluntarily stepped down after two terms when he could easily have become a lifetime American King. The second holiday honored the man who kept our nation together, freed the slaves and suffered assassination.