Farming For Our Future November 29, 2012
Posted by acroanmph in Global Health, Public Health.Tags: Agriculture, Climate change, Farming, Food, Global health, Public health, Renewable resources, Sustainability, Transitional Farming, Water
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More households turn to growing their own food as unsustainable food production practices ravage large crop lands.
We’re on track to deplete the earth of it’s ability to produce food.
Global crop land increased by 12% but agricultural production by 150% over the last 50 years. We’ve managed to keep barely ahead of the curve for overall food production. But not sustainably. The projected world population growth will pass 9 billion by 2050, and that means an increase in food production by 70% and better methods of distribution to meet the food security demand.
Agriculture’s continued dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels for production/fertilizer/irrigation, machinery, processing, transportation, packaging and marketing has direct and unsustainable consequences for farmlands. A recent United Nations study indicates that “all continents are experiencing land degradation, with particularly high incidence along the west coast of the Americas, across the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe and North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and throughout Asia. The greatest threat is the loss of soil quality, followed by biodiversity loss and depletion of water resources.”
Farmed animals consume 70% of the grains produced on U.S. farms. Droughts have already caused food riots and war in recent years. Irrigation currently accounts for 70% of all water use and 19% of farm energy use in the U.S. Once groundwater sources are depleted, the amount of land available for cultivation will diminish substantially. Groundwater levels of the North China plains have declined to the point where rice production, which accounts for 90% of water usage there, are overexploited and now scarce.
Maintaining and improving ecosystems, including coastal habitats and oceans is also critical, as TIME reports
“The world has ignored the ominous constellation of factors that now make feeding humanity sustainably our most pressing task – even in times of economic and climatic crisis,” writes Professor Cribb. But Professor Cribb isn’t the only scientist clamoring for politicians to take climate change seriously. In a recent study by the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, it warned of a potential mass extinction as the number of ocean dead zones – waters starved of oxygen – increase at an accelerating pace. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research also put out a study that shows the increasing likelihood of frightening changes to rainfall, water supplies, weather systems, sea levels and crop harvests by the end of the century.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/12/07/impending-crisis-earth-to-run-out-of-food-by-2050/#ixzz2DSOyogVl
Progress exists somewhat in alternative forms of energy– nuclear, coal, wind and solar–but none produce liquid fuels. Countries gather regularly to discuss these impending changes, but have yet to enact solutions on the largest crop lands.
Transitional Farms
Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute, a Chapel Hill, NC educational farm and sustainability living center, was established by Tim Toben, an eco-revolutionary who believes sustainability will require more personal responsibility and that farms will be plentiful in rural areas by 2050 as Americans minimize their grandiose lifestyles out of necessity. This transitional farming is self-sustaining and, he believes, is likely to become the new American Dream.
What kind of connection do you want to have with your food? Will you make any changes to help ensure our planet is able to produce enough food for us in the next decades? Would you live in a cob cottage or stop eating industrial meat in order to preserve the land?
Related Reading:
The Future of Farming: Eight Solutions For a Hungry World (www.popsci.com)
Investing In Ecosystem Services Can Boost Food Security, Raise Incomes (www.un.org)
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (www.peakoil.net)
Regreening Africa (www.thenation.com)
Children of Our Fields (www.acroan.com)
Hidden Hunger in the Heartland (www.acroan.com)
Location, location, location! The High Cost of Living in a Food Desert (www.acroan.com)
A Little More Shuga, Please March 22, 2012
Posted by acroanmph in Global Health.Tags: AIDS, entertainment, Family Planning, Global health, HIV, Kenya, MTV Staying Alive, President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Shuga
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HIV prevalence by African country
One of the most effective public health education tools to combat HIV/AIDS in Kenya is back. Last month, the popular TV program Shuga began airing it’s second season.
Three episodes were funded for the first season through MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation and other funding partners, but demand has landed six new episodes this season. PATH joined with other sponsors PEPFAR and UNICEF to bring this meaningful tool to Nairobi. And since it’s rights-cleared, it will air on all five major broadcast companies throughout Kenya.
In addition to teaching safe sex and HIV transmission methods, this season of Shuga: Love, Sex and Money addresses alcohol use, transactional sex, rape and homosexuality. This was an important part of their sexual behavior communication plan, as it is still illegal to be gay in Africa.
What makes the show so popular?
It’s steamy hot, which, for all intents and purposes, is unchartered programming territory for the 16-24 year old Kenyan target group. It’s sexy, fun, and relatable.
What makes the show so successful?
It’s changing behaviors and saving lives. Read here about reaching young adults who had little to no access to TV or internet in 2009. Between 60% and 80% of all viewers were more receptive to this teaching tool for behavior change. About the new season, from The Saturday Post Zambia,
The documentary addresses social and economic factors that contribute to the high HIV prevalence and new infection rates, particularly among young people, in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world. The film resonates with young people. The main [goal] is to increase knowledge and start a debate about HIV among young people so that they don’t get infected. It aims to encourage behaviour change to prevent new infections.
The secondary phase is to remind people that HIV is not a death sentence. People can live positively with HIV. The campaign is an explosive drama shot and produced in Kenya that challenges young people to ignite a movement to change their sexual behaviour and turn their norms to stop the spread of the killer disease specifically in Kenya, Trinidad, Ukraine and Zambia.
Take a look at the Season 2 trailer:
Shuga: Love, Sex, Money Still To Come… from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.Related Links:
Peace. It’s Your Business. November 23, 2011
Posted by acroanmph in Global Health.Tags: Economy, Global health, Global Peace Index, Nobel Peace Prize, Peace, politics, Social sustainability
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Humanity for economic prosperity.
Usually, a study of peace is really a focus on conflict. Since 2007, however, a Global Peace Index ranks 153 countries measuring 23 indicators including income, social sustainability, spending, warring, climate change, amount spent on weapons, safety, respect for human rights, education and distribution of resources. The top-rated countries in this index provide an opportunity to study the structure of peaceful nations, and the tools we need to determine the peacefulness and economic environment we can create for our own future.
A nation’s inequalities define its functionality and have a direct impact on its economy. As the Institute for Economics and Peace claims, violence—both internal and external—creates costs for business and government and reduces productivity. This seems obvious, but it translates into billions of dollars. Had the U.S., which ranked 82nd on the GPI, similar levels of peacefulness to Canada, ranking 8th, the U.S. economy would have benefitted by $361 billion per year, and would have stimulated about 2.7 million additional jobs, reducing our unemployment rate by about 20%. In turn, arts and business would also flourish.
The strength of a society’s peace factor determines the likelihood that the society can withstand serious crises. Social sustainability structures are outlined in this short video:
Interestingly, the two social sustainability structures that carry the most weight are Acceptance of the Rights of Others, and Good Relations with Neighbors. The U.S. could begin it’s climb up the index ladder by focusing on these two notions.
For the first time, the United States was ranked according to state and based upon the absence of violence.
Image by ChartsBin.com
We, each of us, can shape our own future both individually and collectively. Ignoring the data for structure of peace would be irresponsible and detrimental to our economic future. We are now at the precipice. How unwise it would be to let another year pass in the same direction we’ve been heading. Our federal government is losing stability and has become an unreliable factor. We, as people and institutions, must start going about the business of peace and hope the government will join us, as it is a necessary indicator on the index. We must rely on ourselves to accomplish peace. Don’t think as an individual you can make much of a difference? Let this woman be your inspiration.
Global Peace Index 2011
- Iceland
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Denmark
- Czech Republic
- Austria
- Finland
- Canada
- Norway
- Slovenia
- Ireland
- Qatar
- Sweden
- Belgium
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Portugal
- Australia
- Malaysia
- Hungary
- Uruguay
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Singapore
- Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- Taiwan
- Spain
- Kuwait
- Vietnam
- Costa Rica
- Laos
- United Arab Emirates
- Bhutan
- Botswana
- France
- Croatia
- Chile
- Malawi
- Romania
- Oman
- Ghana
- Lithuania
- Tunisia
- Italy
- Latvia
- Estonia
- Mozambique
- Panama
- South Korea
- Burkina Faso
- Zambia
- Bulgaria
- Namibia
- Argentina
- Tanzania
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Moldova
- Bosnia and Hercegovina
- Sierra Leone
- The Gambia
- Albania
- Jordan
- Greece
- Paraguay
- Cuba
- Indonesia
- Ukraine
- Swaziland
- Cyprus
- Nicaragua
- Egypt
- Brazil
- Equatorial Guinea
- Bolivia
- Senegal
- Macedonia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- China
- Gabon
- United States of America
- Bangladesh
- Serbia
- Peru
- Cameroon
- Angola
- Guyana
- Montenegro
- Ecuador
- Dominican Republic
- Guinea
- Kazakhstan
- Papua New Guinea
- Nepal
- Liberia
- Uganda
- Congo
- Rwanda
- Mali
- Saudi Arabia
- El Salvador
- Tajikistan
- Eritrea
- Madagascar
- Jamaica
- Thailand
- Turkmenistan
- Armenia
- Uzbekistan
- Kenya
- Belarus
- Haiti
- Kyrgyz Republic
- Cambodia
- Syria
- Honduras
- (blank)
- Iran
- Niger
- Mexico
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Venezuela
- Guatemala
- Sri Lanka
- Turkey
- Cote d’Ivoire
- Algeria
- Maruitania
- Ethiopia
- Burundi
- Myanmar
- Georgia
- India
- Philippines
- Lebanon
- Yemen
- Colombia
- Zimbabwe
- Chad
- Nigeria
- Libya
- Central African Republic
- Israel
- Pakistan
- Russia
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- North Korea
- Afghanistan
- Sudan
- Iraq
- Somalia
