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The conquistadores virtually erased chia from Mayan cultural awareness as part of their campaign to subjugate the Mesoamerican peoples to Church and King. But today, even as ordinary Guatemalans are engaged in a massive ongoing popular campaign to throw off the rule of a corrupt and brutal elite, chia may be ripe for rediscovery. 
Most of the Ethiopian farmers in the Lelistu Ogda farmer cooperative struggle with soil fertility. That’s why Ayelech Bekele and 19 other women now embrace beekeeping as an alternative method for increasing their incomes. 
Ethiopian food processor and exporter Agro Prom has made the first step in changing the course of Ethiopian chickpea history and established the country’s first industrial chickpea processing and cleaning machine. 
Located in the “hinge” of sub-Saharan West Africa, Cameroon is home to about 19 million people. Because the country’s natural resources are suited to agriculture, an estimated 70% of the population farms. External forces of globalization are now putting pressure on African countries such as Cameroon to shift agricultural production from subsistence-scale local production to large-scale commercial production. 
New businesses launched by transborder migrants are not limited to farms and ranches and many small shops are also finding their place in the inner cities where they are revitalizing Main Street. They include specialty (ethnic) grocers and small market operators; restauranteurs, bakers, and caterers; tailors and cobblers; dry cleaners and other service providers; pharmacists and botanists; notary publics and accountants; the list is very long. 
Leymah Gbowee is a peace activist in Liberia. She led a women’s movement that was pivotal in ending the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, and now speaks on behalf of women and girls around the world. 
Twenty years of globalization have shown us that a model based on corporate greed cannot sustain society and it cannot sustain the earth. It cannot sustain society even in rich countries. Dr. Vandana Shiva: Right to Seeds and Water, a talk given on 30/6/14 in Colombo Sri Lanka.
Read more: Vandana Shiva: Right to Seeds and Water 
In Ghana, and across Africa, women farmers are organizing themselves and helping each other by sharing their experiences and by restoring native seeds. 
The Ebola outbreak – which has led to rising food prices and potential food shortages – reinforces the need for self-sufficiency and food security in times of crisis. Liberia has just begun to stabilize a network of rice growers and processors; rice grown in Liberia could go long way to support the Liberian population during this crisis. 
William Tolbert, a Liberian citizen educated in the US, was inspired by the organic movement here and moved back to his home country in 2010 to implement organic farming techniques. He exemplifies the “Triple Bottom Line” – Environment, Economy, and Ethics – it his farming practice. Now Tolbert is building a program to provide training, support, and microloans, and connections to quality buyers for subsistence farmers so they can grow more and better produce and generate higher incomes and profits. |
 
Scrappy ProductsFabric Shopping Bags
Made in the USA Book of the MonthLocally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-Changing Egg Farm – From Scratch, By Lucie B. Amundsen 
Read Locally Laid! Through Lucie Amundsen's eyes you will see the eggs on your plate very differently. You will appreciate those little packets of protein and marvel at the reasonableness of their cost. Read more here. Videos You Don't Want to Miss!Lis Carlisle: Interview with Tim Danahey
Listen to author Liz Carlisle talk about her new book Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America. Click here to see more videos. |
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