×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

Online seed selection tool launched to help fight hunger in Africa

by Katy Migiro | @katymigiro | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Friday, 12 November 2010 17:48 GMT

NAIROBI (AlertNet) Â? The U.N.Â?s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched an online cropping calendar to guide the aid community in giving appropriate seeds in the wake of floods, droughts and other natural disasters.

Seed aid is a growing business, with private companies and donors ramping up their donations to developing countries in recent years.

Â?Where there is an emergency they need to know quickly when the next planting season is and what crops will be grown,Â? an FAO spokeswoman told AlertNet.

Users can go online to select a country, the specific agro-ecological zone and the crops they are interested in planting. The tool then tells them when the crop needs to be planted and harvested.

Â?Seeds are critical for addressing the dual challenges of food insecurity and climate change,Â? Shivaji Pandey, director of FAOÂ?s Plant Production and Protection Division, said in a statement to mark the launch of the tool this week.

Â?The right choice of crops and seeds is crucial both for improving the livelihoods of the rural poor and hungry and for dealing with climate change.

The crop calendar database covers 43 African countries and contains information on more than 130 crops, located in 283 Â?agro-ecologicalÂ? zones. These zones represent AfricaÂ?s varied ecology as well as challenges such as land degradation, sand encroachment and floods. It is based on inputs from member countries.

In the wake of the 2008 food aid crisis Â? when prices soared beyond the reach of many poor people Â? billions of dollars of seeds and fertilisers were pledged to help developing country farmers increase production.

But their donations are not always welcome.

There were protests when the biotechnology multinational Monsanto and USAID donated hybrid seeds to earthquake-devastated Haiti earlier this year. Critics labelled the hybrid seeds a Â?poison pillÂ? because they were treated with toxic chemicals.

A recent study by the University of East Anglia found that poorly-designed seed aid can hamper recovery from emergencies.

"Delivering seed aid that is mal-adapted or does not germinate makes stressed farmers even more vulnerable,Â? the report concluded.

Hunger is an enduring problem on the African continent and many argue that it needs a Â?green revolutionÂ? like that which occurred in India in the 1960s and 1970s. Africa is the developing region with the highest proportion - just under a third - of people suffering from chronic hunger.

According to FAO, the number of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 169 million people in the 1990-1992 period to 265 million in 2009.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

-->